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my rabbits fighting

D

DDD

Mama Doe
oh no. i went to their hutch this morning to find lots of fluff in the hutch. i thought maybe maulting, but on closer inspection Desmond has been intimidating Douglas and Douglas is terrified. how long can i leave them together before enough is enough. dont want any horrific injuries.agh help. xx
 
OMG desmond is so nasty. hes pulling massive tufts of fur from Desmond and desmond is scared of me now.

please someone tell me what to do. what if they have a massive fight when im at work? should i seperate them?
 
i would have to seperate their hutch.

would i be able to re-bond as they have been together since birth and never had a problem with each other before last night.
 
I'm guessing they're both too young to be neutered yet? If so you need to seperate them till a few months after neutering, and then re-bond on neutral territory, although the chances aren't good once they start fighting.
 
they are both neutered. that was done in august and they have always been together. ive put one in the hutch and one in the run for the mo. is this the end of their bond?
they are in a thistle hall hutch so could be seperated permanently by having a floor each if necessary.
 
Maybe they've been scared by the fireworks, like what happened to Tree's Scooby? Could you move them somewhere else to see if a change of territory might help?
 
Rallybunny said:
Maybe they've been scared by the fireworks, like what happened to Tree's Scooby? Could you move them somewhere else to see if a change of territory might help?
Click to expand...

i put them in their run and it still happened with me watching. dont know where else i can put them?
 
Desmond is trying to 'dig' Douglas's back and get underneath him - what does this mean? they are back in the run together so far so good - Desmonds just being very intimidating
 
Is Desmond the dominant one usually? Rabbits can turn if there is an underlining problem so might be worth having him vet checked as a precautionary measure especially if he is acting different with you too:)
 
Denny said:
Is Desmond the dominant one usually? Rabbits can turn if there is an underlining problem so might be worth having him vet checked as a precautionary measure especially if he is acting different with you too:)
Click to expand...

Hes fine with me - just strange behaviour in himself. hes eating and pooing fine.
the two of them are acting as if they havent seen each other before, as if they are strangers.

they normally have a mix of dominancy. they groom each other and tollerate each other very well.
 
Denny said:
do you have a neutral space that you can put them both in to see how they are with each other?
Click to expand...

i could try bathroom but thing is when im there, they dont move!!! will have to sit ontop of the loo and pretend to not be there!! they are not fighting all the time at the mo but im so worried for them when i go to worl. i just dont understand why they are like this now
 
Hi,

We had a similar problem with Oliver and Max. They had been bonded for months and one morning they got up and decided to fight. We seperated them completely and when we tried them together the next day they we best friends again. That was over a year ago and they have not fought since.

Harvey and Sulley on the other hand fight nearly every other day but its over in a few mins.

I hope you sort it out.
 
As long as there is no blood drawn or one has the other in a head lock with punching gloves on, I was advised not to seperate. Sometimes one of my buns decides he wants to be the dominant one but then the dominant one just puts him in his place in a nice way;) As people have said, it could be the fireworks spooking some buns, I would keep a very watchful eye one them for now:)
 
Many years ago, my sister rabbits took a dislike to each other. They became very territorial - with one taking over the hutch, the other the run. It was completely out of the blue.

I was distraught and thought they would never be friends again. luckily it was summer and I was able to sit it out for maybe as long as a week or so. It resolved itself and they lived happily together for many more years.

If they have space to get away from each other I would, maybe, give them time to resolve the situation.

Difficult one though, I know.

Cara
 
right. at the mo its just Douglas loosing fur. no head locking. just chasing. at this moment in time they are in the bathroom - sitting in the corner. funny how i put them in there seperately, but theyve chosen to sit together. whilst they are there i may leave them and go and clean and disinfect the hutch so doesnt smell like either of them. hope this all works out. ive got leather gloves and water spray ready for seperation tactics!
 
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