My bonded pair have split up after a year :-(

My neutered male and female have been happily bonded for a year. They bonded over 2 weeks through the bunny dating method and only had afew scuffles. Today I let them free in the garden as I cleaned their hutch and run as usual when I noticed them chasing eachother. They then went into a full on bunny fight, ripping out eachothers hair. I separated them with the dustpan and went on cleaning but they returned to eachother and started fighting again. I caught my female and set her aside to have abit of time to calm down. As soon as I let her out again she went straight for the male and they fought again. She initiated it that time but he was giving as good as he got. It took me afew minutes to separate them that time. They are now separate in runs pushed up against eachother so they can talk if they want to.

I'm confused as they have been totally in love since they bonded. They lie together all the time and there hasnt been so much as a tiny squirmish. Nothing new has happened and nothing has been changed about their environment.

Does this mean I should re-start the bonding process or keep them separate from now on?

Thanks!

Becca

fraid i have no idea but bumping it up:wave:

I don't know, but could it be possible to start the bonding again, maybe to make them love each other again. :?:

Oh dear do you have any other bunnies, or do wild bunnies come into your garden?

If nothing else at all has changed and you don't have other bunnies in the area, I would suggest vet check as the first port of call, as sometimes a bunny in pain can get aggressive and attack their partner - or conversely sometimes a bunny can sense that their partner is ill and instinct drives them to 'push them aeay' so they don't draw attention to predators.

If a vet check reveals nothing, I would go back to the drawing board and try and rebond them on neutral territory in the same way as you would go about any other new bond. Good luck x

It almost sounnds like referred aggression but if there are no other rabbits in the viicinity then that doesn't make sense. Maybe one is feeling ill I dont know but I think you should go back to square one and try rebonding them. Sometimes if one has been to vets they can fall out but it is usually a temporary breakdown.

I have had two similar ocassions the first with two long term bonded siblings - I was heartbroken and thought I would have to separate them. They both adopted their own terriotory - one inside the hutch and the other in the run. I had to let them get on with it (it was a rare brilliant summer fortunately) and thankfully, they made up on their own but it took several days.

The second was my current pair when newly bonded (think about 3-4 weeks). Just as you said,
they were also in the garden and they were practically airborne - it was awful. I had to supervise for the rest of the day and for a short time, they were better behaved in the run rather than the garden but gradually they settled down again. I have know idea what the problem was in either case - possibly food. They are find now, although the female does sometimes chase him off, but not so agressively and he is quite happy to scoot out of the way.

I would take them on a car ride or put them in the bath together - perhaps keep them in their hutch even if they are better behaved there. Don't loose hope - I am sure it is a temporary state!