Bonded for a year and fighting!

[theevenstarlight]

Hello, my fixed male and female have been bonded for about a year. For the past three days everytime I have let them out of their cage for exercise they start fighting and ripping each other's hair out. They don't do this inside the cage; they groom each other and get along fine. It is only when they are outside of the cage.

I noticed that Snuffy (female) has been shedding a lot lately...could this be why they are fighting? Any other suggestions or advice? I have to give them separate exercise time now and it shouldn't be like that.

 

[missyscove]

Are they both spayed and neutered?
How old are they?

My bonded pair had a big fight and Fiona got pretty beat up so I had to separate them for a while and it's been over a year of trying to bond them. I've finally got it to the point where they can play together outside of their cages without attacking each other.
Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

 

[tonyshuman]

Wow! That's too bad! I would make sure both of them are fully healthy, or look at any other changes in their environment that have happened. It's really rare (I think) for that to happen, unless something is up, like one is sick, there's a new animal in the house, etc. Especially because it's only outside the cage, in territory that is more neutral than inside the cage... BTW I love your rabbits' names!