Hi everyone,
I have come on here looking for some advice in a difficult situation. I have 2 rabbits: Phil is a 14 month old female, Tony is a 9 month old female. Both are similar size - both dwarf crosses I think, 1.5kg each. They have been bonded and living together since mid-March (it is now early June) but to be honest, we are at a loss. Some background to begin..
Phil arrived first. She was very calm and friendly and chilled until she hit 6 months old and Tony arrived. When Tony arrived, (and I went back to working full time, having been home with her 5 days a week until then). She became outrageously aggressive. If we smelled of Tony (we kept her in another room) she would lunge and growl at our feet and chase us. We had to change clothes between rooms. She also attacked my boyfriend twice, like jumped at his face to attack him. To be fair, she was only just spayed and she could smell an invader so we managed it by reducing her territory to a pen (she had always had the run of the apartment). She also became very food aggressive toward us. Anyway, we got Tony spayed at 5 months and waited 6 weeks to get them professionally bonded. By contrast, Tony was (also thought to be a boy!) a more nervous little gal but would honk when we would come in and see her and would sit up beside you for rubs and just loved to be in your company. In fairness, she was alone so much of the time, she was starved for attention.
They bonded pretty easily, much to our surprise. The bonder commented that that was likely to their opposite personalities, Phil being dominant and Tony being submissive. We were THRILLED!!!
Since the initial good weeks, things have not been smooth sailing. Phil has been every bit the bully we feared. Most days, there will be a chunk of Tony's fur somewhere in their room (so they have their own room for when we aren't home. When we are home they can come into us in the rest of the apartment). If Phil wants Tony to move, she nips her on the bum. She's mouthy with us too, but less so. In the last 10 or 12 weeks especially, the aggression has escalated significantly. It's 90% food related. It got to the point where we would only have to open their door and Phil would anticipate food and go for Tony. By 'go for', I mean lunge, growl, chase (and not chase away for 1 second, I mean chase persistently trying to bite her). As it escalated, Tony got more and more scared, she began to squeal when Phil would bite her and jump out of the way even at the noise of the food bag or even if she thought Phil might be annoyed. She also became very skittish to our touch, and would jump out of the way at an unexpected touch and stopped coming out of the room as much. We took steps to prevent it. We used a water spray bottle to spray Phil in the face to discourage the aggression. We moved the food out of the room and tried feeding separately and at random times. This worked somewhat..
Over the last 10 weeks I should also point out, Phil has had a chronic pasturella bug. Tony had it for 2 weeks initially, but rallied well. Phil was on antibiotics for the guts of 10 weeks. She's off them now.
Sorry, almost finished now! I just want to give lots of details because ending this bond is not a decision that if it is made, will be easily made.
Last week, we went away for 3 days and our vet looked after the two rabbits so that Phil could continue to get her twice daily medication. We warned the vet about the aggression but none was displayed in a new territory. Two days after we returned, so yesterday, I heard an early scuffle in their room. I didn't really think anything of it for a minute but it continued. So I checked their pet camera to be sure. I saw them kind of locked together, Phil was biting Tony on the bum and Tony wasn't running away, but was definitely trying to avoid it. I had a bad feeling so I shouted through the microphone to shock them into stopping, and then rushed in. What I saw when I walked in gave me such a fright. There was fur EVERYWHERE. Clumps of it. It looked like a stuffed animal had been split open. It was all over the room. I can upload a photo if it helps. But it was horrifying. What was surprising was there seemed to be some white clumps (Phil's fur), which made me think that Tony fought back, or maybe instigated..? It was 80% Tony at least though, which is unsurprising. Tony was hiding when I got in there. Neither were bleeding, but I do think it may have escalated had I not intervened.
We are absolutely shaken by this. We have separated them now (still in the same room. They have been together for a few minutes at a time. Yesterday, it was fine. This morning, Tony stamped and Phil nipped her. But this is just par for the course. Tony has gotten into the habit of stamping when they have been separated briefly, eg Phil goes to the vet for 20 minutes for a check up, and when she gets back and out of the carrier, Tony flees.
We are at a loss. 90% of the time, it's peaceful. They groom each other (Tony often battles for grooms from Phil, so she can assert herself when she wants to but that's the height of it), they snuggle, they sleep together... It was just the food thing and kind of general heavy handedness by Phil, but we were trying to manage it, but this full on fight has really scared us. We are wondering whether it is fair to Tony to keep her in this dynamic. Is Phil just too territorial for a companion? Is it massively unfair to even consider separating them? By separating them, I mean rehoming Tony. Phil would be too much for anyone we think.
So, after that big long description, I wonder does anyone have any advice? Be it how to re-bond, if re-bonding even necessary, does this seem like a bond that won't work, is this normal... What do people think? Any help would be appreciated.
Lisa
I have come on here looking for some advice in a difficult situation. I have 2 rabbits: Phil is a 14 month old female, Tony is a 9 month old female. Both are similar size - both dwarf crosses I think, 1.5kg each. They have been bonded and living together since mid-March (it is now early June) but to be honest, we are at a loss. Some background to begin..
Phil arrived first. She was very calm and friendly and chilled until she hit 6 months old and Tony arrived. When Tony arrived, (and I went back to working full time, having been home with her 5 days a week until then). She became outrageously aggressive. If we smelled of Tony (we kept her in another room) she would lunge and growl at our feet and chase us. We had to change clothes between rooms. She also attacked my boyfriend twice, like jumped at his face to attack him. To be fair, she was only just spayed and she could smell an invader so we managed it by reducing her territory to a pen (she had always had the run of the apartment). She also became very food aggressive toward us. Anyway, we got Tony spayed at 5 months and waited 6 weeks to get them professionally bonded. By contrast, Tony was (also thought to be a boy!) a more nervous little gal but would honk when we would come in and see her and would sit up beside you for rubs and just loved to be in your company. In fairness, she was alone so much of the time, she was starved for attention.
They bonded pretty easily, much to our surprise. The bonder commented that that was likely to their opposite personalities, Phil being dominant and Tony being submissive. We were THRILLED!!!
Since the initial good weeks, things have not been smooth sailing. Phil has been every bit the bully we feared. Most days, there will be a chunk of Tony's fur somewhere in their room (so they have their own room for when we aren't home. When we are home they can come into us in the rest of the apartment). If Phil wants Tony to move, she nips her on the bum. She's mouthy with us too, but less so. In the last 10 or 12 weeks especially, the aggression has escalated significantly. It's 90% food related. It got to the point where we would only have to open their door and Phil would anticipate food and go for Tony. By 'go for', I mean lunge, growl, chase (and not chase away for 1 second, I mean chase persistently trying to bite her). As it escalated, Tony got more and more scared, she began to squeal when Phil would bite her and jump out of the way even at the noise of the food bag or even if she thought Phil might be annoyed. She also became very skittish to our touch, and would jump out of the way at an unexpected touch and stopped coming out of the room as much. We took steps to prevent it. We used a water spray bottle to spray Phil in the face to discourage the aggression. We moved the food out of the room and tried feeding separately and at random times. This worked somewhat..
Over the last 10 weeks I should also point out, Phil has had a chronic pasturella bug. Tony had it for 2 weeks initially, but rallied well. Phil was on antibiotics for the guts of 10 weeks. She's off them now.
Sorry, almost finished now! I just want to give lots of details because ending this bond is not a decision that if it is made, will be easily made.
Last week, we went away for 3 days and our vet looked after the two rabbits so that Phil could continue to get her twice daily medication. We warned the vet about the aggression but none was displayed in a new territory. Two days after we returned, so yesterday, I heard an early scuffle in their room. I didn't really think anything of it for a minute but it continued. So I checked their pet camera to be sure. I saw them kind of locked together, Phil was biting Tony on the bum and Tony wasn't running away, but was definitely trying to avoid it. I had a bad feeling so I shouted through the microphone to shock them into stopping, and then rushed in. What I saw when I walked in gave me such a fright. There was fur EVERYWHERE. Clumps of it. It looked like a stuffed animal had been split open. It was all over the room. I can upload a photo if it helps. But it was horrifying. What was surprising was there seemed to be some white clumps (Phil's fur), which made me think that Tony fought back, or maybe instigated..? It was 80% Tony at least though, which is unsurprising. Tony was hiding when I got in there. Neither were bleeding, but I do think it may have escalated had I not intervened.
We are absolutely shaken by this. We have separated them now (still in the same room. They have been together for a few minutes at a time. Yesterday, it was fine. This morning, Tony stamped and Phil nipped her. But this is just par for the course. Tony has gotten into the habit of stamping when they have been separated briefly, eg Phil goes to the vet for 20 minutes for a check up, and when she gets back and out of the carrier, Tony flees.
We are at a loss. 90% of the time, it's peaceful. They groom each other (Tony often battles for grooms from Phil, so she can assert herself when she wants to but that's the height of it), they snuggle, they sleep together... It was just the food thing and kind of general heavy handedness by Phil, but we were trying to manage it, but this full on fight has really scared us. We are wondering whether it is fair to Tony to keep her in this dynamic. Is Phil just too territorial for a companion? Is it massively unfair to even consider separating them? By separating them, I mean rehoming Tony. Phil would be too much for anyone we think.
So, after that big long description, I wonder does anyone have any advice? Be it how to re-bond, if re-bonding even necessary, does this seem like a bond that won't work, is this normal... What do people think? Any help would be appreciated.
Lisa
