binkyCodie
Mama Doe
this will be long but I feel its best to go back to the start so everybody knows the background. so here goes..
April 2015 I decided to get myself a rabbit after years of research and saving up for a hutch, run, neuter. we headed to a breeder and took home the little grey bean called Snoopy. being my first bunny I felt overwhelmed by the idea of having two to begin with.
later on in the year I felt that he was lonely, so I made the decision to look into rescuing. I heard there was a rex looking for a new home not too far away so I make the decision to head over and take a look.
put it this way, I couldn't leave her behind. 6 month old, almost fully grown rex living in an 80cm cage, no hay, no food, sorehocks, bars chewed to death, overgrown claws. I couldn't leave a innocent bunny in that condition, so home came Luna.
from October till March the pair hated one another, chasing, ripping fur out, growling. Luna was terrified of him. I went to basics of playing their runs side by side, cage swapping, territory swapping i guess, scent swapping. nothing actually worked for me. in the end I gave up and went to work on luna's behavioral issues, like being terrified of me, cage aggression, food aggression, and being scared of generally everything.
last year in March Snoopy became pretty sick and I had to bring him inside for treatment (he was an outdoor bunny). so I split Luna's cage in two and the pair of bunnies became inseparable almost instantly. Luna chewed your iPhone wire? Snoopy was right behind chewing further down, they were partners in crime!
skip to now, since February I've not been able to have them near one another without bars. the pair beforehand lived quite happily in a massive dog crate with plenty of toys, play time, pets, and free roam of my bedroom when I was up there (which is quite often!)
I've had to purchase another cage and place them into smaller cages, which makes me feel like complete poop as they're in now way to small cages, but I don't have the space for two massive cages. 100cm for each bunny to be exact. (yes, I am aware this is way too small. no, I am not happy about it. yes, I wish this wasn't the case. and I never planned nor saw this coming.)
right now they are next to one another in the cages and seem to ignore one another except for when Snoopy decides to try to go for Luna through the bars.
if I have them out together, trying to bond them, Snoopy ends up being the driving force and grunting, biting onto her, trying to hump, and of course Luna runs away resulting in a high speed chase. I've had to rip Snoopy off of her on a few occasions when I've tried to bond. she's seems terrified of him, the moment i place them near one another she runs away looking pretty fearful and wants to be nowhere near him.
I've gone right back to basics, scent swapping, cage swapping, neutral territory. nothing is really making progress.
I've had Snoopy checked out at the vet in February when this all started., he had rabbit version of a cold, put on antibiotics and has since been cleared on our last check up. Luna is displaying no issues herself, she's more than happy being grumpy and chewing everything lol.
both are fixed rabbits, and that for both of them was done well over a year ago, and both are two years old.
sadly there is no where else to house the bunnies except in my bedroom where Luna was first (Snoopy was originally an outdoor rabbit). so I can't move one and then upgrade to bigger cages. it makes me feel like a horrible owner as they're living in small spaces, but don't have any bigger space for both of them
I'm at the point I can't care for both of them like this, so rehoming may be an option if I can't ever sort this out, and that's not something I want. I raised Snoopy like my child and treated Luna like my baby also. I'm really proud of her (and myself!) for how far she has come. but even so, she still has issues such as biting you if hands are in cages or you try to move her food bowl or give her food. so that concerns me for rehoming as people don't often enjoy aggressive pets.
does anybody have any advice?
April 2015 I decided to get myself a rabbit after years of research and saving up for a hutch, run, neuter. we headed to a breeder and took home the little grey bean called Snoopy. being my first bunny I felt overwhelmed by the idea of having two to begin with.
later on in the year I felt that he was lonely, so I made the decision to look into rescuing. I heard there was a rex looking for a new home not too far away so I make the decision to head over and take a look.
put it this way, I couldn't leave her behind. 6 month old, almost fully grown rex living in an 80cm cage, no hay, no food, sorehocks, bars chewed to death, overgrown claws. I couldn't leave a innocent bunny in that condition, so home came Luna.
from October till March the pair hated one another, chasing, ripping fur out, growling. Luna was terrified of him. I went to basics of playing their runs side by side, cage swapping, territory swapping i guess, scent swapping. nothing actually worked for me. in the end I gave up and went to work on luna's behavioral issues, like being terrified of me, cage aggression, food aggression, and being scared of generally everything.
last year in March Snoopy became pretty sick and I had to bring him inside for treatment (he was an outdoor bunny). so I split Luna's cage in two and the pair of bunnies became inseparable almost instantly. Luna chewed your iPhone wire? Snoopy was right behind chewing further down, they were partners in crime!
skip to now, since February I've not been able to have them near one another without bars. the pair beforehand lived quite happily in a massive dog crate with plenty of toys, play time, pets, and free roam of my bedroom when I was up there (which is quite often!)
I've had to purchase another cage and place them into smaller cages, which makes me feel like complete poop as they're in now way to small cages, but I don't have the space for two massive cages. 100cm for each bunny to be exact. (yes, I am aware this is way too small. no, I am not happy about it. yes, I wish this wasn't the case. and I never planned nor saw this coming.)
right now they are next to one another in the cages and seem to ignore one another except for when Snoopy decides to try to go for Luna through the bars.
if I have them out together, trying to bond them, Snoopy ends up being the driving force and grunting, biting onto her, trying to hump, and of course Luna runs away resulting in a high speed chase. I've had to rip Snoopy off of her on a few occasions when I've tried to bond. she's seems terrified of him, the moment i place them near one another she runs away looking pretty fearful and wants to be nowhere near him.
I've gone right back to basics, scent swapping, cage swapping, neutral territory. nothing is really making progress.
I've had Snoopy checked out at the vet in February when this all started., he had rabbit version of a cold, put on antibiotics and has since been cleared on our last check up. Luna is displaying no issues herself, she's more than happy being grumpy and chewing everything lol.
both are fixed rabbits, and that for both of them was done well over a year ago, and both are two years old.
sadly there is no where else to house the bunnies except in my bedroom where Luna was first (Snoopy was originally an outdoor rabbit). so I can't move one and then upgrade to bigger cages. it makes me feel like a horrible owner as they're living in small spaces, but don't have any bigger space for both of them
I'm at the point I can't care for both of them like this, so rehoming may be an option if I can't ever sort this out, and that's not something I want. I raised Snoopy like my child and treated Luna like my baby also. I'm really proud of her (and myself!) for how far she has come. but even so, she still has issues such as biting you if hands are in cages or you try to move her food bowl or give her food. so that concerns me for rehoming as people don't often enjoy aggressive pets.
does anybody have any advice?