Bonding two female rabbits

I am new to this forum :wave:

I have two females rabbits aged 11 months old. We bought them last September when they were three months old. They were the best of friends. However, in the new year, they started mounting and chasing each other resulting in one of the rabbits becoming very nervous and difficult to handle. There was lots of fur in the hutch too. It was recommended to me to get them spayed to calm them down and for health reasons. They were neutered on 16th March. The vet recommended we separate them for three days after surgery to prevent injury to their wounds. They are outdoor rabbits so I had to separate the hutch into two. When they had a check up on day three the vet asked to keep them separate for a further 4 days (1 week in total).

I put the rabbits together in their run after the week was up. I wasn’t prepared for their reaction. They started fighting immediately and rolling around on top of each other. There was fur everywhere. I thought they were going to seriously injure each other. I threw water on them to separate them. I haven’t been able to put them together since without them fighting. I have been putting them together in the run with a wire separating them. At first they boxed each other a lot through the wire but this has calmed down considerably. I have tried introducing them to each other for 10-15 mins at a time but this usually ends up in a fight again. I am at a loss at to what to do next. I swap them around in their hutch every day to get each other’s scent. I feel as though my rabbits will never be friends again.

My children are terrified of the rabbits because of the fighting. I have suggested getting rid of one of the rabbits but each rabbit belongs to each of my children and they get very upset at the idea of one rabbit being given away.

It may be better to keep them separated completely for a few weeks. The hormones could still be there and it will give them both time to forget about the rights they have had (rabbits can hold grudges lol..) I'm having the same problem. Mine haven't set eyes on each other now for 12 days and I'm starting bonding them today. I will be setting a small pen up with me and the both rabbits it it. With me in there i can hopefully stop any fights before they happen.
There is some fantastic people on here who can give you some great advice and lino you too some videos which are amazing.

Thank you so much for your reply. It's reassuring to know I'm not alone with this problem! I will give the rabbits a break from each other for a couple of weeks. I did wonder whether some hormones may still be lingering around..... It is soooo frustrating but I feel like I don't want to give up on them becoming good friends again. My rabbits did groom each other a couple of times last week but they seem very irritated with each other this week. Yesterday they were boxing each other through the wire separating them in their run :roll: It's as though we do one step forward then two steps back again!
I will look around on this website to see what other advice and videos may be helpful. Good luck with bonding your rabbits today

I'm currently bonding 9(!) (4 bucks, 5 does), and can understand that bonding is incredibly daunting. When I first had Elphie and her sister Galinda, it took me 5 years to get them bonded together again after hormones set in - they were spayed at about 11 months - and that also involved the presence of a buck. It usually takes 6 - 8 weeks for hormones to die back down, so a few more weeks break wouldn't do your girls any harm. It sounds likely that the bond broke down both due to the fighting and the separating after their respective spays. As w&s said, rabbits can have long memories about fights and that can make rebonding difficult.

I would also say, that when you do come to rebonding them, before starting make sure everything is absolutely neutral. Their run definitely won't be a neutral space, it needs to be somewhere neither of them have been, so it doesn't smell like either of them, and they won't have reason to be territorial at that time.

And when rebonding them, don't get too scared. Humping is normal, as is chasing, and even a little fur pulling. These are things the rabbits are doing to establish their hierachy. Once I start bonding rabbits, I start in a small neutral space, and if I end up separating, then it is more-or-less for good (or at least, a long while before trying again, as in the case of Elphie and Galinda!) You don't want to be in a hurry increasing the space either; it's best to wait a clear 24 hours after the last session of humping, thumping, grunting etc, before increasing it. I find food makes an excellent distraction, whether it be hay or fresh forage. Ignoring is a good sign, lying together and grooming one another even better.

Good luck!

Bonding nine rabbits is amazing! I will definitely keep my two rabbits apart for a couple of weeks and then start again from there. I never imagined it would be this challenging! I guess some female rabbits are very strong minded and it needs one of them to back down to let the other one be in charge.

Thank you for your messages of advice and support. I really appreciate it.