Bonded pair and fighting

leti2pets · Jul 14, 2009

I have a bonded pair. They have been living together over a year. The male (Bandit) is neutered the female(Pepper) is not. They get along well until my other female(Soqui) comes around their cage and Pepper attacks Bandit. Usually its a really fast jump on him and run away and a few minutes later they are grooming each other. Today Pepper ended up with a cut on her nose that bled for quite a while. I have her away from Bandit right now so he doesn't do anything to resart the bleeding, but he gets depressed if she isn't around for more than a few hours. Soqui is back in her cage so she wont bother them. How likely is it that Peppers nose will be reinjured? Bandit usually is very easy going and adores Pepper.

prettylupin · Jul 15, 2009

leti2pets said:
I have a bonded pair. They have been living together over a year. The male (Bandit) is neutered the female(Pepper) is not. They get along well until my other female(Soqui) comes around their cage and Pepper attacks Bandit. Usually its a really fast jump on him and run away and a few minutes later they are grooming each other. Today Pepper ended up with a cut on her nose that bled for quite a while. I have her away from Bandit right now so he doesn't do anything to resart the bleeding, but he gets depressed if she isn't around for more than a few hours. Soqui is back in her cage so she wont bother them. How likely is it that Peppers nose will be reinjured? Bandit usually is very easy going and adores Pepper.

This is called referred aggression and can happen when another rabbit is around to threaten the existing bonded pair. I would firstly get the injured bun to a vet asap as the wound may need treating and she may need antibiotics and pain relief. If you separate to allow the wound to heal you must keep them side by side if possible to try and maintain some bond. You may have to rebond in neutral territory when putting her back in.
I would also prevent the other rabbit from coming anywhere near the bonded pair - otherwise this is likely to happen again.

Bonded pair and fighting

leti2pets

Young Bun

prettylupin

Wise Old Thumper

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