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Zoidberg and Mary just had a fight :(

gwaterhouse

Wise Old Thumper
They were running around outside and I looked over (was working on their hutch) and they seemed to be fighting, I broke it up and put them both in their hutch, since then they have been okay, zoid is downstairs mostly with Mary upstairs, altho they are grooming one another and seem happy now...

Any ideas? :-(
 
How big was the space they were in?

The worst thing you can do is increase their space too fast.

I normally say to confine to the hutch for around 5 days then slowly increase space by a few feet every 4 days.
 
We had given them free range yesterday after 7 days together, so that could have been it I guess, they were fine yesterday though so I thought they were fine, obviously not :-(

Will increase their space gradually starting from Thursday I guess. :-(
 
Hi Gareth. Far too quick to increase space I am afraid. I wouldn't have free ranged for atleast a month or so. You could give a bit more space (maybe a small run after a week to ten days and then leave it at that until they rabbits know that they are now in a relationship.

If Zoid had the garden before Mary was on the scene, you just introduced her into his territory and because it's such early days he thinks she is muscling in (and doesn't get that she is his new partner). Rabbits will know a garden as their own space (just as in the wild) by scent, sound, gnaw marks and a whole lot of other markers. To be safe keep them confined for another week I were you and see how you go after that.

In effect you are going to have to rebond because of the fight.
 
Thanks for all the advice!

I'm leaving them confined to their hutch for the next few days, will then put them in the run for a while after that, will then attach the run to the hutch after that and see how things go.

I feel stupid for letting them out :-( I thought they were ok. :-(
 
Thanks for all the advice!

I'm leaving them confined to their hutch for the next few days, will then put them in the run for a while after that, will then attach the run to the hutch after that and see how things go.

I feel stupid for letting them out :-( I thought they were ok. :-(

Don't feel stupid. You weren't to know.

Bunnies are all very individual as I am sure you know, and as such can have quick bonds, slow bonds, seeming to take forever bonds and sometimes a never bond.

Unless you are a bunny psychic, join the rest of us mere mortals. Trial and error.

We all hope that things continue to improve.

Take care of yourself and the buns.
 
Don't feel stupid. You weren't to know.

Bunnies are all very individual as I am sure you know, and as such can have quick bonds, slow bonds, seeming to take forever bonds and sometimes a never bond.

Unless you are a bunny psychic, join the rest of us mere mortals. Trial and error.

We all hope that things continue to improve.

Take care of yourself and the buns.

Thanks.

I'll let you know how they get on tonight.

I'm going to get up early to check on them, but they seemed friendly just now. It's just going to be another restless sleep :-(

Thanks again
 
Hi:wave:

I had a very similar situation.:shock:

Flopsy lost his wifey earlier on in the year and so after a couple of months I adopted him a new wife from rspca.:D

Was totally useless at bonding so took them to get bonded. They came back after 5 days and I was told they were fine.:roll: A week later i went into the back garden and found fur everywhere.

My Flopsy (male) had never been groomed before as his previous wife (Jem) was very lazy spoilt bun (god love her) and he use to groom her and she never bothered grooming him.

When he met Flora she was used to grooming buns so everytime she used to groom him (near his eyes) he took a wobbler:shock: He also tried to hump her (his last wifey didnt object:shock::oops::lol:) but she wasnt having any of it.

Its took about 2 months for them both to settle down and get used to each other.

Flopsy now knows he cant hump or he'll get his fur pulled out and he also now knows he has to sit patiently when she grooms him.

Its took some time but I am convinced they are getting closer.

By the way Ive never separated them from coming home after bonding and its been fine apart from the occasional spat.:shock:
 
Hi Gareth. Far too quick to increase space I am afraid. I wouldn't have free ranged for atleast a month or so. You could give a bit more space (maybe a small run after a week to ten days and then leave it at that until they rabbits know that they are now in a relationship.

If Zoid had the garden before Mary was on the scene, you just introduced her into his territory and because it's such early days he thinks she is muscling in (and doesn't get that she is his new partner). Rabbits will know a garden as their own space (just as in the wild) by scent, sound, gnaw marks and a whole lot of other markers. To be safe keep them confined for another week I were you and see how you go after that.

In effect you are going to have to rebond because of the fight.

Completely agree with this :wave:
 
Obviously this is a long way off, but is there anything i can do to dezoidify the garden?

I'm going to restain the decking anyway, so that might help a bit? Anything else people can suggest?

They're fine this morning, I let them out in the run and they were grooming one another etc. :D

I think the fight just knocked them back a few steps thats all.... I feel a lot better about the whole incident now. Just need to manage them better over the next few weeks.
 
Obviously this is a long way off, but is there anything i can do to dezoidify the garden?

I'm going to restain the decking anyway, so that might help a bit? Anything else people can suggest?

They're fine this morning, I let them out in the run and they were grooming one another etc. :D

I think the fight just knocked them back a few steps thats all.... I feel a lot better about the whole incident now. Just need to manage them better over the next few weeks.

Yes wait for some heavy rain. That will wash away a great deal of scent that has been purposely marked on both objects that stick out around the boundaries of the territory, and also rinses scent off the marker droppings on the ground. :wave:
 
Yes wait for some heavy rain. That will wash away a great deal of scent that has been purposely marked on both objects that stick out around the boundaries of the territory, and also rinses scent off the marker droppings on the ground. :wave:

Cool, i'll keep them together for another 3 weeks atleast, so hopefully we'd have had some rain by then!! :lol:

Anything else? How do people go about increasing their space gradually? I only have the one run, so will find it hard to increase their space gradually, if I just wait 3 weeks in their run and hutch will that be alright to then give them free range?

It was so distressing to see though :cry: It didn't help that it was our wedding anniversary yesterday, so it kind of ruined our evening as I was always checking on the buns! :(
 
Don't feel too bad owning rabbits is a long learning process and we're all guilty of making little mistakes!

Can you describe the nature of the fight? If it's just humping and fur pulling it's nothing to worry about.
 
Don't feel too bad owning rabbits is a long learning process and we're all guilty of making little mistakes!

Can you describe the nature of the fight? If it's just humping and fur pulling it's nothing to worry about.

They were kind of chasing one another head to tail and quite a bit of fur came out :cry:

it wasn't a pretty sight....
 
They were kind of chasing one another head to tail and quite a bit of fur came out :cry:

it wasn't a pretty sight....

Hmm i'm not convinced that sounds like a fight? Was there any lunging or grunting? They may have been circling each other, or be getting some 'spring fever'. Marvin is always pulling Maisie's fur out when he mounts her, it's all part of spring!

Like i said I can't say for sure as I didn't see it, but normally if its a proper fight there is scratching, lunging and biting.
 
Hmm i'm not convinced that sounds like a fight? Was there any lunging or grunting? They may have been circling each other, or be getting some 'spring fever'. Marvin is always pulling Maisie's fur out when he mounts her, it's all part of spring!

Like i said I can't say for sure as I didn't see it, but normally if its a proper fight there is scratching, lunging and biting.

Sorry there was a bit of biting, as when i seperated them mary lunged at zoidberg again... atleast that's what i think happened! it is all a bit of a blur now! :oops:

will just keep an eye on them over the next few weeks,and take it from there.
thanks matt!
 
Sorry there was a bit of biting, as when i seperated them mary lunged at zoidberg again... atleast that's what i think happened! it is all a bit of a blur now! :oops:

will just keep an eye on them over the next few weeks,and take it from there.
thanks matt!

No problem! Sometimes I used to think mine were fighting and they wern't at all so I was just clarifying!

In that case though it does sound like a fight, but if you follow the advice given you shouldn't need to worry! :D
 
cheers buddy, yeah i'll just keep a close eye on them and keep them in their hutch and run for a few weeks and see how things go...
 
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