I knew truly little about stress bonding rabbits a mere five weeks ago. (Not to mention how little I knew about rabbits a mere nine months ago.) When two of my* boy rabbits attempted to murder one another, I had to educate myself rather quickly. I did not expect the anxiety and sleepless nights that would accompany this process. It is stressful for the rabbits, but perhaps more so for the person administering it. With a lot of support from rabbit groups and people in the know, it seems the bonding has worked.

Kerneels on the left, Sagrys on the right

Why did they start fighting? The first theory is, Sagrys went to the vet and came back smelling different to the others. Second, there had always been sibling rivalry. Third, Kerneels received a lot of love from me when he injured his foot. (Little furball also pretended to be hurt, weeks after having recovered. Who would not enjoy snacks being delivered to you in the garden at all hours of the day?)

Any which way, all hell broke loose, and I was left with two exhausted, injured, scared and yet rather aggressive rabbits that went full tornado whenever the space allowed for it.

For three weeks I tried every trick known to the internet. I put them in the empty bath, first alone, but then on either side of me when they tried gnawing off a leg. I put them in a blanket and picked up the blanket.

I tried rewards – giving them freedom and snacks when they behaved. I tried penalties – taking away freedom and snacks when they went full serial killer.

Kerneels manipulating me with big, sad eyes. Sagrys hiding away from life. Sagrys in (a multi-coloured crèche) jail.

I tried giving each a day of freedom in the garden. Bad idea. The one with a hall pass would spend the day outside the cage of the jailbird taunting and biting them through the barriers.

Sagrys and Kerneels relaxing within spitting distance of their locked up sibling.

I drove up and down the neighbourhoods of Joburg to the point where Kerneels started sitting up and looking for landmarks.

And for thirty minutes or so after any of the above exercises they would cuddle and groom, just to return to murderous thoughts when they felt more secure.

I turned to Facebook and it told me to contact bunny whisperer, Suzanna van Rooyen. Facebook then told me she lives in Cape Town. I contacted her either way, asking for of Joburg-based organisations that handled stress bonding. Turns out there are none, but Suzanna however agreed to explain her whole method to me. Free of charge, mahala, gratis.

The gist of the method is as follows. For two to three days you plonk the offending parties in a small carrier (properly washed with vinegar) in a neutral setting they do not know. The carrier must be small enough to force them to be in one another’s space but allow them to sit up and lie down independently. If they fight, you rock the cage and scold them. The aim is for them to start grooming each other.

If after two to three days they do not fight, but rather groom and cuddle, you take the base, their den, and move it into a slightly larger cage – also washed with vinegar and still in a neutral setting. As they behave, the cage comes bigger and bigger, but the den always accompanies them. This is the most important part – the den becomes their safety. When released into their original space/garden/hutch, you leave the playpen and den for them to return to if they feel scared.

STEP ONE

I borrowed a friend’s carrier (one that he ran over, so it is all skew), gave my two jailbirds a stern talking to, loaded them into the car and went for a hair-raising ride through Joburg. That did the trick to stop the immediate fighting and start the cuddling and grooming. I kept them in the carrier for about 2.5 days. I would feed them, talk to them, groom them and obviously clean their hay. (There might have been the occasional teary plea to stop their nonsense. You would have to confirm that with them.)

I do believe Sagrys was simply trying to irritate his brother here.

STEP TWO

Because I had a onesie-cage, I could not take the base/den with. So, I took the bed made from hay and placed it in a bigger cage. Immediately the fighting started, and I put them back in the carrier overnight. I read in the wee hours of the morning (because, really, who sleeps when you have two feuding rabbits) that they also bite when they get bored.

So, the next morning I put them and their hay-bed back into the bigger cage, but this time I added chew sticks and plastic bowls they can throw at me. It worked like a charm! After some initial scuffles, they attacked the chew sticks and threw the containers all over the show.

Their play became so raucous one night, that they woke me up at 1am. Of course, I thought they were fighting, just to find them doing tiny binkies and chewing on the same tiny chew stick. It was so cute. Well, to me, not to my sleeping wife.

Mistake: separate food bowls. Sagrys pretending to groom himself, but in actual fact, squeezing Kerneels into a corner.

STEP THREE

I placed the den in a 1x1m playpen inside my flat. Once again, there was initial scuffles and nipping as they are unsure about the new space, but it quickly subsided. They spent two days in there.

After sniffing about, they climbed back into the den for a nap even thought a freshly laundered blanky was available.

STEP FOUR

I placed them, their den, and toys on my stoep in a 1x3m playpen. Once again, there was scuffles and nipping, but no serious biting, so I decided to let them sort out the hierarchy themselves.

Longing for freedom. One food bowl. Hiding away from that scary hadeda.

STEP FIVE

I placed them in the garden in a 2 x 1m playpen along with their chew toys and den. The initial scuffles and nipping subsided once again. I thought their two sisters coming to investigate the playpen, would make their integration back into the garden easier.

The pen was enlarged to 3 x 1m, with their den in the one corner. What was incredible to see is that whenever they were scared, they would run and jump into the den, and cuddle and groom.

The 1×3 meter ‘run’ was used for binkies and boisterous playing, naps were had in the den. Also, scary hadedas.

STEP SIX

After a rather restless night, I released them last Friday morning. They were surprisingly uninterested in one another, after gnawing through three layers of mesh to get to one another. Sagrys, being the soldier that he is, immediately patrolled the four corners of the property. Kerneels, my gentle giant, just did zooms and binkies.

The father who moved in when the boys were locked up, chases them around. The sisters nip and chase and ignore them. They themselves are still settling into the hierarchy – Sagrys is going to pull a muscle or dehydrate himself at the rate he marks, pees on, poos on or digs wherever Kerneels has been marking, peeing, pooing and digging. But there is no biting, no tornado-style fighting. The best I can do at this point, is to let them figure out the hierarchy, and only intervene when they start harming one another.

Interestingly, they have both individually gone back into the playpen and even jumped in the den that I left out for a few days.

A FEW TIPS

• The small carrier you start with, is not a jail, but rather a safe space, a burrow almost. That settles them down.

• Half of the reason they fight is fear. They were so petrified of one another it broke my heart. The small space helps them to overcome that fear.

• Adding chew sticks and toys as soon as the space allowed, was a big hit. They took out some of their frustration and boredom on the toys.

• Then, once the urge to kill one another subsides, and they revert to normal nipping and testing one another, step back even though your instinct is to protect them. They must sort out the hierarchy themselves.

After spending five weeks with these two, their distinct personalities came through even more. Kerneels, my gentle giant, is also a master manipulator. He would refuse food by turning his face away from me slowly, but dramatically. Only to scoff down whatever I offered him, the moment I leave the room. Sagrys on the other hand, would vacuum up whatever he was given.

When they had free roaming privileges in my flat for the first time, Sagrys checked out the whole space, chewed on some sculptures, did a dead bunny flop, and slept. Kerneels hid under the buffet for the whole day.

I will finish with one last anecdote. Sagrys pulled a stealth move that certainly requires a high level of intelligence. He scoffed up his own food, apart from two leaves, stretched over Kerneels (who was sulking and pretending to not want his food), and scoffed up his food too, knowing full well what the dangers were. That was Phase I of his plan. Phase II included Sagrys, turning around, reversing the cute little fluffbut over his own bowl containing the two remaining leaves, and peeing over it. Not only did he finish his opponent’s food, but he also then urinated over his own food so that Kerneels could not eat it. This captures what intelligent and complex creatures they are, and for that we love them dearly.

Thank you to Suzanna van Rooyen for graciously sharing her method, to Meahni Pieterse for being available on WhatsApp 24/7 and to my wife who had to quickly adapt to having rabbits sleeping next to our bed.

*My boys, are in fact our boys, as I live in an apartment building and there are numerous people who care for, ask after and pay for the boys to visit to the vet. Without their concern and support I would not have been able to pull this off.

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Siblings reunited.