Bonded brothers fallen out

Question
Hi Lee - I have 2 neutered rescue buns who are brothers and have been happily living together for the last year and a half. Yesterday, one of my house rabbits sneaked out into the garden, and upon catching a glimpse of the strange buns on their turf, the brothers (Colin & Harry) went mental at eachother and had a huge scrap.  We seperated them while they calmed down but as soon as they got together they had another big fight (blood drawn, fur flying).  5 fights in total yesterday, ended up having to partition their home down the middle for the night.  They seem to have no problems through the bars, but as soon as they are together, one bun sniffs the other and they fight again.  Seems to be that one bunny wants to make friends, but the other is all nervous and goes defensive when the other goes in for a sniff.  I just don't understand why and how I can get them back together again... Any ideas?  

Answer
Hi Sally,

this is a case of transference.  Instead of lashing out at the animal/person that is irritating them, they take it out on the closest/reachable thing they can.  Now they could be ticked off at each other, even though the real reason they fought in the first place were the strange rabbits.

You will have to keep them separated and go through the bonding process from the beginning.  They are like strange rabbits now after these fights.  You will have to treat them as such.

If they truly did draw blood and scratch each other, you should take them to the vet to make sure the scrapes and bites do not get infected and form an abscess.  Skin scrapes and wounds very easily get infected in rabbits.  If you can catch them quickly it may save a lot of time and care down the road.  

The House Rabbit web site (www.rabbit.org) has a lot of info on bonding rabbits.  I may actually give them a week or two to calm down, and watch how they are through the gates.  If they are nipping and boxing you may have to double-gate them so they cannot touch each other.  Once they aren't nasty towards each other, go to single gates.  If no nipping/biting/boxing, then it may be time to start the bonding process.  You will have to be patient and go slow.  

Definitely check out the bonding info at HRS.  And be aware that they there is a slim chance that they may not be able to be bonded together again, especially if the one that is defensive doesn't warm up to the other one.  

Write back, let me know how the bonding process goes, or if you have questions about it.

Lee