Bickering bunnies - is this normal?

Hi there,

I bonded my two house rabbits (one neutered male and one spayed female) back in July and they have been living together ever since. They have seemed quite happy with each other, but have not fallen totally in love like the previous two pairs of bonded bunnies I have had.

The male was previously a cruelty case and was very underweight when rescued, so he is understandably anxious and slightly aggressive towards my female bun around food, but this has basically been resolved by scatter feeding pellets.

However, I recently bought a new toy for them - one of those three way tunnels - and my female bunny got so excited and liked it so much that she bit the male (who is the dominant one) every time he went near it! In the past couple of weeks they have had a few spats - it usually seems to be my lady bunny who starts it, with them circling each other very fast, before the male decides enough is enough and starts chasing her away with his tail right up. I have always intervened at this point so I don't know if this would escalate further or not. The odd clump of fur has been pulled out on each of them. But straight afterwards the male goes and asks to be groomed again, and they sit next to each other.

Should I be worried? Is this normal? Is there anything I should do?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and any thoughts are most welcome!

Have you removed the tunnel?

It's good that they make up quickly, but it's a bit worrying that they circle each other. Are they together permanently or just when you are around?

Yes, the tunnel has been confiscated!! Since then she has also had the same reaction with a cardboard box I put out for them to play with. I didn't even realise rabbits got possessive over toys, but that is the only explanation I can come up with at the moment.

They are together all the time but it has only been happening when they are out in the house (when I am there) rather than in their enclosure.

It's just a little confusing because as soon as they have stopped they are happy to sit together etc....

Yes I have problems with aggression that seem to only surface when I am around too. I think you're doing all you can, just stop them when they get aggressive. As long as they are happy when left alone I would carry on as you are.

You could try 2 tunnels, boxes etc and see what happens.