Unable to reintegrate little Evi.

[RipleyLLC]

Two weeks ago my little Evi got something on her feet (she's a dirty girl and remaining clean is low on her priority list), and all her feet were red and tender. I had to remove her from the other rabbits to a pen so she could heal easily.


I didn't think it would be hard reintegrating her, boyo was I wrong. I've tried three times and 4 of the 5 in the room attacked her viciously. Every single time they attacked her viciously. Now it's too stressful for me to watch her go through that and she is soooo much smaller than the other rabbits. It's also too stressful for her and I'm afraid she'll have a heart attack.

So now she's in her pen again. I've been petting and giving her little apple treats. I have a cat named Squeaky and she seems to want to mother Evi. I was able to get a picture of the two of them in the pen. Hopefully they will become buddies lol.

 

[Jamie411]

I don't have any experience in integrating rabbits, however, I have had to integrate other animals on our farm. Have you tried putting her in a cage inside their cage? That way they can get to know each other again through the safety of bars before she's just placed in the pen with everybody. It's worked on a lot of other animals so perhaps it would work for rabbits as well.

 

[Ruth]

I once had two girls who were bonded. One of them had to be taken out for a while and kept an eye on and when I put here back their bond had "broken." So they had a large pen with a hutch in it, and I put the one I was trying to reintegrate in the hutch and left them there for a day. I thought that would work because it usually did for me but the one I was trying to reintegrate did not feel like the run was her space and was a lot more timid. So I switched it and put the one I was trying to reintegrate in the pen and locked the other in the hutch and it worked because she felt like it was more her area and her space. So when I let the other bunny out they were able to re-bond again.
I can't say that would work for everyone but that's what worked the best for me. Letting the one I'm trying to reintegrate have the run to themselves into the area while the others are in a hutch. It's something you could try.
I wish you the best of luck!

 

[RipleyLLC]

I once had two girls who were bonded. One of them had to be taken out for a while and kept an eye on and when I put here back their bond had "broken." So they had a large pen with a hutch in it, and I put the one I was trying to reintegrate in the hutch and left them there for a day. I thought that would work because it usually did for me but the one I was trying to reintegrate did not feel like the run was her space and was a lot more timid. So I switched it and put the one I was trying to reintegrate in the pen and locked the other in the hutch and it worked because she felt like it was more her area and her space. So when I let the other bunny out they were able to re-bond again.
I can't say that would work for everyone but that's what worked the best for me. Letting the one I'm trying to reintegrate have the run to themselves into the area while the others are in a hutch. It's something you could try.
I wish you the best of luck!

I tried every which way I could think. I even put Evi in the room inside her pen and they were trying to chew through the zip ties and jump over the top to get her. It's really a sad situation to be honest, because Evi loves those gals. However, they have her pegged as some kind of mortal enemy and the brutality that they go at her with (slapping, biting her to the floor and trying to eviscerate her, biting her face and spine so hard they made open wounds) makes me break inside for her. I'm lucky that I have one cat who is so interested in Little Evi, that she just jumps in the pen and sits with her.

 

[Ruth]

I tried every which way I could think. I even put Evi in the room inside her pen and they were trying to chew through the zip ties and jump over the top to get her. It's really a sad situation to be honest, because Evi loves those gals. However, they have her pegged as some kind of mortal enemy and the brutality that they go at her with (slapping, biting her to the floor and trying to eviscerate her, biting her face and spine so hard they made open wounds) makes me break inside for her. I'm lucky that I have one cat who is so interested in Little Evi, that she just jumps in the pen and sits with her.

That's such a sweet cat! Well that's probably the best you can do for now. I'm so sorry this happened. Rabbit bonds are weird and hard to deal with.

I was saying try it the other way, letting Evi run around the girls while they are in the pen, I know there is a lot of them but it in my case doing it that way made my girl who was being bullied feel like she was in charge and the other girl was more okay with her after that. Eventually they re-bonded. They were fighting bloodily (not as bad as your situation as you have five on one) but it was scary.

 

[RipleyLLC]

I don't have any experience in integrating rabbits, however, I have had to integrate other animals on our farm. Have you tried putting her in a cage inside their cage? That way they can get to know each other again through the safety of bars before she's just placed in the pen with everybody. It's worked on a lot of other animals so perhaps it would work for rabbits as well.

I tried that and the five rabbits were trying to bust down her pen and was trying to chew through the zip ties. Then suddenly the leader of their pack, Patsy, tried jumping in the pen to attack her. Luckily, I had the foresight to put some cardboard on top of the pen.

 

[RipleyLLC]

That's such a sweet cat! Well that's probably the best you can do for now. I'm so sorry this happened. Rabbit bonds are weird and hard to deal with.

I was saying try it the other way, letting Evi run around the girls while they are in the pen, I know there is a lot of them but it in my case doing it that way made my girl who was being bullied feel like she was in charge and the other girl was more okay with her after that. Eventually they re-bonded. They were fighting bloodily (not as bad as your situation as you have five on one) but it was scary.

I never thought of that! The only problem is getting them in the pen. I had to remove the indoor outdoor carpet last weekend and it took me over an hour to catch these crazy ladies lol. They were livestock and were never handled, so I'm still in the process of trying to tame them up a bit.