Help please...

Hello everyone.

I'm asking if everyone can please put their misgivings about me aside, and help me with a genuine problem.

We got Lily at the end of January. After 3 weeks of bonding, Finn and Lily were happy to be together, grooming and snuggling without any fights. During the bonding process, Lily was extremely submissive towards Finn, and ran away from him quite often. The only fur that was pulled out, on two occasions, was Lily's.

About two and a half weeks ago, Lily injured her tail. We still haven't found the origin of the injury, but it was a "degloving" style injury, the skin was stripped away from the top of her tail, and hanging as a flap. Thanks to a great vet, some expensive dressings, and lots of TLC (and fights with Lily to let me medicate her and dress her tail daily), it's now healed. During the treatment, I split the buns up again, with a division down the middle of the big run, as I'd done when I was bonding them. They can see and smell each other, and frequently touch noses through the division.

We put them together again in the hallway three days ago. Fur went flying. BOTH rabbits' fur this time. Lily has become a lot more aggressive and pulls out Finn's fur, as a retaliation, Finn pulls out hers. No blood has been shed so far, but I'm VERY worried.

The vet thought it unlikely, but I'm still slightly thinking that Finn caused the tail injury and that Lily's now lost all trust in him and is angry. I don't know. But I really need your help how to re-introduce these two former friends and have them live happily together. It's unfair for them to remain divided like this because they haven't enough space to run around in their runs.

Help me, please?

Hiya! Is Lily spayed? At this time of year it's possible that she is feeling hormonal, frisky and a bit territorial and that could cause her to get aggressive. Maybe getting her spayed and then trying again a few weeks after that? Also starting the bonding again on entirely neutral territory is likely to help, the trouble with that run is that now they are viewing it as territory so it is more likely to cause fights.

Spaying is an idea that may help but i dont think there going to get on.Its rare for a buck and doe not to get on but when they dont THEY DONT.As youve already had one very bad injury i think its unlikely.Sorry i carnt be more posative. val

it sounds as if the bond is broken I had to split my pair up (but they are two neutered brothers) . I have a huge divide down the room , thankfully its a large spare bedroom so they still have plenty of room to run about . They can sniff and lick each other through the divide and still have mad binky sessions together . I can put them together in neutral territory and they don,t always fight but the potential is there . I know that if I left them together that all hell would break loose when I turned my back .

Both are neutered, had Finn done myself and Lily was done at the RSPCA before she came to me.

It makes me really sad to think the bond's been broken, potentially for good.

Im afraid i have to agree with what the others have said , A rabbit wont forget if another rabbit has hurt them.
I also ahve netuered brothers they ahve been seperated as in november one nearly killed the other al out of the blue too :shock: Liquorice is lucky to be alive as he was torn from top to toe,had a peice of skin missing and it had got infected after just one day!!!!!(in vets for two weeks!!!)
Vet said Liquorice will never forget this and will be likely to really do some damage.
Your to sound like its beyond repair unfortuatly,I am not a espert tho and i surpose theres hope but you will have to watch them very carefully indeed now,keep us informed sorry couldnt be more helpful

I have 3 single bunnies and a group, and it is hard juggling them all on the same exercise area, but they'd kill each other if they shared it! They certainly don't have hours of freedom as in an 'ideal world', but the single bunnies seem happy to follow each other's scent markings, add their own mess to the pile :roll: and see each other through the cage wire - I think a routine and a place where they feel secure is important to a rabbit's mental health, more than having masses of space and a partner. If you get a time sharing routine on the running space, and they can see each other I think they'll be happy enough as they are. In fact as the weeks go by, Benny is becoming less aggressive towards the girls, just from familiarity and knowing they won't come into his territory.

I wouldn't put ther through that stress again. They don't seem to be suited!

sad.. but she has made up he mind I think :?

Hi Maikke, it does unfortunatly sound as if there bond is broken and you will probs find that it was Finn who damaged Lily's tail. All is not lost though. You can try and re-bond them but it may take a long time. You will just have to take the bonding process from the very start and very slowly. Do not introduce them again until they have been next to each other (divided by a run) and you see licking though the bars. If you get them grooming through the bars, takethem to a neutral space and let them run around, but not freely, you will have to keep yourself between them at all times. If you do this and they don't go for each other thats great if they do, split them into seperate corners and start again. Split them back into there own runs after about half an hour. If after a few weeks of this and there still not getting on, then im sorry the bond has gone and you will never getthem together, but you can still try XX Good Luck Pm me if you need anything XXX

Thanks everyone for your input, and for your suggestions Phill!

They are currently in one run, split by a division they can see and nose each other through.

I told the vet at the time that I was afraid Finn had done it, but he said that, judging from which skin was missing where (top of the tail only, in a flap backwards, none from the bottom), that it was most likely that she's gotten something on top of her tail, or it wedged in somewhere that was pushing down, and pulled and stripped the skin off. He said that, had it been Finn, there would have been skin missing from the bottom.

But that doesn't explain her sudden aggression towards him... :?

I will indeed start the bonding over again. Lil is upset with me due to the huge amount of unpleasant things I had to do to her (the dressings were a NIGHTMARE, and she hated the syringe with meds), so we're having to bond all over again. Finn never quite forgave me for the last bout of teeth problems he had as he developed an abcess that I had to squeeze and debride every day, which hurt him tremendously. :roll:

So bonding all over again from all sides! They still love their dad, though...traitors...