Marital squabbles??

2 of my bunnies have been very very happily bonded for about 2 1/2 years now, Petey and Jess have always lived beside each other up till their bonding, they lived inside in a spare bedroom and their bonding went so smoothly at the time, there was no scuffles, no mounting, no chasing, they just sniffed each other and immediatly snuggled up together, for the past 2 years they have been very happy, always washing each other, snuggling up, looking after each other, I couldnt have asked for 2 happier bunnies.

HOWEVER........... last September due to putting our house on the market my happy house buns had to be put outside into hutches, bought them the biggest hutches i could afford (Lavender lodges from P@H) anyway, they have got along fine seeming to enjoy the outside living, BUT over christmas we had the startings of squabbles in the marital bunny hutch:roll: suddenly the chasing and mounting which they had never done started, the main culprit is Jessica, she always seems to start it, obviously loose fur has been pulled out from Pete, it doesnt happen all the time but from what I can make out it seems to happen more if they go for some days without getting out into the run (due to bad weather, i dont like my bunnies getting cold and damp) but even the other day when they had a good long time out playing in the run while i was cleaning they started off ok playing together then when i gave some carrot tops Jessie started getting a bit bossy and the the chasing and mounting started and then it just went on and on, Petey submits until he gets fed up and then he chases and mounts her, im not too worried because like i said it isnt happening all the time but I want my happy contended pair back and i dont like to see them at each other. I am a little over protective of Jess to as shes blind in 1 eye so im always worried Pete will knock her other eye and hurt her.

Has anyone had this happen with bonded pairs before, I would have understood it if they had started it as soon as we put them outside with the change of living quarters etc, but they were fine for at least 3.5 months before they started this.

do you think it could escalate to where I might have to separate them? could they see it as a game or are they just 2 strong willed buns who wont argree on who is boss??

Sorry I can't help very much, however I wonder if it could be something to do with being able to smell other (i.e. wild?) rabbits near by?

You say 'two of your bunnies' so I assume you have other rabbits near by? Can they see or smell each other?

It sounds like referred aggression to me.

Deelove said:

Sorry I can't help very much, however I wonder if it could be something to do with being able to smell other (i.e. wild?) rabbits near by?

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No chance of any wild buns nearby, I live in the middle of a large housing estate and we are surrounded by foxes so I doubt we have wild buns anywhere near us, thanks for the suggestion though

Sooz22 said:

You say 'two of your bunnies' so I assume you have other rabbits near by? Can they see or smell each other?

It sounds like referred aggression to me.

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I have 5 outside bunnies, my bonded pair and 3 single bunnies, they all live close together in their hutches, yes they can see and smell each other, but this was done on purpose as this is how they have always lived, even when they were house bunnies they all shared a bedroom and had separate pens so they could all see each other so I dont think that could be the problem????

Bump bump

any suggestions anyone???

how close r they to benji? reason i ask is, peanut never used to be bothered by domino being in a hutch near him, but domino grew up, and stopped being a baby he drove peanut insane!!and for a while the hutches had 2 be far away from other
so im thinking as benji isnt a 'baby' anymore, could be be a new 'threat' if you see what i mean

XMissySJx said:

how close r they to benji? reason i ask is, peanut never used to be bothered by domino being in a hutch near him, but domino grew up, and stopped being a baby he drove peanut insane!!and for a while the hutches had 2 be far away from other
so im thinking as benji isnt a 'baby' anymore, could be be a new 'threat' if you see what i mean

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Yeah that had crossed my mind as he is the only difference in the group, he is only about 2 ft away from them, but I dont have much choice as our patio is the best sheltered spot so we have the 2 big lavender lodge hutches opposite each other on either side of the patio with the 2 slightly smaller hutches on top of each one, although Benji is the newest member, and not yet neutered (first job once we move) but when all my buns lived inside and shared a room there was Timmy who was un neutered at he time and he lived in his crate just above where Pete and Jess were, so the smell of him would have been closer, but it never bothered them then, Jess only played up when Timmy came out of his cage and was allowed to run around the room and sniff the others through the wire of their pens. It was because that Jess then got a bit funny with Pete we then stopped timmy from running round the bunny room for his exercise time and took him into our bedroom for his indoor exercise instead.

Hiya - please get Benji neutered as soon as you can, it sounds like a classic case of referred aggression and once these have started they tend to only get worse and you could end up with very seriously injured bunnies. I don't mean to worry you but it's fairly common where bonded pairs are kept near to other buns, especially unneutered ones! Is Jess neutered too?