Frustrated with the fighting!

[hanamuffins]

I have three rabbits. Two, Lulu and Greg, have been living together for about 3 months now. Binky and Greg are mortal enemies, so for now, Binky is separated from the others.

When I let them out of their cages, they run around on opposite sides of the house. The door between them was accidentally not closed, and Binky snuck into the other room. Greg and Binky got into a tussle, and I separated them, but then Greg and Lulu started to fight!

It's been nearly a full day and they won't stop fighting. They went from not being able to be a foot apart to trying to kill one another! I've tried cuddling them together, driving them around in the car, I even rubbed banana on their foreheads so they'd lick each other, and they've all worked for only a little while then they fight again.

What do I do? I don't want to separate them, because I've heard that can make it harder for them to rebond. Has this happened with anyone else? Is there something else I can try?

 

[hanamuffins]

Also, I forgot to mention, all of them are fixed.

 

[kmaben]

Seperate everyone out of site out of mind for a few hours. Then slowly reintroduce the two that use to get along. Lots of petting and treats. My male and female that are bonded will sometimes fight with each other after my males have fought. It's likes they're still full of fighting energy and my female wont have any of it. Seperating them is suppose to make them forget they were fighting in the first place. Sorry but I think rabbits are to intellegent for that, but it will give the two that use to get along time to calm down.

 

[Imbrium]

in addition to separating them for a bit, I would do the re-intro on neutral territory. when my girls have had their bond break in the past, I took them to my neighbor's house and set up a little playpen in their kitchen and had a "playdate" on the completely neutral territory like I would've if I were first introducing bunnies.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

The bad news may be that you'll have to keep them separate. We had a bonded pair that started fighting--bloody mess and all that--we finally had to put them in separated hutches and they'd been together for more than 5 years. Good luck.

 

[agnesthelion]

A couple questions....did you get them all at the same time? How long have they been fixed? did you bond the 2 or did you get them already bonded?

 

[hanamuffins]

I did not get them at the same time. I had Greg then adopted Lulu later, got them all fixed (about 4 or 5 months ago) then put them together about a month after that.

 

[Blue eyes]

If Greg & Lulu are still fighting whenever you put them together, then you have no choice but to separate them for now. Any fighting they do now will only decrease their chances of getting back together.
I would work on getting those two back together after a couple days' break. See how they do. If they are still going at each other, then it's not likely they will re-bond.
If that happens, is there a possibility that Lulu will bond with Binky? Perhaps you could try slow introductions of those two if greg doesn't work out.

Neutral territory really is the most important factor, so try to reserve some neutral areas -- one for the attempt with Greg & Lulu, and then one for Lulu and Binky if the other 2 don't work.

Either way, if 2 of them seem to do well in the neutral area, then keep them in that area as long as possible. If they could stay there for a good month to help solidify the bond, that would be even better. You want that bond to be well-established before risking the transition to their old (non-neutral) area.

Let us know how things are going.

 

[hanamuffins]

We had a nice long bonding session last night without any actual fighting and less aggression. They even groom each other, but as soon as one of them makes a sudden movement, the other one is on the defense.

Their cages are right next to each other, and I'm wondering if their cages should be in separate rooms.

Thanks everyone so much for the advice!!

 

[coco_puffs]

I can't be of any help as I'm brand new to rabbit keeping. I just wanted to say I think "Greg" and "Lulu" are the cutest names for rabbits. I give all my pets people names (Coco was adopted and already had his name).

 

[hanamuffins]

I can't be of any help as I'm brand new to rabbit keeping. I just wanted to say I think "Greg" and "Lulu" are the cutest names for rabbits. I give all my pets people names (Coco was adopted and already had his name).

Haha thank you...Lulu came to me with her name, and Greg is short for Sir Gregory Bunnington. He's an British looking fellow, in my opinion.

 

[hanamuffins]

Progress! I have spent a lot of time sitting on my bathroom floor. Greg grooming himself, Lulu being desperate for attention

 

[Blue eyes]

Too cute! Lulu is especially adorable :inlove: !!!