Silly 'bunny mummy'!!!
Mama Doe
I'm very lucky as up until now I've never encountered this before with previous new arrivals living close to other bunnies so this is a first for me.
Leo and Lulu came to me last week. Brother and sister 10 month old mini lops and totally gorgeous and friendly. We kept them in the hut for a few days to settle in and to give them time to get used to us too. They showed no sign of any problems at all and would interact with us with not a problem. I decided to open the door to their attached run for 30 mins for a couple of evenings so they could get used to the space and to stretch their legs after being in the hut all day. My older bunny Blossom lives next door to them, an older lady who sleeps most of the day and is a total darling. All buns are separated with wire and in between the wire is a solid plastic panel so they can see each other but not touch through the wire and as I've had no problems at all in the past with my other bunnies so happily turned Leo and Lulu out. The first evening was fine and no issues at all so the following evening they had a little longer etc until they were out all day for the first time yesterday while I was at home all day so I could keep an eye on them. Oh gosh, within 5 mins of being out Lulu started to pace up and down looking at Blossom (who was asleep as usual) then all of a sudden she raced over to Leo and took a chunk of fur out of him!! No injuries just fur pulling, then just as quickly they were lying together grooming as if nothing had happened! I kept an eye on them both and this happened once more so we have now put up a solid barrier between Blossom and Leo, Lulu which seemed to help but Lulu was clearly 'on guard'. Leo really couldn't care less who's living next door. Both have been neutered but Lulu was only spayed 8 weeks ago, do you think hormones are still whizzing round? Also when I collected them I was told the pecking order had changed between them so now Lulu is in-charge but this only happened after her spay as they were separated and re-bonded as she was poorly after the op and needed some quiet time alone to recover. Could this contribute to the situation as they may still be squabbling to be top bunnie?? Will they be ok and is it possible they will sort themselves out? I really don't want to seperate them as they do lay together and groom lots, Any ideas too as to what I can do to help them, I've added toys and treats to the run to distract them but wondering if there's anything else I can do??
I'm grateful for any advice as they are really lovely bunnies and I know once this is all sorted out they are going to be very happy.
Many thanks guys :wave:
Leo and Lulu came to me last week. Brother and sister 10 month old mini lops and totally gorgeous and friendly. We kept them in the hut for a few days to settle in and to give them time to get used to us too. They showed no sign of any problems at all and would interact with us with not a problem. I decided to open the door to their attached run for 30 mins for a couple of evenings so they could get used to the space and to stretch their legs after being in the hut all day. My older bunny Blossom lives next door to them, an older lady who sleeps most of the day and is a total darling. All buns are separated with wire and in between the wire is a solid plastic panel so they can see each other but not touch through the wire and as I've had no problems at all in the past with my other bunnies so happily turned Leo and Lulu out. The first evening was fine and no issues at all so the following evening they had a little longer etc until they were out all day for the first time yesterday while I was at home all day so I could keep an eye on them. Oh gosh, within 5 mins of being out Lulu started to pace up and down looking at Blossom (who was asleep as usual) then all of a sudden she raced over to Leo and took a chunk of fur out of him!! No injuries just fur pulling, then just as quickly they were lying together grooming as if nothing had happened! I kept an eye on them both and this happened once more so we have now put up a solid barrier between Blossom and Leo, Lulu which seemed to help but Lulu was clearly 'on guard'. Leo really couldn't care less who's living next door. Both have been neutered but Lulu was only spayed 8 weeks ago, do you think hormones are still whizzing round? Also when I collected them I was told the pecking order had changed between them so now Lulu is in-charge but this only happened after her spay as they were separated and re-bonded as she was poorly after the op and needed some quiet time alone to recover. Could this contribute to the situation as they may still be squabbling to be top bunnie?? Will they be ok and is it possible they will sort themselves out? I really don't want to seperate them as they do lay together and groom lots, Any ideas too as to what I can do to help them, I've added toys and treats to the run to distract them but wondering if there's anything else I can do??
I'm grateful for any advice as they are really lovely bunnies and I know once this is all sorted out they are going to be very happy.
Many thanks guys :wave:
