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Worried I have broken a bond - long

P&B

Young Bun
Hi

I read this forum all the time and have learnt alot from, but until now have never had to post before.

I have two house rabbits Pancake, a one year old neutered male, and Buggle a four month old unspayed female, both of whom I have had from the ages of 8 weeks.

I recently broke up with my boyfriend resulting in me moving back home. In my old home Pancake was free range and Buggle had a pen made from NIC for when we were not there. From the moment they met they loved each other. Never so much as a nip. Pancake used to hump Buggle which she did not like but that stopped after a while and there has never been the slightest sign of aggression.

When I moved home, my parents bought them a two storey indoor cage. Not very spacious and I know it is not ideal, but I thought it will do on a temporary basis until I can fix something more permanent. And I figured they are getting plenty of out of cage exercise time, both indoors and outdoors,

Today when I got home my Dad told me yesterday Buggle attacked Pancake. Biting, clawing etc, and as they were in the cage poor Pancake could not get away. So now I have removed the stairs and am keeping them seperate, one up one down, with the hole in the floor blocked.

Right now they are running around playing in the kitchen, there doesnt seem to be any fear or agression.

I know she needs to be spayed but I was hoping to keep it off for as long as possible because she is quite scrawny compared to Pancake and I am worried about the op. But now I feel I have no choice as the hormones have hit. Either that or she is stressed because of the move and the new living conditions.

To make matters worse they are on day 15 of a preventative 28 day course of Lapizole and I feel the daily syringe feeding is going to break my bond with her too as it is so stressful.

I really need help. I just want the best for my bunnies.

Thanks

H
 
Welcome to the world of posting :)

This is likely due to her hormones and is very expected.

The best thing you can do is keep them separate until after she has been spayed and is recovered and after about 6 weeks after her spay (as long as it is not complicated) and then rebond them. This will give you some time to feed her up a bit and get her in better condition (also maybe a health check for her might be worthwhile and you can, at the same appointment, discuss spaying with the vet) and prevent any additional fights.
 
Thank you for your reply.

She has a vet appointment for her VHD jab next Tuesday. She had her Myxi last month. So I will bring it up with them then. My vets seem to be quite rabbit savvy so I am lucky.

Do you think it is still ok for them to have play time together as long as when they are confined/unsupervised they are seperate?

H
 
You could try supervised 'playtime' but there is a risk of fights still and it probably isn't realise advised because her hormones will be driving her behaviour and she also won't smell the same to him as she did before.

Good luck for next Tuesday. You should be able to find out then when your vet is happy to spay (different vets wait for different things, some it's age, some it's weight related).
 
Yes, I see what you mean.

It is such a shame the move and the hormones hitting happened at the same time. It must be tough for both of them.


H
 
It is a shame, but all you can do now is make the best of a difficult situation. Hopefully this will only be temporary :)
 
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