Rabbit Behavior Issues

[Mortanos]

Greetings,

I've had an issue for the past week with my two bunnies and I hope you guys can help me with that.

My 2 bunnies:
- 2 y/o Dutch Rabbit (Female) named Domino
- 8 months old Dwarf Netherland (Female) named Midnight
They are both neutered.

I knew it would be risky to buy a baby, but I did the bonding part about 4 months ago when I got the bunny anyway. Took my time to make sure they would bond well, and I was surprised to notice that they bonded very well together. Domino liked Midnight right away. The *only* tricky part is that Domino sometimes humped Midnight, figured it was to show how was dominant. And Midnight never really minded anyway, and it only lasted a couple secs every once a while.

They've been sharing the same area & the same cage for about 3 months now.

For some reason, Midnight has started humping Domino in an agressive way. She's been humping her, and pulling fur out of Domino. And it doesn't look like it's for nesting (thought it could be a phantom pregnancy) because she doesn't do anything with the hair... anyway they often ran around in a circle trying to hump each other. When Midnight would succeed in humping her, she just pulls fur out. Domino started growling at Midnight too... so I had to split them up because Domino was starting to missing a lot of fur.

They've been in seperate areas & cages for about 7 days now. I've tried to put them in a neutral area, they still "fight" (over dominance?). I've tried to make loud noises to somehow scare them so that they would ally... but it doesn't change anything.

I think it may be because Midnight is grown up now and she's fed up of being the dominated one, but that's just a guess. Also it doesn't really help me on what to do...

Anyone has ever had something similar? Any suggestions?

I do not want to give one away so that's why I'm asking here. I like them both, and they've always been very cuddly with each other up until now

Thanks in advance

 

[elrohwen]

It could be that Midnight is going through an adolescent phase - sometimes bunnies become obnoxious teenagers during that time period, even when they have been fixed. I think it's likely that as she's grown up she has decided that being the submissive one isn't her cup of tea and she's challenging the older bun.

What is their fighting like? Is it very violent? Or more chasing/fur pulling? The chasing and fur pulling can be a normal part of figuring how dominance, but can lead to more violent fights so they have to be watched. However, since it's so normal it doesn't meant that they won't be bonded again some day.

I would take a step back, and work on some bonding sessions in a neutral zone, like the bathroom, and try to rebuild their bond and let them work out their issues in a safe area. Then gradually build them back up to having play time together and then living together full time.

Or, you could do what I did when my rabbits had issues a few weeks into living together - keep them together no matter what, and sleep on the couch until you can trust them to get along. Haha. This only worked because I was unemployed and home almost all of the time. If you're out of your home most of the day, I would probably do the slower method, just to make sure nobody gets hurt.