Bonding Mishap PLEASE HELP

[Bella-Sophia]

Hello friends,
I am writing to ask for advice on whether I should try to bond my bunnies after they had a big fight??

Background: my lop (Bella) has been with me since Dec 22. 2018. I bought her from a store. She was about 8 weeks old they said older because she was the last one in the shop. Anyways fast forward to Halloween 2019 we went to the animal shelter to look at for a dog and we saw this beautiful bunny (the lionhead we named Brooke) in there waiting for a home. She was said to be about 5 years old. After seeing how sweet she was my boyfriend and I drove home and picked up our bunny to do a meet and greet. They ignored one another so we thought that was a great start. Some light smelling here and there but no fighting. I was so excited!! I tried bunny dates with Bella before (6 to be exact) and they all went very badly besides 2 but they went badly at the end. By the end the bunny rescue owners told me maybe she was better alone so when this went so well with Brooke I was all in. We adopted Brooke and were hoping to have a nice friend for Bella. Fast forward to the middle of November. Bella attacks Brooke and it was UGLY. There was fur and blood all over (I was at work and my grandmother did not notice they were fighting for a while). Brooke ran in the laundry room and hid, while Bella finally was put in her cage. Brooke would not come out for anyone so they finally called me. I thought Brooke was going to be half dead the way that my family was talking but when she saw me she came to me and rested on me. She had a few scratches and one hell of a haircut but she was fine. The blood came from Bella's nail breaking. Since then I have separated them in every way. They have separate hours of the day to free roam and Brooke has her own room (our game room).

Brooke is very affectionate and I believe would really like a mate. She really loves to be rubbed. Bella on the other hand is ok with being rubbed but would rather have snacks. She likes her space (from me at least) but she is fine with everyone else. I don't know if I should look for a mate for Brooke or try to bond the two. I just don't want anyone else to get hurt. Please HELP me! Has anyone else had this problem?​

 

[JBun]

Female/female bonds can be extremely difficult. With them having fought viciously too, it doesn't bode well. There could be a very slight chance they could still bond, but I would first completely separate them for at least a month or longer, with absolutely no contact, including not being able to see each other. Then maybe try again after that time, after doing a lot of bonding research during the wait. Here are a few bonding sites that I like.
https://www.cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/bonding-bunnies/
http://www.saveabunny.org/rabbitcare/bonding-guide
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bonding_rabbits_together

 

[zuppa]

Hi, is Bella fixed? Brooke is a rescue so I believe she is? If Bella is still intact there's a good hope that they can bond after she's fixed. In any way you should completely separate them now for at least a month or about 6-8 weeks after Bella gets spayed, as per previous comment they shouldn't have any contact, ideally stay in separate rooms until bonding starts again in a neutral territory.
Your Bella looks almost exactly as my Bernie btw

 

[Bella-Sophia]

Sorry I forgot to mention Bella has been fixed since she was 6 months so around April I want to say, Brooke is not fixed. The previous owners thought she was a male and called her Buggz so I know they never had her fixed.
Since she was 5 already I did not want to risk getting her fixed due to age and our rabbit savvy vets here aren't that savvy so I feel uncomfortable taking her there for her surgery since she is already considered a high risk.
Brooke is NOT the aggressor Bella IS and she is the FIXED one! Lol! I know that the roles are reversed and I have no clue why.
I did so much research prior to getting Brooke it made no sense. I literally lived/live on Bunny websites and pages but none of them mention this kind if problem. I continue to do research but have found nothing different from the one million articles I have already read and definitely none that help me with my current situation.
Their cages were not close and they were 36 inches high. I made sure they were close enough to smell one another but not reach. I switched litter boxes and stuffed toys. I kept there playtime separate even then and I was waiting a month before they would try to officially bond them but Bella had other plans. I promise I was not some half wit attempting to bond them. I HAD READ EVERYTHING POSSIBLE. I would hate for Brooke to suffer because Bella is a meanie.

 

[Bella-Sophia]

I would love to see Bernie!!

 

[JBun]

Some rabbits just can't be bonded. Incompatible personalities. I had two female rabbits that no matter what I tried, just hated each other. I had to finally give up and bond them with other rabbits. Not that it's necessarily the same for your rabbits. There still could be a chance, but just also to know that there are definitely some cases where it's just not going to happen no matter what you try.

There are sometimes that it can work out when doing an extremely slow approach. There are owners that have had a successful bond with some difficult rabbits, but it took several months of dedicated bonding to finally have it work out. So if you are up for that, that might be something to consider.

 

[zuppa]

That's funny it looked to me like Bella isn't fixed, not Brooke
Well, as already said after a fight you should separate them completely for about a month so hopefully they can forget each other and then you can try to introduce them again as completely new rabbits, you learned some lesson so you can use your knowledge and try avoiding situations when they can start fighting again.
It's great that you did some research already but don't give up please watch this video it's amazing how this trio was bonded, this girl was really well prepared and patient it's 17 minutes you can skip to 2:50 to skip introduction if you want but it is really motivating I love it.



Bernie is great, I slept in my chair last night because I am watching how Bernie is bonding herself to her 8 months old daughter, today is day 2 and her daughter just starting getting involved in the process, she showed complete indifference yesterday they both are very good and were housed together with two more sisters until they were 5 months then I had to separate them. I had my gloves near me but there's no fights still Harley (daughter) was just running away but Bernie is so cunning she flops and shows like she is going to sleep closes her eyes but she just waits if Harley will come closer to her, it's very cool she's a great actress )
I truly hope they will bond I did some preparation work on both and Bernie is not as bossy now as she was previously so we'll see if they can bond this time. If not they are going to vets together to be spayed same day and will try bonding them again after 2 months after surgery.

I know they can bond and I have a few tricks in my pocket for tomorrow, we'll see how it goes. Still no need for the gloves.

I really hated that they had to stay separated, they both are very peaceful but Bernie is more territorial and bossy, Harley's got a bit fat lately she has everything for exercise but think is really bored being alone, the only thing she loves is chewing I covered her walls with cardboard and she worked at it day-night.

I also agree what JBun said that not all rabbits can bond this is true, hopefully yours will bond next time after their break.

 

[zuppa]

I would love to see Bernie!!

Bernie & her daughter Harley Bernie is about 1 year 7 months and Harley is 8 months old. Relaxing together after their brushing session

 

[Bella-Sophia]

I love it! They look so happy together!!
Thank you both for all your advice and sharing your pictures with me! I will continue to try. Maybe they will be friends and if not it will be ok until I can find Brooke a mate!
Thank you all again and I will let you know when I am able to try again.