HELP! Doe became very agressive to her hutch mates after spay!!!

[hkkjstwcl]

1) Leona--- lionhead doe 2yr old (FIXED ABOUT A WEEK AGO)
2) Giselle ---English Angora doe 1.5 yr old (UNFIXED)
3) Miraglo --BEW small mixed doe 2 yr old (new girl in the house --about 2 months--FIXED BEFORE I GOT HER)


These three does are having a difficult time bonding again.
Leona always has been nervous and bossy alpha doe. She has just got spayed. While healing from the surgery, I hutched her separately from the other two. The girls' hutch is a double deck-hutch. So, I devided two levels, and Leona occupied the upper level while recovering.
It's been more than a week, so, I let Leona out to hop around a bit in a large play pen. I put other does together, and what Leona did was run after them like crazy, tried to bite them, and made them run all scared.

I connected the hutch together, cleaned them, so that they don't become territorial about the first or second level. But, no matter where I put them together, Leona is so *****y to other two, and the others are so affraid of Leona.

Leona is the alpha, and that is undisputed. Nobody is objecting that. So, I don't know why Leona is trying to be agressive to my other girls. It's completely unexpected to me.

They used to be best friends,.... especially Leona and Giselle were so happy together before.

Does anybody know why this is happening?
I posted a thread on a rabbit forum, but it seems that there is not as much interaction on there as there is here. I haven't heard any answer yet...

Here are a couple of pix.
First pix: Left-Leona; Right-Giselle
Second pic: Miraglo

 

[minrex]

Rabbits are similar to chins in that they don't always like to have a cagemate, and even if they do, they can suddenly decide one day that they no longer like their cagemate. If you separate bonded rabbits, they can "forget" each other and have to be completely re-introduced. They may even refuse to re-bond with each other, despite the fact that they "loved" each other before the separation.

If you want them to live together again, you're probably going to have to carefully re-introduce them as if they have never lived together before. And be aware that there's the possibility that the re-intro will fail.

 

[hkkjstwcl]

Thanks for yoiur advice. I was very surprized that she became a stranger to them after ONLY A WEEK!!!!
So, do you think that a week of separation is long enough for chins and rabbits to forget their cage mates?

 

[cremellomare]

I have a female that was fine a few months after I got her and then was very aggressive toward her female cagemate. Had them spayed and it did not help, she was just as aggressive. I was able to keep her with a male but she beat the snot out of him at first. Now she is alone and happy as a clam. Not all of them love having a roomie!

 

[minrex]

Thanks for yoiur advice. I was very surprized that she became a stranger to them after ONLY A WEEK!!!!
So, do you think that a week of separation is long enough for chins and rabbits to forget their cage mates?

Yes, in some cases a week is long enough for them to "forget" their cagemate. Sometimes it doesn't even take that long!