So it has happened. Spring. I don’t know if you remember but last year Nova’s behaviour was a little weird at the start of Spring; this year it was over the top. One morning the bunnies were together in their indoor pen resting, the next they were fighting. Ripping hair out. Squealing. Boxing. Circling. 

Nova ripped clumps of Buttons’ hair out. Of course he protected himself and ripped her hair out. 

I leapt into their pen and grabbed Buttons. He was the closest. He was shaking; scared. Nova prowled around the pen looking for him until she sat in the corner and stared at me with crazy eyes.

That is not normal behaviour. That is mating behaviour. That is an unfixed female rabbit behaviour. That is not dominance. That is frustration because Buttons is fixed and he doesn’t know or understand what she wants him to do.

This is not a broken bond, this is spring.

So, the big question now is “Is Nova not desexed?”

Of course the rescue I got her from swears blindly that she is fixed because her “documentation” says so. What documentation? I wasn’t given a desexing certificate.

If you remember even the vet questioned whether she was desexed just by the fact that she didn’t have a scar on her belly when Nova went in for her first Filavac jab.

After about 10 minutes, once I thought they had calmed down, I put Buttons back in the pen. Nova was in the litter box and Buttons gingerly went up to her. They booped noses and Nova immediately leapt out of the litter box and was chasing Buttons again ripping his hair out. 

I grabbed Nova. 

Buttons hid under his blanket.

Now the bunnies needed to be separated. Separate pens, separate lives, until spring is over.

I set up separate outdoor pens. Nova had the green Omlet pen, Buttons had a smaller Kmart fence pen.

As soon as Nova was put in her pen she patrolled every millimetre and started snorting when she came across Buttons’ scent. After a while she settled down, once she realised he wasn’t there.

Buttons didn’t care that he was in a separate pen. He ate grass and was quite relaxed. He clearly didn’t miss her at all. 

The odd thing was, when the bunnies were together in the same pen days prior, Nova would dig holes, especially large ones that would make a brilliant nest for babies.

Their night pens had to be re-thought. So I set up their pens next to each other. I put Buttons in first, then went to get Nova. As soon as she was in the pen they were snapping at each other through the bars. Nova pulled some of Buttons’ hair out.

I raced outside and grabbed Buttons’ old cage and set it up for Nova. I set it up in the study, exactly where Buttons was years before when I first got him. She was not happy in there, but she needed to be away from Buttons.

Buttons got an expanded pen for the night. He was happy with that. He is such an easy going rabbit.

For now the bunnies need to be separated until I can figure out what is going on.

At night we set up their pens to be next to each other, but separated by plastic containers. Both bunnies were happy with that.

Nova seemed more relaxed being next to Buttons, and Buttons did not care two hoots about being in a separate pen.

Then we noticed something strange… Buttons didn’t have his poopy problem for over a week. Was his tummy issue due to stress? Is he a bachelor bunny where he would rather be alone rather than be living with other rabbits? It is a well known fact that some male mammals prefer to be bachelors and not in a group.