Wow, thats a tough one but fairly common I think. I can’t help here cause my bunny was similarly protective towards me and aggressive towards my BF but has gotten better without interference. Other people will have suggestions
Welcome to Binkybunny! Can we see pictures of Tuna (great name by the way)

Hello Tunabunny. How did you come to name your bun Tuna?

So how long ago was he neutered? It can take a month or so until their hormones to ‘settle’ after a neuter. So the aggression may be present for a little while yet. Sound like your HIS female and he’s defending his claim. Did he display this claim before the op? ie Circling your feet and honking etc.

Was Tuna a feral bunny you saved or did you rescue it from a neglectful owner? Some members here have commented that ferals they’ve homed display this tough side. As for managing the behaviour, I don’t have much advice to give. You could try startling him out of the behaviour at the moment it starts. A squirt with water or a loud hand clap and “NO!”

Well done for giving him a home and success in litter training!

There’s a bit of a trick that I know works for dogs and can probably work for buns too.

Whenever you give him a treat, use a clicker before handing it to him. Then, whenever someone comes over to visit, have them immediately use the same clicker and have them give him a treat. He will begin to associate visitors with treats and will begin to see them as something good.

I wish I could give you more info however, I have the opposite.  Whenever someone comes over, Maryann attacks me because I let them into her space.

Oh yea, tuna thinks you are his girlfriend!
what a great name, Tuna!

I think Marcus has great suggestion.

for some reason i missed this first time around…

welcome to BinkyBunny!  i too LOVE the name Tuna…  it sounds like it would be for a cat, which i think makes it awesome for a bunny!  if you have any pics you’d like to share, we’d love to see what the lil guy looks like!  great job rescuing him from his previous owner.  i agree that rabbits (any high maintenance animal) is not a pet for a child.  unfortunately bunnies get the reputation of being “easy” so people don’t realize the work and know-how that’s involved.

that’s a tough situation with him being aggressive.  here are some articles about rabbit aggression.  in unaltered buns, a lot of it is hormone-related , but since he is neutered and past the two-month mark, it sounds like it’s a deeper behavioral issue.

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/aggression.html

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/agressive.shtml

this article is about shy rabbits, but it has great info that you might be able to use… http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/shybun.html

Language of Lagomorphs is a bunny language encyclopedia of sorts… great info, and it’s fun to read.  i would suggest you bookmark this one.    language.rabbitspeak.com/

can you tell us more about your situation also…

you mention your mom, do you live at home?  who lives with you?

where is his cage located, is it around the other members of the household, or is it rare that anyone else but you comes in contact with him?

what kind of cage/pen/condo does he have, or is he free-range (allowed to roam around without a cage or pen)?

was he doing this before the neuter or has it started afterwards?

how old is he approximately?

Hi Tunabunny, I can relate with you on that one. Well, with the boyfriend actually . We adopted my daughter’s bunny, White Chocolate, after she’d been in and out foster homes and the shelter, and was about to be put down.

She too was a “one person bun”. She loved my daughter, and let her do just about anything, but everyone else got attacked and bitten. I still have some scars to prove it LOL.

All I can say is, be patient! It took a while before White Chocolate became friendly to most of us, but it was worth being patient.

Also, when Tuna attacks, there’s a trick you can use that I learned from our vet: You firmly, but gently, place your hand over Tuna’s head and gently hold him down, while sternly saying NO. This will show him that you (or your boyfriend or mom, you should teach them that trick too) are the dominant person, not Tuna. If you’re afraid in the beginning, try wearing gloves. I never did, but I did learn to be very fast with my hands LOL.

Above all, be consistent and do it each time he misbehaves. And please DON’T use the previously mentioned method of shouting and spraying the waterbottle: it DOES NOT work with buns like him. You will only make him more fearful and resentful. He may even start attacking you as well. You need to treat him firmly but gently, with respect while still teaching him to be respectful of you and your visitors. He will learn, buns like him and Chocolate are usually very smart buns .

You may also find that he’s very “cage protective”, he’ll defend his cage or his room. Best thing is to let him come out and go in to his cage or room on his own. You can easily get him used to a routine, e.g. at night for bedtime. My daughter’s Chocolate knew exactly when it was time for bed, she’d even remind my daughter . It was so funny to see her binkying off to her cage, anticipating the treat she always got at “bedtime”, and her basket of fresh greens.

So be patient and firm, and in time Tuna will come round, and stop biting. He’ll likely always growl like White Chocolate did, but she learned that that was ok, as long as she didn’t bite. We managed to teach her to “ask nicely” in stead .

Wow, that’s … unusual! Well, I’m new to rabbits, so I have never heard of that. My parents’ dog does the same thing. He is the sweetest little dog out there, but he does not like ‘invading’ people.
The clicker training sounds good! I bet it will work!
Wow!
I’m lucky. When we have guests, Dancer will hide in forever (and everyone thinks we have only one rabbit) while Velvet comes over and wants to see who those new people are and decide for herself whether she likes them or not.

GOOD LUCK!!!

So sorry your bun is so over-protective! That’s great of you to step in to save him.

My Lizzy was cage-aggressive and territorial. Not exactly the same as your situation. I did use most of the above methods, with much success. Holding her head down to assert dominance, spraying with the water bottle and saying “NO” (I think only you can be the judge of whether your bun is scared, or just being mean. Mine was definitely not scared! So the water-bottle worked on her.). I also made sure that every time I reached for her it was for something nice, like a treat or a nose rub. Maybe your family can be the ones to feed Tuna for awhile, so he begins to associate them with good things? Also, just more consistent exposure to them would probably help…

Good luck! Keep us posted on your progress!