Fighting,Help ***now with a short video****

just nearly had heart failure,looked on the back garden and they was fur everywere,just been out and spike is laid in the second cage and snowflake was under the swing with spikes fur in her mouth they must have had a right scrap,had a quick look and there is no blood or anything,will have a proper look when i come back from taking the the kiddies to school,is there anything i need to be looking out for? could there bond be breaking?

just kept checking up on them and there together,so must have just had a disagreement but must have been a moosive one gonna keep an extra eye on them

just been out and checked on them and they have just had another scrap,chasing each other around in a circle managed to stop them,what do i need to do

I wish I could help but I'm in a very similar situation with Molly and Junior (Minus the fur pulling). It's horrible to see, isn't it?

Hopefully someone who can help will be along soon!

Are you sure they are scrapping? Bruce chases Flo all the time and although it might look like something to worry about when you really look you realise that Flo's ears are pricked and she is enjoying it. As you watch you can actually see her sometimes encourage him into doing it. And Bruce will sometimes encourage me to chase him. And fur is often pulled from Flo by Bruce. I just remind myself that she can more than outrun him or she could turn around and box him if she was fed up. She is more than capable of taking care of herself. Here is a vid of their chasing. Somebody on facebook was really worried about them thinking that they were fighting, but I promise you they were having fun. They often flop together after one of these chases.

thanks thumper,its really upsetting me,the only thing ive done different,is a got snowflake out yesterday to inspect her bum ect and i couldnt get spike,i was going to do it today,as soon as i put snowflake back in,spike was sniffing her and grooming her,i dont know if thats got anything to do with it just checked up on them and there sat apart in the second cage but sometimes they do sit apart

ok,thank you Cheryl,when i saw them do it,they was in the second cage,so they isnt much room,they were side by side and just going around in a circle,will keep an eye on them and see,looked at the video and saw the fur been pulled they is chunks of fur every were and there is a lot

i think they are deffo scrapping,looks nothing like yours cheryl,ive taped them for a few seconds,so will post in,need to upload it,it got too upsetting so had to stop taping and stop them

iam in tears,its upsetting to me,so might be upsetting to other people so please be warned




they keep doing it but they have just done it again but it was a mixture of your video Cheryl and mine,it looks like its manly snowflake that starts it

I really don't know what to suggest, sorry

I can imagine its distressing for you, I would be scared to turn my back on them

iam outside or in the kitchen watching them,they have a scrap and then lay down and rest and then they do it again,i dont want to separate them,i have to go out in a few hours to take the twins to nursery,so might have to try and split them up unless someone tells me there playing,i hope they are but i doubt it

I wish I could help but I don't have any experience in these matters. It must be distressing for all involved, I hope if it is fighting they've sorted their differences soon for you

so do i,they havent done anything since the last one but spike has gone inside the cage now and snowflake is still out,so there avoiding each other,they havent done it,in the cage yet,its always been outside on the grass,i really hope there going to be ok

Oh crikey, I'm used to seeing Tigger and Jeeves run about like Bruce and Flo but that video certainly doesn't look like that

I really don't know what to do. I'm not sure if separating them but so they still see each other will be ok?

there both in the cage laid next to each other now,they has been no more fights for about 3 hours now,so iam hoping they have worked out there differences but when they both went back in the cage,every time snowflake went up to spike,she ran off.

i did try any spray them,poor snowflake was getting very wet,it wasnt making any difference,had to put my foot inbetween them,ive brought a bath towel down,so if it happens again,i can throw that on them,the back garden is full of fur

That does look like more serious fighting. I think the main difference is in whether they face up to each other. Head to bum is fine but head to head is worrying. I would guess that something has happened to worry them and for them to feel the need to re negotiate the hierarchy of their relationship. I am wondering if one of you neighbours have recently got a entire buck rabbit or maybe there is a new smell or noise in the neighbourhood. If they persist I would take it back to bonding basics and reduce their space right back down.

I really hope they have worked it out.
It certainly did look like fighting.

I agree with Cheryl, if it starts again I'd be tempted to go back to bonding basics.
I read somewhere (I always forget where I read things) that a pet carrier car trip round the block sometimes helps - they get stressed so they turn to one another for comfort. But I'm no expert!

ok,thanks ladies,as far as i know,no one has got any new pets,the people next to us are old,they is a family about 4-5 houses down and they have small kids,so wonder if they have got a new pet,i am keeping extra eye on them both

That is proper fighting and not play fighting, have you at all sprayed fly repellent on one bunny and not the other as sometimes if one bunny smells slightly different the other bunny will have a go, we have found this out when I put assisi grooming spray on one bunny and not her partner and all hell let loose when they were put togther but they did eventually make up by washing each other.

It is upsetting to see a bonded pair suddenly fight like this I agree

I wonder if one has been stung at all I know it sounds silly but it does happen, just a thought.

I too hope they become friends again love, I can imagine just how you feel.

Hugs

JO xx

maysie-the only thing what was different,is i got hold of snowflake yesterday and brushed her and checked her over for mattered fur around her bum,when i put her back,spike went right up to her and started sniffing her and started to groom her,i couldnt get hold of spike as when i tried she ran off in the tube,forgot as well,earlier in the day,i did bath the piggies and hold them,so maybe the scent of the piggies went on snowflake but would that make a difference and anyway from what ive seen of the fights,its been snowflake thats started them.

just got back from the school run and they isnt any fur in the cage,so iam a little happier,iam just going to be really anxious when they go out on the garden as thats were all the fighting has happened

I agree with Cheryl that it might be worth reducing their space / freedom a bit. Do you have a pen you can put them in on the garden rather than letting them have access to the whole garden again straight away?

Try not to worry too much - bear in mind that they both have a lot of fur which will make it look like an awful lot has been pulled, plus help to protect them from each others teeth.

Humum went through this with me and Gizmo when we had a huge fight, and for the next week whenever she tried to put us back together we just launched at each other. But finally she put us in a small pen in a neutral space, and we gradually accepted each other again. She also did a massive re-arrange in our big indoor pen, so it was all a new layout for us. Broken bonds can be mended

It could quite easily be 'Spring' and one is feeling a little more amourous than the other and being a bit too...pushy!

Tuckerbunnies wrote:It could quite easily be 'Spring' and one is feeling a little more amourous than the other and being a bit too...pushy!

That was my other thought. We have really had a very amorous Spring here - so much so that I was very tempted to get another doe to take the pressure off Flo! However all has settled now and I have gone back to the position of not rocking the boat (and I may even manage to stop looking at a certain rescue bunny as well).

Sparky wrote:I agree with Cheryl that it might be worth reducing their space / freedom a bit. Do you have a pen you can put them in on the garden rather than letting them have access to the whole garden again straight away?

Try not to worry too much - bear in mind that they both have a lot of fur which will make it look like an awful lot has been pulled, plus help to protect them from each others teeth.

Humum went through this with me and Gizmo when we had a huge fight, and for the next week whenever she tried to put us back together we just launched at each other. But finally she put us in a small pen in a neutral space, and we gradually accepted each other again. She also did a massive re-arrange in our big indoor pen, so it was all a new layout for us. Broken bonds can be mended

sparky-i bought a few puppy pens when i first got them,so i can put that around the second cage,they have been sleeping on different levels these past few hours,so iam hoping the space has done them good,poor spike even turned her nose up at a fenugreek crunchy,also glad to know,if the bond has broke,it can be mended.

Tuckerbunnies wrote:It could quite easily be 'Spring' and one is feeling a little more amourous than the other and being a bit too...pushy!

i did read this on another forum Maysie,someone else is having trouble and they said it could be just spring.

iam still keeping an extra eye on them,there cage is right next to the back door, and the door is open,so i can hear anything that happens,i guess the test will be tommorow now

thanks ladies,knew i could count on you lot,gave me lots of good advice

sarah
xx