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Out Girls fighting - advice needed please

A

Anita

Alpha Buck
:wave: Sorry for the long post..........

We have 2 sisters who are British Giant X French Lops and are just over a year old. They have only ever been apart for about 1 hour ONCE in there lives and are usually so loving with each other. About 2 weeks ago out of the blue they started fighting. Just a chasing and grunting at first but over the last weekend it turned into full blown beating the :censored: out of each other type fights. They were even charging at each other and scrapping in the air which was very distressing :cry: We segregated them in there cage and noticed that Aflie has been nest building so we think she was having a Phantom pregnancy. Tried to get them together again on Monday & Tuesday but the fights continued - they are both nearly a stone in weight each so it takes some stopping! This morning they both went to the vets to be spayed so we are hoping this will calm them down. The vet said it will probably take about 6 weeks post op for the hormones to calm down completely so I am in a bit of a quandry as to when I should try to re-introduce them? I dont want to leave it too long and then have to bond from scratch but I also dont want to rush them an run the risk of them injuring each other before they are fully healed. The vet said to seperate the hutch with chicken wire so that they can still have contact but this is not an option in our hutch as it is 2 storey. And help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Anita said:
:wave: Sorry for the long post..........

We have 2 sisters who are British Giant X French Lops and are just over a year old. They have only ever been apart for about 1 hour ONCE in there lives and are usually so loving with each other. About 2 weeks ago out of the blue they started fighting. Just a chasing and grunting at first but over the last weekend it turned into full blown beating the :censored: out of each other type fights. They were even charging at each other and scrapping in the air which was very distressing :cry: We segregated them in there cage and noticed that Aflie has been nest building so we think she was having a Phantom pregnancy. Tried to get them together again on Monday & Tuesday but the fights continued - they are both nearly a stone in weight each so it takes some stopping! This morning they both went to the vets to be spayed so we are hoping this will calm them down. The vet said it will probably take about 6 weeks post op for the hormones to calm down completely so I am in a bit of a quandry as to when I should try to re it will -introduce them? I dont want to leave it too long and then have to bond from scratch but I also dont want to rush them an run the risk of them injuring each other before they are fully healed. The vet said to seperate the hutch with chicken wire so that they can still have contact but this is not an option in our hutch as it is 2 storey. And help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...


Oh dear! I wouldn't fancy trying to bond two fighting giants....:(

When you keep two litter mates together I always recommending neutering as SOON as they are old enough. Usually if you leave them together because they aren't fighting it will usually happen further down the line. Obviously neutering before this happens gives them a better chance at staying together. That advice is obviously no use to you now!!

I think you will definitely have to rebond from scratch unfortunately. I wouldn't try them together for at least a few weeks to allow them to recover from their spays both mentally, hormonally and externally.

Obviously like you say, ideally they should be housed seperately but somewhere they can see/smell one another. If they are fighting I certainly wouldn't split them by using chicken wire or anything else big enough for a rabbit to put it's nose through... (I've had a rabbits nose taken off that way).

You can change over litter trays/toys daily and swap over housing every day or every other day so they learn to live amongst each others scent. Some people use a 'stunt bunny' i.e a soft toy that has been in with one rabbit and is then put in with.

What a tough situation!!!!
 
charlie82 said:
You can change over litter trays/toys daily and swap over housing every day or every other day so they learn to live amongst each others scent. Some people use a 'stunt bunny' i.e a soft toy that has been in with one rabbit and is then put in with.
Click to expand...


Thanks for your help, I like the change over idea. We can seperate their hutch into top and bottom. The top has an open plan section a bedroom and the bottom is all open plan so we can change them round every day, just like we did as kids fighting over who sleeps in the 'top bunk' :lol::lol: I ll try the stunt bunny idea as well when in a few weeks but I am going to have to find a decent sized teddy to make it realistic for them :D
 
Out Girls fighting - advice needed please - UPDATE

:cry::cry: well its still not good news :cry::cry::cry:

It has been 6 weeks now since the op bu they are NOT showing any signs of being remotely friendly with each other. They still hate each other with a passion. We have kept rotating them in the cage so they live amoungst the others smell but to no avail.

We tried introducing them again last night only for it to end with a mid air scuffle and fur all over the garden in about 10 seconds flat :cry: We are at our wits ends now what to do, even holding them close to each other ends in a wrestling match of me and the OH V's the buns. WHY do they hate each other ??:?:cry::? they used to be inseperable... I have only ever kept solitary buns before as my Grandad who kept them for 50+ years always said they fight - I am begining to think he was right :cry:

A friend has suggested a long car journey to quieten them down before we try to introuce them again? How does every one else do it? Should we let them scuffle a bit before we seperate them? Should we try to take them somewhere neutral? I am completely lost :?

I even warned them last night that one will have to go and that I dont care which one, that was after I threatened them both with my very large stew pot - that didnt work either :D

Any ideas or magic spells greatly accepted.
 
Sorry to hear it's not going well :( I don't know much about bonding myself other than what your friend has recommended - I still have to bond my two in 4 months when they're done.

I know a couple who have two rex boys with exactly the same prob - they're both castrated, both cuddle next to each other and they have seperated them via mesh - but as soon as they've got contact they scrap like anything :roll: but every time they fighted they tried to break it up with a peice of carrot :roll: not the best idea,..

Two females can be more territorial when it's "their area" so would suggest a car ride (somewhere safe in case it gets violent) and a mutual zone. Maybe something yummy when they're not being pests?
 
It can be harder to bond if buns have already fought. I'd leave it for a bit. Let them settle as two single buns living next door to one another & then retry in a couple of months on neutral territory from scratch
 
Can someone take and rebond for you. Some rescues do a boarding/bonding service to raise funds for their rescues. Jill from Honeybunnies is very good at bonding and just recently rebonded a fighting pair.

Can I ask the size of the accommodation? Is there an attached run to it? They do need to be able to get away from each other, if one of them needs to. As they are giant crosses, the accommodation should be very large to ensure this.

Would your house accommodation allow you to bring them into the house to rebond on neutral territory i.e. a kitchen, spare room, bathroom.
 
I'm not a fan of same sex couples. Boy/girl combo tends to be so much easier.
I had to give up with my two sisters who had been together since birth. The biggest one inflicted a nasty injury on her sister, so I split them straight away.

Mine are now in happy pairs, and if the sisters see each other through the runs they still hate each other.

I'd agree that you'd need to start from scratch on the bonding front, but tbh I don't think you'll have much luck now they have already fought, besides which would you ever feel able to trust them together again?
 
Thanks everyone.....

They were supposed to be brother & sister but Aflie turned out to be a girl. I have never had girls before as I have always found them more nasty and tempremental. All my boys have been such soft sweethearts.

They dont have a run as for there size it would take up most of our very small garden, but when we are in they have the free run of the garden AND the house.

They live in a 2 storey 7ft long 3ft deep outdoor hutch with a bedroom built into the top floor so they have plenty of room to avoid each other.

We borrowed some indoor hutches the first 2 weeks after there op and let one run around at a time. They still liked to go and taunt each other through the bars though.

I will try the car journey and if that fails leave them for a while then I guess its a bonding service. I cannot beleive how they have turned on each other after a year of being so close. Typical females eh?
 
My french lop sisters were one when I rehomed them and they squabbled because I have a male neutered bunny and it was referred aggression. I had to bring the spaying forward to a couple of days after I adopted them and thankfully they are fine with each other now.

Is it one bunny who is starting it and is she in good health. Sometimes a bunny who is poorly could be irritable and possibly aggressive.

If it was two brothers fighting, I wouldn't try again, but I think you have a fair shot with the girls It would be a shame to split them if there was any way they could be got back together safely. If you feel confident, have another go, but I would try and get someone else to do for me. Good luck.
 
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