Feeling v.negative today about my rabbits UPDATE :O)

I am feeling very negative about my rabbits today, have been for a while but this morning feel worse.
Spudsey my wildie has been with BB for over 3 months... Poor BB is regularly chased around the run and she is fast, she wears the poor thing out. She also grooms him very roughly...she starts on his head just licking then moves on to his body which he hates but she just doesn't seem very gentle.
I've had to put them in the hutch a few times now whilst the weather has been bad, and I feel awful as I can just hear them both banging about. Poor BB runs when she even steps one foot towards him as he thinks shes going to chase him again.
Now I read that if a rabbit feels fear then it would stop grooming, eating etc. BB will happily eat out of the same bowl as Spudsey, he normally sits in one place but then so does Spudsey, he grooms himself, he moves around the run although the tunnel appears out of bounds as this is where Spudsey seems to spend her time, and they will occasionally sit together. Only seen BB groom Spudsey once or twice. For some reason we had a particularly snuggly weekend a few weeks ago, but 2 days later he had a bald patch on his nose from where she must of 'over groomed' :? him.
I picked him up out of his hutch this morning and he wriggled and made a squeak noise.....hes always very wriggly although a friendly rabbit when hes just in his run, but I wasn't expecting a squeak. I am really worried that Spudsey has stressed him out so much during the night that he thinks I was going to hurt him
I've got to go vets on friday night as both bunnies need jabs. I am hopeful in one way that the visit might bring them both together, but at the same time I am really worried about the whole thing. Spudsey is a nightmare to get in her carrier as she detests being picked up, BB also doesn't like being picked up and I am really concerned as to what BB will be like in the vets. Spudsey is normally absolutely fine but I haven't taken BB to the vets yet. I think I am more worried as Squirrel my last rabbit was very nervous and hated the vets and when he was ill and I took him down he wriggled so much we had to put him on the floor and he just literally dropped dead
Sorry for the long post

i dont have any advice but i hope it goes well at the vets

Also when Spudsey was on her own i used to go out and she would be really happy to see me and would quite often run and binky. BB also used to binky when he was on his own but whilst trying to impress Spudsey.
Neither really do this anymore :?

I'm so sorry things are stressful. I have my own wildie, but thankfully he does ok with domestic bunnies. We did, however, have many wild X bunnies in at the RSPCA centre and we found that the majority (I think all bar 1 of the 12) could not bond with full domestic bunnies. They seemed to need to be with their own kind. Could this possibly be relevant with yours?

does sound like they would rather be apart than together, must be heartbreaking

Oh hun that must be so stressfull for you. It sounds a bit like Bellas relationship with Fudge. She chases him round a lot and he runs away when she moves towards him - that said she will often sit and wash him quite happily with no problems. Silly question but are they both neutered/ spayed?

I think the wind over the last couple of days hasnt helped either itreally winds them up

Georgeypudding said:

i dont have any advice but i hope it goes well at the vets

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Thanks Georgey. Look forward to seeing you at the next Hopper meeting :wave:

How much room do they have? Out of my four Poppy and Sweetpea don't always get on, Poppy chases Sweetpea :roll: but they have enough room to get away from each other and seem to spend most their time in pairs anyway.

Does BB seem bothered by the chasing?

Sky-O said:

I'm so sorry things are stressful. I have my own wildie, but thankfully he does ok with domestic bunnies. We did, however, have many wild X bunnies in at the RSPCA centre and we found that the majority (I think all bar 1 of the 12) could not bond with full domestic bunnies. They seemed to need to be with their own kind. Could this possibly be relevant with yours?

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Thanks Sky-O. She was happily bonded with Squirrel for about a year and a half. He was a much bigger rabbit than her and he was the more dominant of the two, though they appeared absolutely fine together.

I know its hard but try not to worry too much. One of my pairs is pretty similar. Dexter (female) grooms Jasper really roughly and he somethimes has tiny nip marks round his eyes where she has gotten a bit too carried away. They chase a lot mainly him chasing her and she gets really off and bites him then as well. I've considered separating them but everytime I start to seriously consider it they suddenly have a huge love fest and spend all day every day snuggling. I think its like any new relationship there will always be spats which as long and they manage to settle them with minimal fuss then leave them too it. They are gradually getting to the stage where the chasing and scrapping is less and less. They only really fight when my other two are freeranging in the garden and Dexter gets territorial and takes it out on Jasper. I cover their run and if they cant see the other two it calms her down. As for the binkys mine did it a lot more when they were single. I still get the odd one but i'm more likely to get a happy flop these days which is just as nice to see.

donnamt said:

does sound like they would rather be apart than together, must be heartbreaking

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Trying not to cry now as at work at my desk
My other half has felt like they ought to be seperate for a while
If I did part them I have no idea how living accomdation would work as I have hardly any room in my garden

Beatrix Potter said:

Thanks Georgey. Look forward to seeing you at the next Hopper meeting :wave:

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any newson the next meeting? :wave:

webbkath said:

Oh hun that must be so stressfull for you. It sounds a bit like Bellas relationship with Fudge. She chases him round a lot and he runs away when she moves towards him - that said she will often sit and wash him quite happily with no problems. Silly question but are they both neutered/ spayed?

I think the wind over the last couple of days hasnt helped either itreally winds them up

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Odd isn't it? Yes both neutered.

louise and Gus said:

How much room do they have? Out of my four Poppy and Sweetpea don't always get on, Poppy chases Sweetpea :roll: but they have enough room to get away from each other and seem to spend most their time in pairs anyway.

Does BB seem bothered by the chasing?

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Run is about 6ft long 5ft wide I think :roll: Plently of room to get away from her but sometimes its like shes just gunning for him and they literally run laps around the whole run. Maybe shes just keeping him fit :roll:
He doesn't stamp or anything when shes chasing like he did when they were being bonded. He just sits down and then runs again when she comes but he just seems worn out.

Mrs Ord said:

I know its hard but try not to worry too much. One of my pairs is pretty similar. Dexter (female) grooms Jasper really roughly and he somethimes has tiny nip marks round his eyes where she has gotten a bit too carried away. They chase a lot mainly him chasing her and she gets really off and bites him then as well. I've considered separating them but everytime I start to seriously consider it they suddenly have a huge love fest and spend all day every day snuggling. I think its like any new relationship there will always be spats which as long and they manage to settle them with minimal fuss then leave them too it. They are gradually getting to the stage where the chasing and scrapping is less and less. They only really fight when my other two are freeranging in the garden and Dexter gets territorial and takes it out on Jasper. I cover their run and if they cant see the other two it calms her down. As for the binkys mine did it a lot more when they were single. I still get the odd one but i'm more likely to get a happy flop these days which is just as nice to see.

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Thanks for that It always helps when you know others are experiencing the same thing. My view has always been that as long as BB doesn't start just sitting in the corner not daring to move to feed etc and as long as there is no fighting then to leave them together. I just felt really awful this morning, and Spudsey after being in the hutch all night (big hutch but obviously not enough for madam) was really destructive when she came out. Chucked in loads of Fluffers apple sticks but she prefered the hutch and to chuck the litter trays, food bowl about :roll:

Georgeypudding said:

any newson the next meeting? :wave:

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October we think, maybe on a Saturday

Beatrix Potter said:

Thanks for that It always helps when you know others are experiencing the same thing. My view has always been that as long as BB doesn't start just sitting in the corner not daring to move to feed etc and as long as there is no fighting then to leave them together. I just felt really awful this morning, and Spudsey after being in the hutch all night (big hutch but obviously not enough for madam) was really destructive when she came out. Chucked in loads of Fluffers apple sticks but she prefered the hutch and to chuck the litter trays, food bowl about :roll:

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I wouldn't worry too much, as I said for ages Poppy would chase Sweetpea and there were many times I was in tears thinking I had to separate them and would have to rehome one, but as Sweetpea wasn't really bothered by the chasing I left it, and they are so much better now.

If things do get bad you could try doing a little bit of "rebonding" so bring them in to a neutral space for a while and see how they react.

As for the squeeking when picked up, Poppy does this and she doesn't even struggle to much :roll:

Maybe you can try just sitting with them for a while to get them more used to people, and if you can get them to hop into the carrier using food it would save the stress of picking them up, oh and try and stay calm yourself or the buns will pick up on it

louise and Gus said:

I wouldn't worry too much, as I said for ages Poppy would chase Sweetpea and there were many times I was in tears thinking I had to separate them and would have to rehome one, but as Sweetpea wasn't really bothered by the chasing I left it, and they are so much better now.

If things do get bad you could try doing a little bit of "rebonding" so bring them in to a neutral space for a while and see how they react.

As for the squeeking when picked up, Poppy does this and she doesn't even struggle to much :roll:

Maybe you can try just sitting with them for a while to get them more used to people, and if you can get them to hop into the carrier using food it would save the stress of picking them up, oh and try and stay calm yourself or the buns will pick up on it

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Thank you If it was easy to get Spudsey in a carrier I would have taken them both on some car journeys but she really is difficult! I've allowed myself a good hour to get them both in the carrier for their vet visit. Spudsey goes up on her back legs and stretches herself as tall as she can whenever she knows i want to pick her up. I should just do it but because of how shes standing I expect to be attacked! I have waited for her to just go in the carrier herself but shes so clever the little minx will dash out as soon as I attempt to shut the door! Then i have to try and get another rabbit in without her getting back out. Maybe I should invent a carrier that you can drop over your rabbits and then slide something underneath!?:lol:
Thanks for mentioning the squeak. I'll try not to worry about this now
Yes I could do with just sitting in the run with them more to be honest.
Thanks for all the advice its really helpful.

Beatrix Potter said:

Thank you If it was easy to get Spudsey in a carrier I would have taken them both on some car journeys but she really is difficult! I've allowed myself a good hour to get them both in the carrier for their vet visit. Spudsey goes up on her back legs and stretches herself as tall as she can whenever she knows i want to pick her up. I should just do it but because of how shes standing I expect to be attacked! I have waited for her to just go in the carrier herself but shes so clever the little minx will dash out as soon as I attempt to shut the door! Then i have to try and get another rabbit in without her getting back out. Maybe I should invent a carrier that you can drop over your rabbits and then slide something underneath!?:lol:
Thanks for mentioning the squeak. I'll try not to worry about this now
Yes I could do with just sitting in the run with them more to be honest.
Thanks for all the advice its really helpful.

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Oh another thing I did was leave the carrier in the room with them all the time and put food in it so they get used to going in and out of it without ending up at the vets. Once they are happy to hop in and out of it I am sure it will be easier

Have you tried getting another hutch to attach on the other end of the run, let them each have their own 'house'. And if that doesn't work at least if you have to seperate them and find new husbun and wife then you have a hutch to move him into.
Hope all goes well.