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What can I do??... PLEASE HELP!

janeyS

New Kit
Hello! :wave:

I'm new on here and in desperate need of some advise...

I have two rabbits, Lionel (French Lop) and Lucy (Small(ish) Lop). We adopted Lucy about a year ago because Lionels brother Richie passed away and he needed a companion to keep him company. Lionel is a lovely bunny, very friendly and loves attention (he isnt a cuddle bunny though, just strokes!) Instead of getting a baby rabbit I decided to adopt. I initially wanted a rabbit of similar size (lionel is a big boy) but after looking everywhere over quite a long period of time we settled for a smaller rabbit and were assured it wouldnt make a different. I picked a rabbit and Lionel was taken away by the rabbit rescue place to be bonded over a few days but was brought back early because the rescue lady had a family emergency. The original rabbit we wanted apparantly wouldnt bond so she had picked a bunny for us and assured us they were friends and had had plenty of time together... Lucy has never settled in since then. They fall 'in and out of love' very easily and on quite a few occaions I have had to re-bond them. Lucy isnt a particularly freindly rabbit. I cant stroke her or brush her. I cant pick her up to check her because she gets too stressed and runs away. She is kept purely to keep Lionel company. I dont know what the original owners did to her, but she is not a happy rabbit.
Afew weeks ago, Lionel was admitted to the vet and had to have an operation to remove a tumour to his bottom / hind. He has been very poorly since and has had to return to the vets for extra treatment over the last few weeks. This obviously ment seperating them for days at a time and reintroducing them when Lionel came home. When ever he returned, re-bonding them has become more and more difficult to the point now where they cant be anywhere near each other because they fight (and I dont mean chasing, I mean fighting). Everytime he returned home, he would stop eating and drinking which caused other problems, but would instantly start again when he stayed at the vet. I think the stress of living with Lucy is making him stop eating.
I really dont know what to do now because I have run out for nutrual territory and I fear they will end up riping each other to streads if I cant resolve the situation. Lionel still has wounds around is hind and bottom which is also a worry, I dont want anything to happen that will delay his recovery.

Does anybody have any ideas or suggestions, all will be greatly appreciated.

:love:
 
Are you able to keep them apart until Lionel has recovered? There is not much point in having to rebond and separate them several times. You could set something up so that they are side by side so they can see and smell each other but they can't get to each other to fight. If you could keep them like this then they won't forget each other whilst they are separated and it might make it easier to rebond them once Lionel is feeling better :)
 
pm my daughter bunlover to see what advice she can give plus she will be able to give you names of other membersto pm re bonding -Sue:wave:
 
I have seen similar situation when my buns fight for territory.

The first thing you have to do right now, is to separate them. I bought a children's gate to block upstair from downstair, so the 2 buns are separated.

Then when your bun fully recovered from the post-surgery, re-introduce them on neutral territory, i.e., the back yard. If there is quite a bit of fighting, separate them. w/ each gathering at the backyard no more than 20 min. and gradually increase the time limit
 
firstly are both neutereed? this can makea difference. if not then do that before you go any further in trying to rebond. even if only one is neutered it can still upset teh balence. do things change in their enviroment ie smells or other rabbits or pets? this can upset the balence to. i think this bond sounds very volatile and i would firstly let all wounds heal. i would then try a small neutral space(after a full health check of both rabbits sometimes if something is wrong with one bun then the other will attack them anyway) and also give them at least a week in that small neutral space and include car trips if it seems to be a bit on the not so happy front as this can aid bonding..

then you must be 100% happy with them before moving to a larger space nipping adn chasing adn humping are normal bonding but biting and locking on are big no nos...if this fighting continues to happen then i would suggest that this is the wrong rabbit for your boy and that she should go back to the rescue she came from. pm me for any information. some rescues are better than others you could try gettinga rescue reccomendation off here as some are more expierinaced at bonding than others. if it is an expierianced rescue then i would try re adopting a new bunny freind for your boy. did you get to be tehre for the bunny speed dating? that would be useful to you to see initial reactions. also when you brought both buns home the area you put tehm in should have ben fully nuetralised with white vinegar so that it was a new territory and not already belonging to anyone. personally i think after proper injury has been caused that the bond is likely to fail again and it might be best to try a differnet rabbit with him. hope you get the right buny xx

edit i miss read first post the tumour could be the reason they fell out as a healthy bun can sense an illness let be fully recovered before you try anything else
 
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