Phenom has become severely aggressive

Hi my bunny friends...

Phenom my 2.5 years old little dwarf girl, was in love with Boon, my recent bridge bun who left for the RBB in March due to severe dysautonomia issues / megacolon. He was only 1.5 years old. She and boon were bonded, though, and typically, she acted very aggressive/territorial to any foster bunnies we had.

Now that Boon has left for the bridge, I have tried to have her bonded to other buns - no go. The shelters had no such luck.

I recently adopted a very young Dwarf Hotot boy, Kai, whom I plan to neuter when he is about 8-9 months old.

His cage is on top of Phenom's - separated until I can bond them...

But Phenom HATES Kai. And Kai is very playful, but he doesn't like to be held and I can tell he doesn't like Phenom either.

They immediately fought thru the cage bars when I had Kai out for playtime.

Worse, is I think Phenom is SO upset by Kai's presence that she has been acting out. I mean I can barely reach my hand in to feed her - she lunges, boxes, snorts, grints, thumps.... and worst, she bites... very very hard.

Tonight I had her on my lap and she bit me three times. Drew blood. I cried it hurt so bad. My fiance put her back in her cage and she bit him too -- and just generally has been attacking the hell out of us. She was always a little sassy and skittish before, but she's never been straight up aggressive.

Bonding these two sounds like an impossibility, and I don't know what to do about Phenom's aggression. Help

Hi

What a shame for them and you

I think you will have to move Kai away from her to let her settle down again. She will be able to smell him and hear him which will keep her unsettled and vice versa. Maybe you could reintroduce them once Kai is neutered but leaving them close at this time doesn't look like a good idea. x

Rabcat said:

Hi

What a shame for them and you

I think you will have to move Kai away from her to let her settle down again. She will be able to smell him and hear him which will keep her unsettled and vice versa. Maybe you could reintroduce them once Kai is neutered but leaving them close at this time doesn't look like a good idea. x

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I agree - I would put them in different rooms unti Kai is neutered and his hormones have settled. The problem is that if you don't do that and then try to bond them, you may well fail as the damage will have been done.

Hey bunny friends,

Thanks for your advice. I have them (kind of) out of sight of each other, kind of neighbors but not.... but I'm pretty sure Phenom can smell him no matter what room he is in. She continues to bite me and NOW isn't eating her pellets. Hasn't touched them in 4 or 5 days. But she happily munches hay and her poops are fine and she poops normally.

Annnnd she still bites me and boxes. She is one angry little girl. I don't know what the heck to do. This house house no doors on the doorways because it is old, and it's almost as if it's all one room, and there's a limited amount of places I can move them around.... they will always be in (kind of) sight of each other :\

I have three rabbits that are not bonded with one another. There has been referred aggression between a few of them in the past, so I've resigned myself to keeping all three separate, but they can be housed near one another now without problems. Perhaps it will just take some time for Phenom to eventually accept Kai, it is not unheard of for conflicting rabbits to eventually learn to tolerate each other.
I know it is your ultimate goal to have them be bonded, but are you prepared to house them separately should this not be attainable? They may still eventually learn to enjoy the company of the other even if they aren't a snuggly couple.

Have you had Phenom checked by a vet? Just wondered, especially as she is now off her pellets. I know she is probably reacting to the loss of her friend and the proximity of another bun but it may be worth having her looked over just to make sure there is no medical reason why she is acting the way she is.

None of my cats or buns are aggressive and on the very few occasions I have been bitten it has been because they are poorly, even though not always something obvious.

Just a thought.