My Rabbits Fought—Now What?
When rabbits fight during bonding, it can feel scary, frustrating, and even hopeless. You might be left questioning everything — what went wrong, whether they can ever get along, and what you’re supposed to do next. This is often the moment people reach out to me.
When I say “fight,” I mean high-speed chasing, an intense tornado, sideways kicks with their back legs, biting, grabbing with their teeth and not letting go, and sometimes bite wounds. It’s a serious escalation — loud, fast, and alarming to witness.
If this just happened, your nervous system is probably still reeling — and your rabbits’ are too. But take a breath: one fight doesn’t always mean the bond is doomed. Many fights are the result of a phenomenon called trigger stacking — when stressors build up over time without enough recovery in between, eventually pushing a rabbit past their coping threshold. This post will help you understand how that works, what to do now to support your rabbits’ recovery, and how to move forward with clarity and compassion.
Why Rabbits Fight During Bonding: Understanding Trigger Stacking and Thresholds
Each rabbit has a limit to what they can handle at any given time. A threshold is the point at which an animal's internal emotional arousal becomes high enough that their observable behavior changes, often suddenly and dramatically. When below their threshold, an animal notices triggers but still behaves in a relatively calm, controlled way. When they are at or above threshold, their ability to self-regulate decreases, and behaviors like fleeing, freezing and fighting can occur.
Trigger stacking happens when multiple stressors or arousing events occur close together, without enough recovery time in between. While each individual trigger might not push an animal over their threshold on its own, the cumulative effect makes it much easier for the animal to reach that breaking point. Put more simply, they "lose their shit" more easily.
We've all experienced trigger stacking: You wake up late, rush to work hungry, get delayed by transit issues, endure a screaming baby on your commute, receive extra tasks from your boss, and then, when you spill your coffee—you completely lose it. You might scream profanities, throw your cup, or spiral into a silent meltdown. Your reaction isn't really about the coffee; it's about everything that happened before and your overloaded nervous system.
Rabbits experience the same phenomenon. What looks like aggression "coming out of nowhere" is actually the final straw after multiple stressors have accumulated without enough recovery time in between. Just as your meltdown wasn't really about the spilled coffee, their fight usually isn't about whatever seemed to trigger it in the moment—it's about the accumulation of stress that pushed them over their threshold.
Many small triggers can pile up and push a rabbit over their threshold, contributing to a fight: a vet trip (even from several days earlier), being herded into the bonding area over a slick floor, a sudden unexpected noise, a brewing medical problem, pain or discomfort, a change in homes, or even being too close to another rabbit for too long. The rabbit could have handled each one of these things individually, but together they create a perfect storm that pushes them beyond their ability to cope—or over their threshold.
What to Do After Your Rabbits Fight: How to Support Decompression
If a fight happens during bonding, immediately separate the rabbits to prevent further stress or injury and allow them to decompress separately.
The keyword here is decompression: Decompression is the process of allowing an animal's stress levels to return to baseline after experiencing events that caused arousal or distress. Decompression is critical because an animal that remains over threshold—meaning they are still emotionally and physiologically activated—is much more likely to react strongly to smaller triggers, even ones they might otherwise tolerate.
When rabbits fight during bonding, they don’t immediately "reset" after the event ends. Their nervous systems stay activated for a period of time. Without a decompression period, continued interactions—even neutral or positive ones—can lead to further fights, because the rabbits are still operating under accumulated stress. Decompression gives their bodies and brains the space to return to a state where learning, social interaction, and behavior change are possible again.
Decompression is important for you, too. I know the panic and despair of seeing two rabbits you love fight. Step away from the situation and lean into your support system. Then later, you can come back to the situation clearer-headed.
Reviewing Bonding Videos: How to Spot Triggers and Make Adjustments
After a break, when you are feeling more at ease, review your video footage of the fight and the bonding sessions leading up to it. (Video documentation is really helpful for successful bonding—if you're not already recording, start now!) Play parts in slow motion to catch all the details you couldn't see in the moment.
Try to identify the behaviors and changes in body language that led up to the fight. Pay attention to early stress signals from each rabbit, not just the final explosion. Look for freezing, shifts in body posture, increased muscle tension, changes in breathing, and changes in ear position. Remember that some body and fur types make reading body language more difficult, and each rabbit expresses stress differently.
Identify possible triggers that may have contributed to the fight: recent stressful events like nail trims or vet visits, being carried to the bonding area, possible pain from gas or arthritis, unexpected noises, slippery flooring, or sessions that lasted longer than previous ones.
Start brainstorming small adjustments to the environment, bonding session structure, or handling based on what you observe.
Need Help After a Rabbit Fight? Let’s Talk.
If your rabbits fought and you’re not sure what to do next, I’m here to help. I offer a free 15-minute call where we can talk through what happened, how your rabbits are doing now, and what kind of support might be most useful. You don’t have to figure this out alone — book a call here and let’s talk.
Helpful Resources on Stress, Trigger Stacking, Thresholds, and Behavior Principles Related to Rabbit Bonding
If you’re looking to deepen your understanding of the behavioral science behind rabbit bonding, these resources are a great place to start. While many focus on dogs or broader species, the underlying principles—like how stress accumulates and how behavior is influenced by internal states—are directly relevant to rabbits, too.
This clear and accessible article from Pet Harmony explains how seemingly small stressors can build on each other, leading to sudden outbursts or shutdowns—something we often see in bonding sessions.
Eileen Anderson unpacks the concept of thresholds in a way that’s easy to apply to any species. It’s a helpful lens for understanding when a rabbit is emotionally available for learning or social interaction, and when they’re not.
Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky
This classic book explores how chronic stress affects the brain and body. While it’s not about rabbits specifically, it offers a powerful framework for understanding how stress can fuel irritability and aggression across species.
Dr. Spaulding breaks down the science of stress into practical categories—eustress, tolerable stress, and toxic stress—and discusses how each impacts behavior and learning. These concepts are crucial when navigating the emotional terrain of rabbit introductions.