Tilly pulling out Bernards fur.. FAO: Santa & GrahamL

Recently bonded Tilly & Bernard have been getting on extremely well other than the fact that Tilly has pulled out some of Bernards fur a couple of times.

I know this is usually the case during bonding but I don't understand it? She grooms him all the time but there has been two occations where she has just ripped his fur out, it makes him jump and dart off away from her so it must hurt him

Is it something I should worry about or keep an eye on?

Tasmin's MOB said:

Recently bonded Tilly & Bernard have been getting on extremely well other than the fact that Tilly has pulled out some of Bernards fur a couple of times.

I know this is usually the case during bonding but I don't understand it? She grooms him all the time but there has been two occations where she has just ripped his fur out, it makes him jump and dart off away from her so it must hurt him

Is it something I should worry about or keep an eye on?

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Perfectly normal so short a time after a bond i believe.

A bond doesn't actually take the time we 'bond' them, but however takes weeks, months etc.

If it makes you feel any better, B&G still nip each other occasionally still now (2 months since bond) and then a chase ensues. Biscuit then humps Ginger and it all calms down again. It's almost like Ginger suddenly becomes confident and fancies trying it on, but Biscuit soon puts her back in her place.

It's really quite interesting learning their social structures and behaviour.

Just keep an eye on it.

How much space do they have at the moment? Knowing they were only bonded last week, it shouldn't be excessively large right now

Thank you Graham, It seems that Tilly does try it on a bit as she has also tried humping Bernard but he doesn't stand for it so maybe it's one of those things?

They are in the living room together which is where bernard usually lives on his own and I have let them venture out and up the stairs a couple of times too (should I have not done this?)

They have spent the last three or four days together free ranging in the living room with there cage door open and they have been fine other than Tilly's fur pulling.

I didn't realise your two have only recently been bonded! They look really happy together in your photos. It makes it all the stress of bonding worth while when I see bernard so happy and Tilly fitting in so well

I will keep an eye on them both and see if I can find a reason why she might be doing it x

Are you saying that they are spending time both together and apart, it's not quite clear to me from your post? If that's the case, then this is the reason that it is still happening. Bonded buns need to stay together 24/7 and not be separated. If you keep separating them, they will get confused and territorial and will keep on needing to reassert themselves whenever they are put back together, especially if it's on one of their normal 'territories'

If it's a new bond I also wouldn't let them go anywhere else such as up the stairs yet, they need to spend time together in a smaller area to get established first, otherwise they will keep on having to reassert themselves in the new areas. Maybe the area they have to start off with is too big and this is why they haven't settled down yet. Having said that, if it's only been 3 or 4 days then I'd say it's pretty normal to still see a bit of humping/fur pulling occasionally - just keep an eye to check that it doesn't escalate.

Tasmin's MOB said:

Thank you Graham, It seems that Tilly does try it on a bit as she has also tried humping Bernard but he doesn't stand for it so maybe it's one of those things?

They are in the living room together which is where bernard usually lives on his own and I have let them venture out and up the stairs a couple of times too (should I have not done this?)

They have spent the last three or four days together free ranging in the living room with there cage door open and they have been fine other than Tilly's fur pulling.

I didn't realise your two have only recently been bonded! They look really happy together in your photos. It makes it all the stress of bonding worth while when I see bernard so happy and Tilly fitting in so well

I will keep an eye on them both and see if I can find a reason why she might be doing it x

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When i moved them into their 'permanent' location in Biccy's old 4x4 pen they stayed in there for about 4-5 days before i let them have any free-range time, as i wanted their bond to be solidified in that area, before any territorial chasing/nipping occured during free-range.

Then i added a pen to extend their 4x4 to ensure they had more space, but still only limited. Was just over a week i think before i let them free-range totally, supervised.

Everybun is different, thats just what i was advised

Perhaps the space you've given them is a bit much a bit soon, but i wouldnt worry now Just keep an eye on them. If they start squabbling, get them in the carrier, take them for a 10 minute car journey then bring them back in. (all dependant on the weather!)

And yeah, B&G have only been bonded since End of October Ginger's only been here since the 1st October

Santa- They live with each other 24/7 in the front room. I'm sorry my post isn't very clear. We bonded them by using the dating method for four days, they spent a few hours with each other on an evening in a neutral area and then when we were satisfied that they seemed happy together we let them go in the living room to see how bernard would react with her on 'his territory'

Bernard was fantastic and has completely fallen in love with her, let her in his cage and tries to snuggle up to her all the time.

They have spent the last four days and nights together in the same room 24/7 and yesterday when I noticed more fur pulling we put them in the cage and shut the door to see if this would help them. At first they snuggled together in the litter tray nomming hay but then when they realised they were locked in they started getting a bit restless and chewing bars to get back out.

I let them out again because I didn't want to stress them out.

graham- I think your right that I have given them too much space at once but I hate trapping bernard into small spaces as he has always been free range and gets really really upset and stressed when we shut him in his cage, i thought if we did this it might make him remember Tilly in a bad way.

Thank you both for all of your advise, I won't let them out of the living room again and I will keep an eye on them both x

Just an update, think you were both right about them having too much room. I decided to try putting them in the cage again and they spent a few hours in there very happily snuggling, nomming hay and playing with toys. they realised they were locked in but they didn't seem too bothered by it and when i opened the cage they came out for a little hop and then went back in!

Hopefully this will prevent anymore fur pulling for the time being as they will get used to being with each other and sharing the cage.

Thank you for your advise Santa & GrahamL

Pleased to hear it If it recurs I would just shut them back in the cage again and increase the space slowly over a matter of days by blocking a small area off at a time, but hopefully they have sorted themselves out now. Good luck xx

Really glad that it helped.

It can be easy to do things too early from what i've seen/read on here.

Things can look like they are going brilliantly and then everything changes.

I have two bunnies go from snuggling next to each other, to a 45 minute chase/hump session. All happens so quickly.

Well Done so far :wave: