Please help - bonded bunnies fur pulling or shedding??

Hi everyone,
Please can you give me advice. I have two bonded male rabbits, both neutered, we had Jager first then got Bailey and went through a whole bonding process of joint car journeys and water pistol supervised playtimes. They both seem to love each other, both living in same hutch (but with bars separating them) for 3 months and then living in the same hutch NOT separated for the last month. They have shared play time on the balcony, snuggle, groom each other, do binkys when they play together, lay next to each other even though its 30 degrees (I live in Tenerife).

However, 6 days ago we got a new hutch - twice the size, with an upstairs downstairs set up. And yesterday morning we went onto the balcony to find multiple tufts of fur and Jager now has a bald spot! Scared they had fallen out I watched them all day, but they still chose to sit together and groom each other and no harm was done all day from 9am until 10pm while they had run of the balcony. Last night I checked multiple times and all was fine in the hutch, both lying next to each other, but at some point in the early hours something obviously happened as more tufts (although fewer than the first time) were in the hutch. It is very hot and they seem to be molting, have molt patterns etc. Bailey has had a couple of loose tufts but nowhere near as many as Jager - so I'm worried Bailey is bullying him? But I have no evidence to prove there was a real fight and don't want to split them up if they are just working out the hierarchy in their new hutch.

Does molting produce tufts of fur similar to those when rabbits fight?
Could fur pulling actually be harmless as they just get used to the new hutch?
If they are still acting like they are bonded, would they be fighting intermittently?
Do you have any suggestions for ensuring a happy living space?

Many thanks in advance for any help!!!

It's possibly the new hutch which has upset them. Hopefully they will settle down soon and moulting is also a little bit stressful so add on this to a new different smelling hutch and their relationship has become a bit fragile.

I expect the tufts of fur are a combination of moulting and them getting a bit feisty with one another so fur comes away much easier.

Were they born there as a matter of interest really. I find rabbits cope well with all weathers although we don't often experience 30 here. Good luck with them.

tonibun said:

It's possibly the new hutch which has upset them. Hopefully they will settle down soon and moulting is also a little bit stressful so add on this to a new different smelling hutch and their relationship has become a bit fragile.

I expect the tufts of fur are a combination of moulting and them getting a bit feisty with one another so fur comes away much easier.

Were they born there as a matter of interest really. I find rabbits cope well with all weathers although we don't often experience 30 here. Good luck with them.

Click to expand...

Thanks Tonibun,
Yes they are from Tenerife. The pet shops here really don't know what they are on about and as a first time rabbit owner we bought Jager (the only one left of his litter). Then when he started to get so attached to us we felt terrible working all day and wanted to get him a friend. We saw Bailey was the last one left too. When we asked the pet shop if you can bond two boys she just said it would be fine, very easy just put them together. It wasn't until I found all the forums and advice I realised what a problem it could be and we spent ages bonding them. I'd be absolutely heartbroken if their now fragile friendship became a broken bond!!

Is there anything you can recommend that I can do to make things a little less tense for them? Revert back to the old hutch?

Some rabbits don't like a change in their accommodation but it's difficult to advise whether a return to their old hutch would be the answer. If they keep squabbling, I would be inclined to return them to their other hutch and hope they will be happier. Or can you put th 2 hutches near one another so the bunnies can slowly get used to the new one (if your set up allows for this).

A change in accommodation can be a trigger for fighting but I wouldn't switch back at this point as it probably wouldn't help. It does sound like they may have had a scrap so check carefully for wounds they can be hard to spot in the fluff. If you haven't seen any other aggression then hopefully they'll be okay. Not much you can do other than no more changes for now and just watch meal time as food can be another trigger. Scatter feeding can help rather than having a bowl to fight over

Tamsin said:

A change in accommodation can be a trigger for fighting but I wouldn't switch back at this point as it probably wouldn't help. It does sound like they may have had a scrap so check carefully for wounds they can be hard to spot in the fluff. If you haven't seen any other aggression then hopefully they'll be okay. Not much you can do other than no more changes for now and just watch meal time as food can be another trigger. Scatter feeding can help rather than having a bowl to fight over

Click to expand...

Many thanks to both for your help. Update of this morning - more fluff all over the hutch on both top and bottom floor. Bullied bunny seemed scared to go downstairs where the other bunny was. I have put down the little wooden trap door for today so that one is top and one is bottom. I didn't want to as I'm worried they can't see each other but hopefully the smells will be there. I had to go to work but couldn't leave Jager all scared. He has a small bit of broken skin in one of the bald patches which I have put antiseptic on. He was a little jumpy to stroke down his back and sides so I think he is a bit sensitive today.

I have been scatter feeding, they have one water bottle and one litter tray and I took all toys away yesterday. Could they fight over the water bottle? Or litter trays? I can give them 2 of everything if necessary.

How long can you separate them for before it becomes a problem? Do you think I should put them back together this evening or give Jager more of a break? How many nights would you let fur pulling continue for before its too stressful for Jager?

Going to let them out together on the balcony again after work and see how they are together. It has been 3 nights of fur pulling. Don't know what to do I keep getting up in the night to check up on them so I haven't been sleeping. I was so happy to have them bonded.

It's really tough to answer that. Splitting them can make things worse because they tend to feel like they have to reestablish who is boss when they meet again. On the other hand, they can't be in together if there is a risk of injury.

A litter tray each wouldn't hurt though they are less likely to fight over that - it's food that is the thing they can get pushy over.

Night time is often when bunnies are most active so that might be why it's happening then.

If you do keep them apart, then it is a good idea to try the reintroduction somewhere neutral, like you would for rabbits that hadn't met before. For the same reason, then they do have a home territory to fight over.

Thanks For getting back to me.
Does keeping them in the same hutch with a wire door separating top from bottom count as separating them completely. I'm thinking just letting them see and smell each other at night and while I'm at work and then letting them play together supervised?

I have examined Jager and he has at least 3 small cuts that I have put betadine on. Wouldn't want him to get bitten beyond repair / them fall out forever by risking letting them sleep together a 3rd night. There has been a little chasing at playtime today so I suspect the nighttime tussles are having a negative effect?

I really appreciate the advice.

Do you mean that they are shut in a hutch at night?

This is the most active time for rabbits and could be one reason that they are fighting. They need a 6 x 2 x 2 hutch with a permanently attached 8 x 6 run (recommended by the RAWF).

When my two boys fell out I was advised to house them well away from each other so that they couldnt see or smell the other one. They are now back together with a couple of bonded sisters added in.

Hope you manage to rebond your two. Pictures would be nice as well!

Hi yes I mean shut them in at night. It's a real pain but we live in an apartment with a lovely bunny proofed balcony, however we noticed that our roof terrace has cat urine on it so we are scared to leave them out overnight for this reason.

Updates are - we took them for a car ride in their smaller box and they re-bonded almost instantly. They spent the last two nights running around our ensuite bathroom so we could hear any trouble and they seemed fine. No new bits of pulled fur and no new injuries. They ran around on the balcony after work yesterday and were fine but I closed off the hutch incase they went inside and fell out again over territory.

Not really sure how best to proceed as I do not want to take a step back and see them fall out over the new hutch.

Now you mention cat wee, could the cat get anywhere near the rabbit hutch as this could trigger an upset. It's what is called Referred Aggression? Even smelling a cat close by could upset them.

Could you make a run the size of the balcony with a weld mesh lid as well as sides?

Agree re; cat urine being a possible trigger for referred aggression.

I did wonder about the cat it's such a pain. Our roof terrace links to everyone else's and obviously someone's cat likes to wander around! There is a spiral staircase leading down to our balcony so I suppose it could easily come down to where the boys are :-( what a nightmare. We only moved here a month ago and spent ages bunny proofing so that they couldn't get off the downstairs balcony or hurt themselves. The balcony is 5m x 2m so ok size for them when we aren't home and when we are they run around inside too. It was only a week or so ago we noticed there had been cat pee upstairs.

They spent the 3rd night running around our bathroom perfectly happy and have been snuggling and lovely to each other. No aggression for the past 3 days now and Jager's small wounds are healing nicely (although he still have bald patches). Both have had a clean bill of health from the vet so I can rule out illness as the trigger.

I'd put my money on it being the cat.

How can I stop a cat from getting near the hutch? Any suggestions?

sarahknight89 said:

How can I stop a cat from getting near the hutch? Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

Buy a dog.

Sorry, couldn't resist!

I'm not sure, sorry...

Now that you mention we are hoping to rescue a dog. Will bringing a dog home have the same affect on the rabbits?? With them turning on each other?