Help with rabbits (bonded pair now fighting)

Hi All

Thanks in advance for any comments on this post as any opinion or help is appreciated.

We have two little rabbits, Daisy (Netherland Dwarf - 2 years 8 months old) & Benji (Lionhead - 11 months old), they lived separately whilst we waited for Benji to come of age and then we had him neutered, Daisy is already spayed. We bonded them successfully after a few months of trying. We first put them together in our new house which we moved in to in October this year. They have happily lived together in the dinning room (their room) this joins on to the living room - (their run a round space).

Benji about a week ago became ill and had to go to the vet hospital, Daisy went with him to keep him company, Benji had an operation where they had to empty his stomach as there was a blockage. He was shaved on his belly and has stitches and also has a few shavings on his ear. Daisy was with him the whole time (except surgery).

Since they have been home Benji has been on medication. A day and a half after Benji had been home he started getting back to his usual self however he is still on medication. I was downstairs with them and Daisy was eating a green bean, Benji wanted it they chase each other a little and then stopped so I went in the kitchen to get some spring greens to share and heard a loud noise, rushed back in to see a huge fight happening (if I wasn't there to break it up I think they would have just continued). A lot of fluff came off and Benji had bit Daisy a little on the back. I separated them and made two runs next to each other like they used to be.

Today we went back to the vet and the vet said to put them back in together, however within seconds they were at each other again, so we have separated them.

We are thinking of keeping them separate whilst Benji is recovering. Then start the bonding process again. They are next to each other, can see each other and can smell each other. We are thinking the fighting is because either Benji smells different (the medicine) or the dominance has change due to Benji being ill.

In the flat we used to have them next to each other and then they took turns in being out in the living room and that was fine before we eventually bonded them (they were bonded about three weeks before we moved however we wanted to wait until we got to the new house to have them together).

The questions really is: We are wondering whether us letting them individually run around the dining room and living room would be fine whilst the other is in their run and then when we start bonding again we will do it in a neutral area before introducing them back in to the same living area (dining room) - Does this sound OK? Also any other helpful tips and advice would be appreciated

Thanks Matt

That sounds ok to me. He probably smells like a different bunny on his meds. If they don't bond fairly quickly once you go through the entire process again, I would separate them entirely so they can't see each other and let them forget about each other and re-bond after a few months.

It sounds like you did everything perfectly, but bunnies be bunnies. If they never re-bond, you may need to consider them divorced (which I hope is NOT the case).

Good luck and keep us updated!

Let us know how it goes Matt so I can learn from you!

Yes, that sounds fine. It happened to me with my previous pair. It really stumped me because those rabbits were in love at first sight when they met, had an ideal relationship for more than a year... and suddenly after being separated for an operation (a single day!), they were fighting like crazy and fur was flying. I separated them until the end of the treatment (my rabbits are normally free-ranged in a room, so I swapped regularly to avoid the rabbit being in the rabbit room feeling too much like the owner of the place and having trouble sharing again). When the operated rabbit was healed, I put the rabbits (separated) outside of their normal living space. I emptied the litter tray, vacuumed, put vinegar everywhere possible and sprayed a bit of perfume to erase the smells as much as possible. Then I reintroduced the rabbits over a big pile of vegetables in the bathroom. It went well so I put them both in the same petcarrier and put them back together in their normal room. It was like they forgot they were even fighting and they got along great afterwards.

I hope it goes well for you too! If you feel like the smell is the problem, you can put a drop of perfume on each rabbit's nose to deaden it until they both smell familiar again by living together in their normal environment.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions. So Benji has made a full recovery (all except a little bit of fluff that needs to grow back on his belly from his operation).

We have had three nights of rebonding in a neutral location. One at 10 min, one at 15 min and one at 25 min. Going to try an hour tonight. Bunnies have been getting along fine in these.

Going to keep going with this until we have done a few longer ones and then get them back together in the living room when we have a few days to keep watch on them.

Thanks for all your help and I hope things are well with you

You're welcome! I hope it goes well, but I'm pretty sure it will!

I love the way you are reuniting them. I have a bonded male and female and had a bonded pair of females. Been together for 7 years. I lost one of the females this week and tried to match up the survivor with the other pair. I did it individually because I know the other female is a fighter but the surviving bunny got along with her mate the male. The two females did not work out. Today after letting the male spend time with the surviving bunny he went back into his pen and started attacking his female. Strange as he is so docile. Anyway I watched them for a while and they made up. Now what to do with the lonely bunny. After 7 years living together 24/7 it has to be hard on her. Its very hard on me.