Fighting after bonding!

[Abby]

Advice please!

So i have recently bonded my two indoor rabbits (female – Lily and male- Jasper). I started off the bonding in a neutral territory and everything was going great i didn’t have any fights just the occasional nip from Lily at Jaspers bum. I kept doing the bunnies dates in my neutral territory for about two weeks and at night they would both sleep in their own cages next to each other. I swapped their toys, litter trays and them in both cages while i was doing my bunny dates and it didn’t take long before they were grooming and cuddling with each other.

So i decided to let them move in together i brought a huge cage for them both to share and they have the run of our spare bedroom to play in. Everything was going fine for about a month of them living together then i came home from work about a week ago and myself and my partner heard a lot of noise coming from the spare bedroom we went through and both the rabbits were circling each other and going for each other. We managed to separate them and check over for injuries. Lily has a bite mark at the top of her ear but apart from that they were fine. We put them both back to together again and they went for each other again, we had no idea what to do. It was lucky i kept an old cage so we separated them over night but kept the cages next to each other so they could still see and smell each other.

I put them both back in the neutral territory and there was a fight so i had to separate them. Since then in the neutral space they have been fine, back to cuddling and grooming. I have also taken them in a car trip to try and kept the bond going which seemed to have worked.  

CURRENT SITUATION – They are back together spending time together in the spare bedroom, i have had no big fights but the odd nip on the bum by both which they either run away from or turn to face each other as if to attack. They are currently not spending the night together, but whenever i have kept them together in the cage during the day they seem fine its just when i give them more space. Should i let them spend the night together? They still cuddle and groom each other, so i know they still love each other. I don’t want to give up on the bond yet!

Anyone know why they starting fighting or what could have caused it? A change in the dominance maybe?

We are going on holiday in two weeks and i have booked for them to stay together so i need to make sure they are going to be ok.

Sorry for the long post, but any advice would be appreciated!

[Mikey]

Do not let them spend the night together. Youll have to go through the bonding sessions again until they completely stop nipping and lunging. Cuddling is great, but theyre far from bonded if theyre also trying to attack one another still. As long as they want to attack one another and are comfortable being aggressive to one another, another bad (or worse) fight is likely to break out.

“We are going on holiday in two weeks and i have booked for them to stay together so i need to make sure they are going to be ok.”

Their well being should mean more than this. Do you want them to possibly kill one another while youre away? If not, call up wherever you will be boarding them and inform them that your rabbits will need to be kept separated.

[sarahthegemini]

It’s a general rule of thumb that once they’ve fought they need complete seperation so they can forget that they’ve fought. That means they shouldn’t be able to see or smell one another. After a month, start pre bonding and then progress to bonding sessions again.

[Deleted User]

You should definitely call the place you are having them boarded and be sure to keep them separate. If no one is there to supervise them, you could come home to injured (or worse) rabbits. Since they have had several fights, they need to be re-bonded. I am not sure what changes could have caused this, but it seems as though they were not properly bonded to begin with. I say this because, from my understanding, bonded rabbits should not still be nipping at each other. Someone feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but they are not truly bonded until there is absolutely no aggression, no nipping, no more mounting, etc. Those activities can escalate into fights when one bun becomes intolerant of the other.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By BunNoob on 8/28/2017 10:24 AM

You should definitely call the place you are having them boarded and be sure to keep them separate. If no one is there to supervise them, you could come home to injured (or worse) rabbits. Since they have had several fights, they need to be re-bonded. I am not sure what changes could have caused this, but it seems as though they were not properly bonded to begin with. I say this because, from my understanding, bonded rabbits should not still be nipping at each other. Someone feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but they are not truly bonded until there is absolutely no aggression, no nipping, no more mounting, etc. Those activities can escalate into fights when one bun becomes intolerant of the other.

Nipping between a bonded pair is to be expected still to some degree because it’s a way of communicating. It shouldn’t escalate though.

[Deleted User]

Posted By sarahthegemini on 8/28/2017 10:29 AM

Posted By BunNoob on 8/28/2017 10:24 AM

You should definitely call the place you are having them boarded and be sure to keep them separate. If no one is there to supervise them, you could come home to injured (or worse) rabbits. Since they have had several fights, they need to be re-bonded. I am not sure what changes could have caused this, but it seems as though they were not properly bonded to begin with. I say this because, from my understanding, bonded rabbits should not still be nipping at each other. Someone feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but they are not truly bonded until there is absolutely no aggression, no nipping, no more mounting, etc. Those activities can escalate into fights when one bun becomes intolerant of the other.

Nipping between a bonded pair is to be expected still to some degree because it’s a way of communicating. It shouldn’t escalate though.

Good to know! I thought that all that should cease, but I only have what I have read to go off of. I’ll be working on bonding soon, so I need to make sure I keep a look out for stuff like that. I am so so incredibly nervous about ever leaving them alone…I’m such a stress ball and even if they are bonded I know I’ll be worrying to bits if they are getting along….

[joea64]

Posted By BunNoob on 8/28/2017 10:46 AM

Posted By sarahthegemini on 8/28/2017 10:29 AM

Posted By BunNoob on 8/28/2017 10:24 AM

You should definitely call the place you are having them boarded and be sure to keep them separate. If no one is there to supervise them, you could come home to injured (or worse) rabbits. Since they have had several fights, they need to be re-bonded. I am not sure what changes could have caused this, but it seems as though they were not properly bonded to begin with. I say this because, from my understanding, bonded rabbits should not still be nipping at each other. Someone feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but they are not truly bonded until there is absolutely no aggression, no nipping, no more mounting, etc. Those activities can escalate into fights when one bun becomes intolerant of the other.

Nipping between a bonded pair is to be expected still to some degree because it’s a way of communicating. It shouldn’t escalate though.

Good to know! I thought that all that should cease, but I only have what I have read to go off of. I’ll be working on bonding soon, so I need to make sure I keep a look out for stuff like that. I am so so incredibly nervous about ever leaving them alone…I’m such a stress ball and even if they are bonded I know I’ll be worrying to bits if they are getting along….

Take it a little at a time and try to end every session on a positive note even if they do get in a tussle. And keep in mind that you could end up having fretted about nothing and they might be cuddling in perfect harmony from the very first session onwards.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By BunNoob on 8/28/2017 10:46 AM

Posted By sarahthegemini on 8/28/2017 10:29 AM

Posted By BunNoob on 8/28/2017 10:24 AM

You should definitely call the place you are having them boarded and be sure to keep them separate. If no one is there to supervise them, you could come home to injured (or worse) rabbits. Since they have had several fights, they need to be re-bonded. I am not sure what changes could have caused this, but it seems as though they were not properly bonded to begin with. I say this because, from my understanding, bonded rabbits should not still be nipping at each other. Someone feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but they are not truly bonded until there is absolutely no aggression, no nipping, no more mounting, etc. Those activities can escalate into fights when one bun becomes intolerant of the other.

Nipping between a bonded pair is to be expected still to some degree because it’s a way of communicating. It shouldn’t escalate though.

Good to know! I thought that all that should cease, but I only have what I have read to go off of. I’ll be working on bonding soon, so I need to make sure I keep a look out for stuff like that. I am so so incredibly nervous about ever leaving them alone…I’m such a stress ball and even if they are bonded I know I’ll be worrying to bits if they are getting along….

Not gunna lie, even after I was confident that they were bonded and didn’t need supervision it still took at least a month before I would not fret every time I heard movement downstairs at night  Mine don’t really nip but on the rare occasion it has happened, it was just to get the other bun to move (I. E. Peanut wanting Buttercup to move, now he just digs at her butt if she’s in the way or he just climbs over her lol) 

[Deleted User]

Sarah, exactly!! They could be in love and I would still be worried sick lol.

Joe, we will have a ton of pre bonding under our belt, so I am really hoping for them to just love each other already!!! Time will tell…

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By BunNoob on 8/28/2017 11:45 AM

Sarah, exactly!! They could be in love and I would still be worried sick lol.

Joe, we will have a ton of pre bonding under our belt, so I am really hoping for them to just love each other already!!! Time will tell…

Funny thing is mine did have a love at first sight thing going on  They nose booped each other, explored their pen and then within half an hour they’d both groomed themselves, Peanut groomed her, she flopped and he loafed lol.

[Author]

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