My single boy Thumper was bonded with a female named Tumble in September last year. He was 16 months at the time and she was 4 months. He was a single house bunny before that due to a failed bond with my other male (also rebonded with a female and house bunnies). In September we put all four bunnies into long term boarding as we were moving in with our in-laws whilst going through the house-buying process. So I decided to get Thumper bonded as I didn't want him to be sad and alone in a new environment (they were put into outside housing so it was a big change). Tumble came from a local rescue who said she was speyed and vaccinated.
All the bunnies have come back to the in-laws as we are going to be living here a little longer than expected so they agreed we could set their homes up here. We bought two sheds and they came home about 3 weeks ago. On the day we picked the bunnies up the lady said they had been in smaller accommodation for a couple of days due to repairs and had been a bit chasy at food time. Anyway three weeks on and there is a big problem with food aggression. As soon as Tumble hears us coming she chases Thumper, nipping him. At first he just ran away. He has always been so excitable at dinnertime and usually starts binkying when dinner is arriving. Day by day things have got worse. She is attacking him more viciously and he is retaliating. We now have circling and boxing. It's so sad to see him binkying and her attacking him at the same time, Thumper is becoming jumpy and subdued. A positive is that she settles down once she is eating the food. Although she still runs back and forth inbetween pellets which I find odd.
I have tried going in and out on many occasions without food so she doesn't start chasing him when we go out there. I've also tried scatter feeding but that hasn't helped. What could be causing this aggression? The boarding lady said they had always done a bit of chasing over food but nothing major. Obviously I don't know whether that's true or not. I was thinking of taking them to the vets tomorrow to check for possible health problems. I was wondering if there's a possibility she isn't speyed?! Or the Spey wasn't completed in full? I thought four months was a little young for a spey. Anything else anyone can recommend I try? I've obviously only spent 3 weeks watching them but I don't think they suit eachother in terms of personality. She is hyper and jumpy, he is so laid back and chilled. They don't seem very "together" and I think it's only a matter of time before they have a proper fight x
All the bunnies have come back to the in-laws as we are going to be living here a little longer than expected so they agreed we could set their homes up here. We bought two sheds and they came home about 3 weeks ago. On the day we picked the bunnies up the lady said they had been in smaller accommodation for a couple of days due to repairs and had been a bit chasy at food time. Anyway three weeks on and there is a big problem with food aggression. As soon as Tumble hears us coming she chases Thumper, nipping him. At first he just ran away. He has always been so excitable at dinnertime and usually starts binkying when dinner is arriving. Day by day things have got worse. She is attacking him more viciously and he is retaliating. We now have circling and boxing. It's so sad to see him binkying and her attacking him at the same time, Thumper is becoming jumpy and subdued. A positive is that she settles down once she is eating the food. Although she still runs back and forth inbetween pellets which I find odd.
I have tried going in and out on many occasions without food so she doesn't start chasing him when we go out there. I've also tried scatter feeding but that hasn't helped. What could be causing this aggression? The boarding lady said they had always done a bit of chasing over food but nothing major. Obviously I don't know whether that's true or not. I was thinking of taking them to the vets tomorrow to check for possible health problems. I was wondering if there's a possibility she isn't speyed?! Or the Spey wasn't completed in full? I thought four months was a little young for a spey. Anything else anyone can recommend I try? I've obviously only spent 3 weeks watching them but I don't think they suit eachother in terms of personality. She is hyper and jumpy, he is so laid back and chilled. They don't seem very "together" and I think it's only a matter of time before they have a proper fight x
