Bonded bunnies fighting post op

Hi im new here. I would like some answers as to why my buns have,started fighting? I have 2 rexs male and female the male(shadow) is almost 2 and has been neutured. The female (roxi) is approximately 9 months maybe a little older. We had shadow from a young age and we had roxi on christmas we introduced them and they were fine a little humping but no injuries. On thursday we had roxi spayed and we took her home friday. We kept them in seperate cages but next to each other. We have tried putting them together 3 times and ecah time they have fought really bad like the worse i have ever seen them fight. They even took a gash out of my girlfriends finger as she tried to split them up. Is this normal? Do you think they will rebond? I will be very sad if i have to get rid of one of my babies. All answers and input appreciated many thanks

I had to seperate my girls post spay as well due to complications.

They fought when I put them back together.

I had to rebond - it sounds like you'll have to do the same. Luckily, ours was a very fast rebond- but still stressful.

Check out the stickies in the behaviour and bonding section.

Make sure you put them in neutral territory - and a very small space so they can't claim ownership over any part of it.

A few little squabbles are to be expected whilst they re-establish who's boss. Is Roxi's wound starting to heal? I would be slightly worried that it might get torn during bonding.

Did they go with her to her spay? When you put them back together, how did you do it?

If you have split them up then I wouldn't suggest rebonding until she is better because her feeling ill will have a huge impact on theirs and her behaviour. So I would wait a good few weeks before reintroducing, and then start right back at the beginning with bonding (neutral area, small space, constant supervision, etc).

And welcome to the site

Thanks for your quick replies. We took shadow and roxi for the spay shadow had his nails clipped and roxi was done. We picked them up friday night but didnt let them out together till saturday. I had them together in my front room. They had a scuffle but not major. So i seperated them again. Then this morning let them out together agin and they fought. So i waited an hour or so let them out and they had a really really bad one rolling around ontop of each other and kicking biting fur everywhere i got really scared(thinking of her op wounds) so picked shadow up she lunged at him and was hanging on his backside! It was quite frightening. Now i have them in seperate cages in the same room and they try to bite each other through the bars.

She probably needs a wound check because all that could have damaged her spay wound.

Did you do it on neutral space? Small space? Is she currently on pain relief?

No she isnot on any medication at all. She is due back at the vets tommorow for a chaeck up. I have checked her wound and it looks ok no visible bleeding. She is in her pen looks happy is eating hay right now. Her poo and urine is fine no change there and she has got her appetite back. Shadow looks fine just alot of missing fur! It was not in a small space to be honest it was about 6 ft by 4 ft. Do you think they will re bond? They absolutely adored each other before especially shadow he loved her! Constantly grroming and if they were seperated they would panick and get real scared until they were reunited. Now they seem to hate each other.

The outside heals far faster than the inside. If you think about a woman having a hysterectomy, she will be on pain relief for a long time and be unable to do a wide variety of things for a while after. For a bunny the recovery time is condensed, but she should still be on pain relief and the insides of her wound won't heal for a few weeks. Hopefully she hasn't torn or damaged anything inside though.

There is no knowing if they will rebond to be honest because rabbits are a complete law unto themselves. Hopefully they will, but they may not. With the fights they have had, their bond may be too damaged to repair now.

For now, keep them next to each other if you can and don't let them together.

[Thanks so i have cleaned their cages out fully with disenfectant ect. I have them right next to each now but they seem to be ignoring each other. I am goin to keep them apart for at least a week and maybe try bonding them again then. I will report back here with the results. Thanks for all your time ands suggestions

Hello i havent tried putting my bunnies backtogether yet i am worried they will fight again. How do i know the difference between normal scuffles and serious fighting? I have bonded them once already quite easily but this time im scared as i had a close inspection of shadow and he had some quite deep cuts. Hes been to vets and given the all clear but i dont want any more injuries. Is this stupid but i was thinking about a bunny muzzle? Is there such a thing

Can anyne help?.

A muzzle would not be fair. If the situation is that dire that a muzzle is needed then likely the bunnies should not be together.

There is info about body language on the bonding article on my website, which might be of use.

Hello i seem to have had some prgress. I have noticed they are kissing each other alot thru the cage as opposed to biting. We have been keeping them in seperate cages indoors and taking it in turns outside orvin the front room playing. Obviously thier scents have all over each other cages ect. Anyway i put them together for about 1 min. They both lay down flat face to face and kissed. Not long they accidentaly got together roxi jumped into shadows cage! I was horrified so i calmy went over not startle them. They were grooming i think although shadowwas nudging a bit. Butno biting and no flying fur. I may them again tomorrow and soon im goin to take them to mymoms garden go let them see each other again properly. Let me know wht any of you think and thanks for the replies

Sorry for that not making sense im posting on a phone lol