Broken Trio that is fine for weeks and then fighting randomly

[WolfWeirdoWren]

I have three 5 year old rabbits -Strawberry, Peppermint, and Buttercup- who have been bonded and then fought over and over again over theast two years. Strawberry and Peppermint are both girls, while Buttercup is a boy. They were all fixed about 4 years ago and did not have any complications.

These three rabbits have been going through a cycle where they will be together for upwards of a year, and then fight during or after travel to and from my school. Sometimes they are perfectly fine and stay together, sometimes they wait weeks after travel to fight, and sometimes they fight immediately after. Every year I am forced to bring them home for both winter and summer break for about a month or two, and every year it restarts their bonding process. When I tried leaving them at the apartment for a week while I was gone, they had a fight after I returned. They had more than enough food and water for the break, and I have an automatic pellet feeder so their food schedule was not effected. I do not have somebody who can actively watch and care for them during longer breaks, and I fear that leaving them alone again will cause more issues. The drive home is about 5 hours straight, but I take an hour long break at my halfway point so that they can eat, drink, and groom each other before I continue. I have never witnessed any issues between the rabbits during the drive. They all huddle together for the majority of the drive and groom each other the entire way. I just don't understand why they keep breaking up.

Their typical pecking order puts Buttercup on the top and Strawberry on the bottom, with Peppermint being in the middle. I've noticed that Peppermint can be very demanding of Strawberry and that is the main cause of all their issues. Buttercup will demand grooming from Strawberry and then give her a few kisses back, but Peppermint will just demand grooming from Strawberry over and over again. Strawberry will continue to groom her, but eventually becomes angry and starts a fight. Buttercup has never been in one of these fights, and hasn't had a history of issues with the girls.

During this last breakup, I had just traveled back to my apartment with them and gave them free reign of my room like always. They had been together for nearly 3 months before this trip, and were happily together in my apartment for 3 days before I noticed a small scuffle between the girls. Before this scuffle, I witnessed them sleeping together, eating pellets together, eating hay in the litter box together, and grooming each other without hesitation. After the scuffle I seperated them for a night and cleaned a small area of my room to try and put them together again. All three rabbits were together for 12 hours where I witnessed all the same good behaviors, but some hesitation when grooming. Then out of nowhere the girls had a fight and pulled out some hair. Buttercup does not have an issue being with either girl, but the girls are now actively defensive and fearful around each other. I have noticed Strawberry lifting up her tail and lunging at Peppermint, as well as Peppermint actively avoiding Strawberry. Once seperated they laid together with the gate between them and both ate/drank normally.

I just don't know what else to do since they all get along so well for such a long period of time, but then they have one big fight that ruins it all. I attached photos of them laying together a few minutes before they fought and had to be separated. I just need some advice for what I should do so they stay together forever instead of just for 6-10 months.

 

[a reader of books]

Sadly trios are often not as stable as pairs, though I realise knowing that doesn’t actually help you. It sounds like they’re fine as long as everything stays the same? And they only fight when they’re in a new territory or that time you’d been away? It’s normal for bunnies to need to reestablish/reconfirm the hierarchy after they’ve been moved to a new territory, even if it’s one they’ve already been before, or if something else upsets their normal way of living. If the bond isn’t very stable, that can cause fights, and it doesn’t sound like Peppermint and Strawberry’s bond is very secure. When you say fights, though, what actually happens? You mention lunging and fur-pulling, but those are fairly normal things to happen if a hierarchy needs to be reestablished. Is either of the girls ever getting hurt? If someone’s actually getting injured, that’s very different from just some fur-pulling. Either way, I think you have 3 options, depending on how serious the fights are:

1. separate one of the girls and find her her own friend, so you have two couples
2. add another bun, likely a boy, as that might stabilise things
3. leave them as they are and just accept that there might be a fight if things upset them, but I’d only consider that an option if the fights never cause injuries, even very minor ones

I think option 1 would be the most reliable option to have all bunnies be happy, but having two pairs obviously requires more space and money than a trio, and it sounds like you only have one room? Option 2 could work, but might also break their bond completely and you might end up with two pairs after all. Option 3 might be most realistic if I understand your circumstances right and it’s just lunging and pulling out some fur. If they’re happy for most of the time and arguments only break out when they’re moved or otherwise upset and they rebond just fine afterwards, I think it’s a matter of minimising upset, though it’s not an ideal situation if the girls get defensive and fearful of each other.

Is it at all possible for your buns to stay at your apartment and have someone supervise them when you go home for winter and summer break? 5 hours (6 including the break) is a long trip for bunnies, and back and forth twice a year is a lot. Since you said you don’t have anyone why can care for them for longer breaks, a professional pet sitter could be a good idea. They’d either stay at your place or visit a couple of times a day to take care of them and make sure they’re okay.

Leaving bunnies alone for a week is really not a good idea, by the way. It’s not just about them having enough food and water, but if a bunny gets sick or injured they need to get to the vet right away. There needs to be someone there to make sure they’re okay, their environment is clean and safe, their water hasn’t gotten knocked over or dirty, they get fresh hay every day, etc. When bunnies get sick they go downhill very fast; they might be fine when you leave but very ill the next day.

Are you still keeping them separated? I hope you’ve been able to have them be together again without much issue since you wrote your post.