Advice please - aggression over food bowl

Hi :wave:

We've got 2 buns aged 3 (Rosie) and Little Ted (18 months), bonded since July, although we had Rosie for 2 months on her own first. Most of the time they love each other but every now and then Rosie is a bit territorial over the litter tray. This has never really caused any problems but in the last 2 days this has branched out to the food bowl. She's tried to bite Ted and really growled and lunged at him this morning. I had to take some nuggets out and feed them to him separately as he couldn't get near it, and he kept jumping away if she came near him. Same thing yesterday morning, but not as bad and they were fine at the evening feeding. Both times it's happened I have either been putting hay in the litter tray or yesterday I was stroking Ted's nose.

My question is, should I just get another bowl so they can have one each? Is this some kind of failure? If we 'give in' could this get worse in other areas? Aside from a different bowl I've no idea how to tackle this!

If anyone has any help I'd be most grateful as it's heartbreaking looking at his sad little face

Awww poor little ted! I'm sure it's not a failure as they're not permanently scrapping are they? it's just little spats at mealtimes. I'm not a bunny expert but there are plenty on her who i'm sure will be able to explain whats going on.


I put my buns veg on a long narrow tray - i thinks it's called a sandwich tray? i got it from morrisons anyway quite cheap - so they've plenty of space and they seem fine but for nuggets they have a bowl each primarily cos one is one junior nuggets and one on adult (although they always swap over :roll but also as Joe is so greedy he gets his head right in the dish and won't move so there's no room left for Jessie so it just saves any arguments having one each..

Good luck and hope harmony is soon restored!

Ah, your bunnies are so cute! No, 99% of the time they're best buddies, it's just the pellets! Will see what experience others may have but at least I know a separate bowl is not the end of the world. By the way, they're fine with their veg, it's just the nuggets.

Ive been just putting food in on the floor...theyve been foraging.2 newly bonded pairs.
Hope your 2 improve.xx

As above i'd try scattering the pellets instead, impossible to be territorial over them in that way and it will encourage foraging as well and use up some energy as a good side effect
If you do use bowls then I would use two at opposite ends, and I would also consider two litter trays if there is enough space in your setup. My pair have two litter trays, Poppy is rather dominant and Nino steps back and lets her go first... I prefer that he is not missing out with his GI history so two trays solves the problem (although I must admit Poppy will hoover up everything tasty in her tray as quickly as she can and then run up the ladder to the upstairs tray and help herself to his dried herbs as well! :roll::lol: All it requires is me to firmly say 'Poppy' from a distance and she runs back to her own tray! She doesn't always do it)

One other thing I would suggest is that you back away and don't get involved, it is probably just for show and she won't actually hurt him, well this is how it is with ours... it's all display, there is no aggressive physical contact... but Poppy makes quite a lot of gesturing and noises!:lol: It may actually be your presence that the aggression is about and an association with you as the food bearer! Pellets are something really worth fighting for = high reward. So Rosie associates you with them and will already be feeling territorial in your presence... whether you are bringing food or not. We have this problem as I am always the one who gives a little dried fruit treat to each bun at bedtime or tops their trays up with dried herbs.. therefore, whenever I am in the hutch stroking them or tidying (which admittedly I should not do with them in it!), or by their 'corner' in our sitting room during the day, Poppy will immediately chase Nino away from the place food arrives by pouncing towards him and grunting at him, even if I am there doing something other than giving food - she is very bright and associates me with food and therefore wants to be first in line to receive it - normal rabbity response for some bunnies.
If my partner tends to them for whatever reason she doesn't do it. But it is not he who brings the food you see - it's a learned association with me. You can avoid it by putting out food when they are not in their enclosure ready for when they come back in, or by scattering the pellets around as suggested. If Little Ted is not actually getting hurt then I would not physically add yourself to the dynamics as it were by stroking one bun or getting involved as you might be part of the problem in Rosie's eyes if you see what I mean, if no one is getting hurt then they can often control each other's behaviour themselves.

I give my three outdoor buns one large bowl with pellets and veg mixed in and they happily all scromph together. With my two indoor buns, however, if I put their food in one dish George just lifts it up and turns it upside down so all the food is spread around and he and Gemma can eat that way - he knows how he wants to be fed If I give them a dish each he will eat from the dish.

They have a litter tray each but tend to use the same one.

Is Rosie spayed? That can help with territorial aggression.

Otherwise I agree with everyone else, remove the trigger ie the bowl.

As long as they are happy the rest of the time then don't worry too much about their bond overall.

Thanks everyone for your very helpful input. Yes, Rosie was spayed in rescue before she came to us, same with Ted. I will go and buy another bowl on the way home and see how we get on with that.

Just to update, we have tried foraging last night and this morning and so far so good

I have to feed my four by scattering the food or it causes problems