What to do for surface wounds from fight with another rabbit?

[babygeorge]

I recently adopted a young unneutered rabbit to bond with my neutered rabbit (he is booked to be neutered in a few days). I wanted to start bonding them right away, so I did a few weeks of prebonding and they are now living happily in two separate cages next to each other. For the last week or two I have been giving them play time together in a neutral space, and it was going so great (mutual grooming behaviours, eating together, following each other everywhere, etc) that I started to leave them unsupervised for short periods of time. I realize this was a mistake given that one rabbit is unneutered and hormonal. When I came to check on them today there was quite a bit of fur everywhere, mostly from the neutered rabbit, and I watched the unneutered rabbit spray urine. The neutered rabbit has two small surface wounds. Is there anything that I can do to prevent them from getting infected? Also, I'm fairly certain that the fight was started from the unneutered rabbit. Is fighting a sign that the bond will not work out (even after the rabbit is neutered)? Or was this due to hormonal aggression (meaning that once the hormones have settled post-neutering they will be able to bond)? I don't want to have a second rabbit if it means I have to worry about coming home to an injured rabbit post-bonding.

 

[Jasminebunny]

I recently adopted a young unneutered rabbit to bond with my neutered rabbit (he is booked to be neutered in a few days). I wanted to start bonding them right away, so I did a few weeks of prebonding and they are now living happily in two separate cages next to each other. For the last week or two I have been giving them play time together in a neutral space, and it was going so great (mutual grooming behaviours, eating together, following each other everywhere, etc) that I started to leave them unsupervised for short periods of time. I realize this was a mistake given that one rabbit is unneutered and hormonal. When I came to check on them today there was quite a bit of fur everywhere, mostly from the neutered rabbit, and I watched the unneutered rabbit spray urine. The neutered rabbit has two small surface wounds. Is there anything that I can do to prevent them from getting infected? Also, I'm fairly certain that the fight was started from the unneutered rabbit. Is fighting a sign that the bond will not work out (even after the rabbit is neutered)? Or was this due to hormonal aggression (meaning that once the hormones have settled post-neutering they will be able to bond)? I don't want to have a second rabbit if it means I have to worry about coming home to an injured rabbit post-bonding.

Is it deep or bleeding lots?
And , about if it would work after being neutered , i don't really know , i'm sorry .

 

[babygeorge]

.

 

[babygeorge]

Is it deep or bleeding lots?
And , about if it would work after being neutered , i don't really know , i'm sorry .

No bleeding, so I don't think they are deep, but definitely an open wound.

 

[JBun]

If it's not deep and doesn't require stitches, I would either just leave it alone and keep a close eye on it to make sure it heals properly, or I would put a very thin film of plain triple antibiotic ointment(no added pain relief) on the scratch, a couple times a day for a few days. It's good to feed or something after to distract the rabbit from immediately grooming it off. If it's deep or you aren't sure if stitches are needed, always best to consult with your knowledgeable rabbit vet.
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/

Just the fact that they got along initially is a good indicator that they can still bond once the other rabbit is neutered and given 4-8 weeks for those hormones to fade before attempting to bond. It sounds like it's just the hormones that were the cause of the scuffle, to me at least. But no guarantee and really no way to know for sure until neutered and hormones have faded.

If you haven't already, I would suggest to do some reading up on the bonding process as there are multiple correct ways to go about it, and which method works best just depends on the rabbits involved. These are some sites that I like.
http://www.saveabunny.org/rabbitcare/bonding-guide
https://www.cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/bonding-bunnies/
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bonding_rabbits_together

 

[Jasminebunny]

No bleeding, so I don't think they are deep, but definitely an open wound.

Good, i was thinking about plain antibiotic ointment , but i wasn't sure so didn't say anything .
If it gets any worse please take him/her , to the vet , and do you jsbr s picture \??

 

[babygeorge]

Thank you!

If it's not deep and doesn't require stitches, I would either just leave it alone and keep a close eye on it to make sure it heals properly, or I would put a very thin film of plain triple antibiotic ointment(no added pain relief) on the scratch, a couple times a day for a few days. It's good to feed or something after to distract the rabbit from immediately grooming it off. If it's deep or you aren't sure if stitches are needed, always best to consult with your knowledgeable rabbit vet.
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/

Just the fact that they got along initially is a good indicator that they can still bond once the other rabbit is neutered and given 4-8 weeks for those hormones to fade before attempting to bond. It sounds like it's just the hormones that were the cause of the scuffle, to me at least. But no guarantee and really no way to know for sure until neutered and hormones have faded.

If you haven't already, I would suggest to do some reading up on the bonding process as there are multiple correct ways to go about it, and which method works best just depends on the rabbits involved. These are some sites that I like.
http://www.saveabunny.org/rabbitcare/bonding-guide
https://www.cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/bonding-bunnies/
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bonding_rabbits_together

 

[babygeorge]

Good, i was thinking about plain antibiotic ointment , but i wasn't sure so didn't say anything .
If it gets any worse please take him/her , to the vet , and do you jsbr s picture \??

I have been putting some silver sulfadiazene cream on them twice a day. They seem to be clearing up just fine. Thanks!

 

[Jasminebunny]

I have been putting some silver sulfadiazene cream on them twice a day. They seem to be clearing up just fine. Thanks!

Yay!