LONG POST, SORRY, PLEASE READ! I’M INEXPERIENCED AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO.
Ok so I got my first bun about 5 months ago. Female, spayed about 3 weeks ago, her name is Ophelia. We got a new bun, male named Quincy but he is not old enough to be neutered yet. I am keeping him in my room, he has a cage but I leave the cage door open so he can roam the room while I am at work. My plan was keep them separate until he’s had the neuter and recovered and then start bonding. Ophelia isn’t allowed in my room so she doesn’t normally try to get in there, so I thought yeah I’ll just have him in there and they will be separated. When I go in and out of the room I open it the MINIMUM I need to squeeze through real quick. I have been switching out their stuffie and she seemed to be less interested in trying to get in the room.
Well, let me tell you, I feel like a complete idiot for getting this second bun. My rationale was that I would get him early, bond with him so he was comfortable with me, get him neutered and then start to bond with other bun. I thought that if he was comfortable with us, then the bonding would be less stressful and *possibly* go a little smoother?
This morning I gave Ophelia some fresh oat hay (her favorite treat hay) and she jumped into her litter box and started to gobble it up. With her distracted, I went to get in the room. My apartment is small. I had no idea she was even coming, she DARTED from around the dining room corner and flew into the room in seconds. I immediately panicked. She went under the bed where she found a free roaming Quincy. I couldn’t reach either of them and I yelled for my husband to get the broom so I could try to at least separate them. Qunicy is super super sweet, and he’s only 9 weeks so he isn’t matured yet. He hopped over to Ophelia (all the while I am frantically calling and trying to offer pellets) they sniffed each other briefly then Ophelia started a fight. She nipped him and from there it all became a blur of her chasing him around under the bed, fur is being pulled out and it’s all happening under the bed where I can’t really get to them. After what seemed like eternity (in reality probably 10 seconds) Quincy runs out from under the bed and my husband cupped a laundry basket over him while I threw a blanket over Ophelia. We separated them and I sent my husband out of the room with Ophelia to check for any breaks in the skin and I stayed in and checked Quincy. No skin was broken, but there were several tufts of fur under the bed. Once both buns were separated, they seemed completely indifferent to what had just happened.
Ophelia doesn’t have a cage. She’s a very good free roam bun and so I took her cage, cleaned it well, and prepared it for Quincy to use. I am going to go in the closet when I get home and dig out the baby gates and try to figure out ANY way that I can blockade some space around the door so she can’t make a run for it. But what do I do for each bun after a fight like this? I feel so defeated, and honestly disgusted with myself because both buns are SOOOO sweet and I just can’t stomach the fact that they had hurt each other. I’m so stressed by this and I just want each bun to be happy and comfortable, and not form a real mistrust of each other.