Should I separate?

I think I've mentioned before that Luna has been bullying Lana a little bit. Just pulling chunks of her fur out underneath her tail every now and again. I've been trying to keep her occupied to keep her from doing it which helped a bit but it's started getting worse. She's started chasing Lana around the bedroom now and has lunged at and attacked her twice. In both cases I was sitting there so was able to stop anything terrible from happening and they settled down after a bit. The last couple of days have been horrible though, Luna will not stop chasing Lana and biting her! I'm not sure what to do. Half of the time they seem to really love eachother. About an hour ago they were lying together whilst Luna groomed Lana and now she's being horrible to her. Should I separate them? And If i do, for how long before I try and rebond them?

Have they been spayed?

Vegan_Bunny said:

Have they been spayed?

Click to expand...

Yes both were spayed about 5 months ago. The problems started about 2 weeks before they were spayed which is why I had it done then, but got alot better afterwards.

How big is the space they live in?

My buns chase and Xena lunges occasionally at the buns but she has always been like that and it isn't a constant thing. It's difficult to tell when their bond is breaking down or if it's just the way bunnies are. If it's getting worse, I'd be tempted to try bonding them from scratch..i.e neutral territory and small space etc.

Has there been any new animals/objects nearby?

I think last time you posted a thread about this I said that if I were you, I would separate them. It is not fair on the one being bitten all the time and you would never forgive yourself if you weren't there and a major attack occurred, causing serious injury. Maybe one or both of them has an underlying health issue that hasn't been picked up on yet?

Vegan_Bunny said:

How big is the space they live in?

My buns chase and Xena lunges occasionally at the buns but she has always been like that and it isn't a constant thing. It's difficult to tell when their bond is breaking down or if it's just the way bunnies are. If it's getting worse, I'd be tempted to try bonding them from scratch..i.e neutral territory and small space etc.

Has there been any new animals/objects nearby?

Click to expand...

Do I start doing that straight the way? So separate them when I'm not there and then only allow them access in a supervised neutral area? Or do I wait before trying a new bond? No new animals or objects. We did move back to my parents house a couple of months ago but if anything that helped the situation for a while. They have free range of my bedroom which isn't massive but is a decent size. I tried to keep them in a dog crate with attached run inside of the room but they get worse when I make their space smaller and get quite aggressive out of frustration

ripminnie said:

I think last time you posted a thread about this I said that if I were you, I would separate them. It is not fair on the one being bitten all the time and you would never forgive yourself if you weren't there and a major attack occurred, causing serious injury. Maybe one or both of them has an underlying health issue that hasn't been picked up on yet?

Click to expand...

That's true, I didn't think it was necessary in the end last time but is definitely worse now so will probably have to. I don't want Lana to become stressed from it. They both have some respiratory issues, but always have done and are otherwise healthy.

thanks for the help

Hmm. I'm not the most experienced in this. I've never had a buns fall out. I can't honestly say what the best thing to do is. If it was me, however, I think I'd separate them but so they can see each other and possibly touch through mesh. It depends if you think there might be any aggression through the bars. I would give them a break, maybe a few days or a week, then start the bonding process from scratch. If you do this, I would not separate them once you start the bond. Obviously this can be difficult but separating them will only confuse them and probably cause more problems. Once you bond them properly, then you can completely neutralise your bedroom and if everything goes well, reintroduce them to the room.

I must admit that I had this same problem with Fiver and Xena. their bond concerned me. Xena would chase fiver around and lunge at him, she's take chunks of fur from him. Fiver was obviously quite upset over this and he was quite frustrated because Xena refused to groom him. When I found Shadowfax, I decided to bond her to see if it helped. It did. Xena still chases, as I mentioned before, but Fiver is much happier because Shadowfax often grooms him. Things have really settled down and I now have three very happy, relaxed buns. Shadowfax and Fiver know what Xena is like and seem to deal well with her little quirks.