help! broken bunny bond

Hi - Iam new to rabbits united and need some advice!

I have a problem with my two house bunnies that I hope you can help with.

We have had bonnie and jess (2 female lops) for 3 months now - at the time of getting them we were told they were sisters being from the same litter but I cant be sure.

they were brought home together and have been best friends since we had them. A month ago jess began to chase bonnie and started mounting her - no fights ever broke out but bonnie was getting annoyed and so they would end up running in circles. We had them spayed a few days after noticing this behaviour as they were old enough we assumed it was just the teenage stage.

After the op they were both back to normal snuggling up together and grooming etc. Last night we decided to let them have the run of the whole kitchen rather than just their room, as the litter training was going really well. This also went well they both played happily exploring for about an hour.

We put them back in their room whilst we had our tea and again, all was well until around an hour after tea when we heard a commotion. when I went into the room fur was everywhere and the two were at opposite sides of the room - I checked them both to see if they were ok and couldn't find any bald patches or injuries. then in front of my husband and I jess began to sniff bonnies behind (just like she did before they were spayed) which then broke into a fight. we separated them and then bonnie approached jess and began to groom her. Once again jess went for bonnies behind and they had another fight - I managed to stop this pretty quickly and brought a spare cage in from the garage so they could be kept apart overnight and until they were back on good terms.

Today we decided to try again so took them both out of their room and put them together in a pen. This time bonnie began to sniff jess behind and they began circling again - we distracted them and they separated before another fight broke out. Then it happened again this time jess going for bonnie. We are both really upset as they have been inseparable up until now - do you think this bond can be mended? and why has it happened? I am now worried that if do do manage to mend the bond they might begin to fight again in the future for no reason.

Please help!

Just checking I read right, that they have both been spayed?

Has either bun been ill? Any new additions to the family/household? Any other differences in their world?

Sometimes buns do just divorce, and it might be that one knows something we as humans don't yet know (such as one may be ill), or they may just not want to be bonded anymore.

Is it fixable? I don't know. I had a pair fight the other night and took them on a car journey together and when I put them back in their run they were fine and have been since.

I guess just keep them separate and give them chance to calm down, and then start again. Vanilla above the nose might be useful, as will car journeys.

What will you do if they have to remain separate?

broken bunny bond

Hi There,

thanks for your reply - well its the second day now since it all happened and whilst cleaning the cages out (I have to do one at a time so they dont cross paths) they each run up to the others cage and sniff each other through the bars - is this good? I really hope they can work it out I will try the car journey (ps have you ever found they fight in the carrier? I am a bit scared of this as they would be very close together with not much room to escape?)

They have both been spayed, they were done at the same time so they were together in the vets etc. I wondered if it just took time for the hormones to calm down even after the op what do you think? neither is poorly they are both in great health and no changes have occured other than letting them into the full kitchen area the other night.

If they have to remain seperate I will be really sad as the whole point of having two was to keep them company, but I guess I will have to keep them in seperate cages I suppose if it doesnt work out. I will have to keep trying im not giving up easily on them! I just read a story on a website that one pair took two years to be bonded so I suppose its not a lost cause yet!

It can be a good sign if they are going up and sniffing each other, but the only way to tell if it is a good sign is to watch their behaviour. Good signs are ears forward and sniffing (that's not the only good sign, just one, I can't think of others right now). Bad signs are ears down (or flicking down and then up), tail up, also pretty much keeping their back feet in the same place and moving their front feet from side to side, sort of like how wild cats do.

With the car journey, what I do is have two carriers, get in the car, start the car, and then move one bun from their carrier to the other. You might want to sit in the back with them while someone else drives, the first time, just so you know you can separate if necessary. However, I have never had fights in the car, they just sit and huddle together, even if they fight when they are not in the car.

Its great they were spayed. Hormones can take a while to die down, it can take two months or so (depending on the bunny and the time in the year).

Its good you want to persevere, if you give them some space now then hopefully they can get over whatever this is and can then move forward and they can be bonded.

If the kitchen was a trigger, do you have any animals that go in there that don't normally go near where they are? Or any different smells in the kitchen? If you do get them bonded, maybe avoid the kitchen at all costs, lol. Not worth the risk, right?

broken bunny bond

When we had them together yesterday they were fine with each other until they start sniffing the behind, then they go in circles beacuse the one thats been sniffed doesnt like it - thats when the fight happens. I am really hoping it is a hormone thing!

No other different smells in kitchen etc they have been in one half (we have a 'rabbit fence' which we used to keep them in one half of kitchen) quite alot with no probs. We dont have any other animals but I suppose it coud be the new souroundings that has triggered them?

I will try the car ride and keep you posted!

thanks for your help!

Try the car journey.
I have had both good and bad experiences with it.
Each time i have used it i have been successful and it settled things down.

However dont leave them in to long. I recently had a difficult bond and Jasmine attacked Oscar whilst in the carrier.

I must say though, they both now live together happily and Oscar is infact the boss!!!

Good luck, hope things work out

broken bunny bond

thanks both for your advice - we are going to try the car journey tomorrow i will keep you posted - some progress tonight, we let them out together whilst we monitered with oven gloves and a spray bottle of water - they started circling again trying to sniff each other behinds so we had to intervene a few times, but then they both started doing binkys and ignoring each other. A few moments later bonnie approached jess, who was very submissive (body crouched down) and she groomed her for a while. Then jess ruined it by sniffing bonnies behind again! I feel a bit better as at least they groomed each other for a short time so I am hoping the bond can be repaired.

I will let you know how the car idea works out! :bunny:

My 4 year old french lop girls go round and round in circles chasing each others behind if Im in there and they think there is going to be food. The weaker one of the two has started to "hump" the other which is just her asserting herself. Daisy thankfully walks away, with the frail one clinging on, and gets in her box. Mine aren't physically hurting each othe and I haven't seen them bite. Its just one wanting to be more dominant.

It might be worth putting some cardboard boxes out, cut into houses, so she can get away if the other is annoying.

A car journey would help They have only been spayed a month, so its early days. You don't have any other rabbits around that they can smell? It does sound promising that they are grooming each other.

broken bunny bond

We dont have any other rabbits or pets that could have caused this but I think its definatley Bonny trying to be the boss - up until now its always been jess. They both chin everything in sight - thats them claiming things isnt it? so I am assuming if both are trying to leave the scent everywhere they are both trying to be boss?

Hopefully the hormones will die down and they will work it out, its just awful seeing them in seperate cages at the moment they are getting annoyed I think. But rather that than have them injuring each other. I will try the cardboard box idea thanks for that!