Are my bunnies friends or foes?

[elemenoperica]

Greetings,

I’m a bit new to the bunny culture. I recently adopted (inherited?) two male bunnies from a college girl who “had to get rid of them” asap. I’m known as an animal lover, so naturally, they moved in. I’ve never had rabbits before, and have done a lot of research. My boyfriend works for a vet, so we had them neutered right away. Normally, they are super sweet with one another, and I think they are brothers. They are about 8 months old and weigh 3.5 pounds. Every once in a while, Henry humps William, and this morning Henry was chasing William around their condo, almost aggressively. William was breathing very heavily after this “game.” Do I need to be concerned about them sharing a living space? They live in a 4 by 4 foot condo, and they come out to play as often as I can manage. Like I said, they are very loving 99% of the time. Should I do something about Henry’s aggressive behavior?  

Erica

[Sarita]

Humping is normal behavior – that is usually the dominant one.

As far as the chasing, are you sure it’s aggression or could it be playing? Do they get into any scuffles – pull any fur out? It sounds as if they have been together for their whole life so I would not want to separate them unless their was fighting.

Also it can take about a month or so after neutering for their hormones to actually calm down too.

[Beka27]

welcome here! i commend you for taking those poor buns in, doing the necessary research, and getting them neutered! i think you’ve already given them a great second chance. like Sarita said, i would not separate them unless there is real fighting. this may just be a natural part of their bunny adolescence. even after neutering, at 8 months old they are still going to have some teenage behaviors. they should begin to mellow a bit as they get older.

[elemenoperica]

Thank you so much, both of you. That is what I suspected, but I wanted confirmation from some more knowledgable bun parents.

[MarkBun]

If you can, put something in the center of the condo to break up the ‘racing circle’. Even if you put a cardboard box that sticks from the wall to halfway into the condo, it will break up the ‘charge lanes’ as it were and chasing like that should lessen.

[Princess*Smudge]

Welcome! I don’t have any advice, I just wanted to welcome you here and request pictures of the new additions!! hahah I think it’s safe to say we’re all a little crazy for pictures

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Sorry I’m late!! Welcome to Binkybunny!!!

[elemenoperica]

Help! As of yesterday, Henry’s aggressive behavior seems to have returned. He chases William nonstop and pulls out his fur. I haven’t seem any lacerations on William, but he is visibly shaken. This began while they were both romping in my room yesterday. After about an hour of them “hanging out” calmly, Henry started to pursue William. I noticed tufts of fur all over the room within ten minutes. Last night they calmed down for a while, but for hours this morning Henry continued his pursuit. I let William out of the condo alone so he could chill out.

What should I do? These boys grew up together; they’re probably about 10 months old and are neutered. They seemed to have a very loving relationship before this.

[Beka27]

it sounds like you might need to start over. read some of the threads in the bonding forum section and in the bunny info section there is a page on bonding. tufts of fur are not good b/c they are only going to get more aggressive with each other if this is allowed to continue. if they share a condo, you are going to need to make a separate one so they have individual living space. try and set it up so there is 3 inches between them.

[Author]

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