Put Rosie back with Murphy and he attacked her :-(

Rosie has eaten so well today we decided to put her back with Murphy but he attacked her and it was so sad as she was so excited to be with him and went up to her but he sort of sniffed her then chased her, then she was all submissive as if to say please love me and he just turned on her and Mike had to grab her quick to check her. I was in tears as she has been through so much. We locked Murphy in the indoor hutch and let Rosie have the pen. So she is back in the lounge tonight.
Why does nothing go smoothly for us, we had all this with Ruby and Charlie and it was over a month before we got them back together. I'm really fed up and upset about it. They have been together since babies. I know she probably smells different due to her op but I thought Murphy would have been glad to see her

On no Maysie, I'm sad to read this

I know only what I've read on HH about bonding, do you think you will be able to put this right?

I read the first part of the title and thought "yay", then I saw the second part. Poor Rosie.

I am sure he will have her back shortly Maysie - he probably just wants to hog the bed for a bit longer. He is probably punishing her for leaving him so suddenly like that.

Thumper2001 wrote:On no Maysie, I'm sad to read this

I know only what I've read on HH about bonding, do you think you will be able to put this right?

I think with her having an Op she smells different, Charlie was the same with Ruby he sort of kept sniffing her and then when she would move he would chase and attack her and it's the same with Murphy he sniffed her tummy and chased her and then washed her face and she moved and he attcked her so viciously Mike grabbed Rosie quickly . I didn't help as I was crying as I felt sorry for Rosie and was worried she would twist her body and do more damage but she is ok now.
I shall leave Mike to bond them as I just can't cope with it I get far too upset

That must have been heartbreaking to see.

Could it be that he still sees her a ill/weak therefore a threat to their safety - going back to their natural instinct to attack the weak to keep themselves safer? If this is the case then hopefully when she gets stronger he will be happier to accept her back.

I hope she's not too shaken by it

Big Ears wrote:That must have been heartbreaking to see.

Could it be that he still sees her a ill/weak therefore a threat to their safety - going back to their natural instinct to attack the weak to keep themselves safer? If this is the case then hopefully when she gets stronger he will be happier to accept her back.

I hope she's not too shaken by it

He doesn't see her as Rosie because she smells different as he went straight for her tummy as she still smells a bit medical. perhaps when she smells more like her old self he will be interested.
I remember a girl once on the stable yard that I use to work at washing her horse and then putting talc all over it's mane and tail ( it was a Palomino horse and some girls would talc the tails to make them whiter) she put a rug over her horse to keep it clean and let it out in the field but she had to bring it back in within seconds as the other horses were trying to kick it because it would have smelt like Johnsons baby talc and not like a horse.

Tuckerbunnies wrote:

Big Ears wrote:That must have been heartbreaking to see.

Could it be that he still sees her a ill/weak therefore a threat to their safety - going back to their natural instinct to attack the weak to keep themselves safer? If this is the case then hopefully when she gets stronger he will be happier to accept her back.

I hope she's not too shaken by it

He doesn't see her as Rosie because she smells different as he went straight for her tummy as she still smells a bit medical. perhaps when she smells more like her old self he will be interested.
I remember a girl once on the stable yard that I use to work at washing her horse and then putting talc all over it's mane and tail ( it was a Palomino horse and some girls would talc the tails to make them whiter) she put a rug over her horse to keep it clean and let it out in the field but she had to bring it back in within seconds as the other horses were trying to kick it because it would have smelt like Johnsons baby talc and not like a horse.

From my experience Maysie I am astonished the horse didn't potter out of arms length from the girl and roll in a muddy patch just to make a point.

Oh bless her. Perhaps murphy is cross with her for being away?

I really hope they can be back together again soon.

So sad for her bless her heart x x

[b]I hate it when bunns or anything fights its just so sad hope they get themselves sorted very soon

I think a nice gentle re-bonding is in order xxx

FarplaceRescue wrote:I think a nice gentle re-bonding is in order xxx

Mike's going to try again tomorrow, and they are both in the indoor cages next to each other in our lounge tonight again. It's really upset me as she was so excited you could see that
she wanted to cuddle up to him and he just was so nasty with her and she hid at one stage and then he set about her and I was screaming get him off, get him off her. I was so scared she was going to get hurt.

I've told Murphy I am disgusted at the way he has treat his little Wifey bun

Oh Maysie thats so sad

Poor Rosie has been through enough already without Murphy being a little monkey

I do hope Mike manages to re-bond them

We tried Rosie and Murphy together again but I have had to come out it's heartbreaking to watch. Rosie keep's going up to him with her head down in hopes he will wash her but he just ignores her or attacks her and you can see she just doesn't understand. We ended up splitting them up as they started fighting and pulling fur out. This is really upsetting me as Rosie has always loved and Mothered Murphy and they have always been so close I feel like we have ruined everything for them but what could we do

I think it's the medical smell on Rosie that is putting Murphy off.

Is there some way you can make him smell the same Maysie?

You have done what was best for her Maysie, please dont blame yourself.

This is so heartbreaking. What is murphy thinking??

Is there something you can do to make her smell like herself again??

As i was reading this i was thinking how do you get the smell of medical off a bun?! Could you try picking up Murphy and then picking up rosy and hope his smell rubs of on her at all? sorry as ive never done or experienced the bonding process i can't really help, but my fingers are crossed he accepts her again soon!!

Katieb wrote:You have done what was best for her Maysie, please dont blame yourself.

This is so heartbreaking. What is murphy thinking??

Is there something you can do to make her smell like herself again??

We went throught this with Ruby and Charlie after she had her op and it does happen when they smell a bit medical, we could put a little lavender on them both but I don't like doing that as sometimes this can make them worse, we are just going to have to keep trying and hope that eventually Rosie will smell like a rabbit again and not like the vet's. It's all about smell and not look's unfortunately with rabbits

lizzi_blackwell3 wrote:As i was reading this i was thinking how do you get the smell of medical off a bun?! Could you try picking up Murphy and then picking up rosy and hope his smell rubs of on her at all? sorry as ive never done or experienced the bonding process i can't really help, but my fingers are crossed he accepts her again soon!!

We have covered buns with the smell of their partners before today but it just hasn't worked for us.

Tuckerbunnies wrote:

lizzi_blackwell3 wrote:As i was reading this i was thinking how do you get the smell of medical off a bun?! Could you try picking up Murphy and then picking up rosy and hope his smell rubs of on her at all? sorry as ive never done or experienced the bonding process i can't really help, but my fingers are crossed he accepts her again soon!!

We have covered buns with the smell of their partners before today but it just hasn't worked for us.

I thought i was saying something totally obvious that you would have already tried!! all i can offer is hugs to you and Mike and fingers crossed all works out soon!!

Oh no poor Rosie that's so sad that she's presenting her head for him, hopefully she'll start smelling more like herself again with a few more days in her surroundings. It's good that they are in cages next to each other too, if anyone can make it work it's you and Mike!

Are they being put together in territory they would both consider neutral?