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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR My neutered bunny suddenly territorial?

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    • binkybears
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        Hi All,

        I am new to this website and need some help!

        Me and my boyfriend have 2 Netherland dwarf bunnies, 1 male (Louie) and 1 female (Milkshake). They are the cutest little cucumbers and I love them, but they are starting to drive us nuts.

        I will give a bit of backstory first…

        We had Louie first, since he was very young, and he was never a problem, very smart guy and trained easily. Once he was of age we had him neutered. We don’t believe highly in cages so Louie always lived freely (and quite spoiled) in his own room (small storage room). Once he was trained we let him have free reign to the living room where he would usually sleep on the back of the couch at night.

        We moved into our new place, where Louie had the same idea in a new room (a bit larger). Everything was fine- he adapted and was happy.

        We adopted Milkshake later on, as I researched bunnies are best in pairs and wanted Louie to be as happy as possible..She was not spayed when we got her, but we tried to start the bonding process anyway as some male/female pairs immediately love each other.

        Unfortunately this was not the case.. We then followed the steps to properly bond (let him explore each other etc. for periods of time), we ended up having her spayed as well.. further bonding, and then moving them into the same room.

        I was always worried we bonded them too quickly (where they weren’t fully bonded), but things started to fall into place and Louie was grooming Milkshake and laying together and spending time together. Note that I have yet to see Milkshake groom Louie.. although she seems interested in it sometimes..

        PROBLEM 1: Around this time, the bunnies started destroying the baseboard in our house, which we rent, so we need to fix and is causing us stress now. We weren’t sure who or both- and assumed Milkshake as Louie was never interested in chewing trim.

        PROBLEM 2: All of a sudden, we noticed spraying, droppings, etc. all over their room. Again, we assume Milkshake was the culprit as Louie was always extremely well litter trained, and when we adopted her she was not. But seeing as it was spraying, it quite possibly could have been Louie going crazy.

        This came out of nowhere as they were always fine to use the litter boxes before. We ended up adding a couple extra litter boxes to their room (in various locations) which seemed to solve this issue.. but Louie’s territorial behavior continues.

        PROBLEM 3: I noticed Louie seemed “on edge”, irritable and more territorial. When he comes into our space now (living room), he rubs his chin on everything and will nip if you try petting him when he’s on a blanket or the rug sometimes. It is odd as he was always our sweet pea bear. Now I’ve noticed he will chase her sometimes as well, though he still grooms her at other times?

        I still receive nose kisses and bonks every once in a while (from Lou, Milkshake is still getting used to us), but at times this territorial behavior trumps all..

        What the hell is going on?

         


      • Mikey
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        3186 posts Send Private Message

          Rabbits will chew on almost anything. I suggest to help keep the trim safe, you find a way to cover it. If you need something cheap, you can go to C&C cages (google) and buy their grids and connectors and outline the room with some padding (ive seen people use those puzzle floor mat things) then have the grids in front of that so that there is a blockage to the wall

          Thats territory. If its getting warmer where you are, your bunnies may be experiencing a slight elevation in hormones due to the season. It should stop in a few weeks. It could also be that they are passively fighting about who is the top bun in their hierarchy and are using territory poops and spray as their argument

          Hes trying to prove he is the top bun in the house. Now that there are two buns, he wants to make sure everyone knows he is still top bun. This should get better with age, but ive read some cases where the mild nipping and chasing was permanent. Just make sure it doesnt escalate into a fight

          Overall, i would work on bonding them some more. It sounds mostly like their hierarchy isnt cemented yet. I would work on a little stress bonding now and then. Put them in a box or laundry basket together and take a ride in the car (have someone with you to make sure they dont jump out) ; put them in a box or laundry box and shake it occasionally and whenever you see nipping or mounting ; putting them in the bath tub together (no water) and make loud noises ; ect. Dont do stress bonding often (we stress bonded about once a week) as it does stress them out, but it is also a tactic to get rabbits to feel more comfortable with one another


        • kirstyol
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            How long have they been bonded? My two bonded ridiculously easily literally not a single fight and they were safe to live together within around a week. However it took time for them to be truly settled in together, they were still deciding whose stuff was whose (one would chin something, then the other would chin it to claim it, then the first one would go back etc etc) and Bramble was still asserting his dominance as alpha bun. We had quite a lot of poops outside the box for a good number of weeks, like you we assumed it was the newer bun who we had rescued as Bramble (who we had since a baby) had literally never had an ‘accident’ however we caught him in the act a few times.

            We have had Ron for a little over six months now and Bramble actually now grooms him occasionally, although Bramble is for sure the alpha bun. There are no poops outside the box, unless i change their blankets when they will literally each do one poop on the new blanket. They don’t chin everything several times over like they used to and they seem genuinely happy together pretty much all the time.

            I agree with Mikey, it sounds to me like they just havent cemented their hierarchy and/or their relationship yet.


          • binkybears
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              I didn’t even realize the season! It’s really starting to heat up here where I live which could very well be the case.

              As well as the heirarchy issue, it just seemed odd to me as they were fine before and it seemed to come out of no where.

              The pooping and peeing/spraying continues and is honestly everywhere.

              I am now starting to notice Louie seeming less active etc. which is starting to worry me for health reasons, He is still moving around okay and eats so it’s hard to tell..

              What else would cause sudden territorial behavior?

              I’ll keep an eye on them anyway, thanks guys!!

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          Forum BEHAVIOR My neutered bunny suddenly territorial?