Castration

[MarkE]

Hi there, I hope someone out there can give me some advice. 

We have two male rabbits (1 year old), and about 3 months ago they started to get aggressive / mounting each other. They live together during the night in a hutch, and during the day in an enclosed space of about 4m x 4m. After they started to get aggressive, we have had to separate them. 

We were recommended by a Vet to have them castrated. This was done 2 weeks ago, and we have seen no change in their aggression to each other when trying to put them together again. 

How long does it take for them to be able to be together again? Will they ever be able to tolerate each other without fighting? We are going away soon and need to leave both rabbits with a relative, and we had the operation to make it easier for the relative to keep them. If they fight while staying with the relative, its going to be difficult! 

Thanks!!

mark

[jerseygirl]

Hi MarkE
It’s unusual that you were able to keep 2 intact bucks together without them fighting for so long. Not unheard of, but it’s certainly not the usual scenario. Perhaps were both late bloomers.

We are going away soon and need to leave both rabbits with a relative, and we had the operation to make it easier for the relative to keep them. If they fight while staying with the relative, its going to be difficult! 

I would use this time to your advantage and keep them separated during your absence. It will give time for the hormones to level out and also to chill out post fight. It might be a little onconvenient for your relative to have them set up separately, but it beats having to deal with fighting and injuries.

You will likely have to start bonding them as if they were new rabbits. Check out the bonding guides here: https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/9/PID/940/Default.aspx

 It may be long process but it is possible they will be able to co-habit again. Having some time lapse post-neuter will work positively towards this. You may even find the aggression has abated after they’ve had more time separated since the op. And if lucky, it will be an easier reunion.

Have you identified any triggers that may have brought on the fighting in the first place?

I have a friend who had a quartet years ago (castrated Bucks, intact Does) All adults and living together amicably. Then, seemingly out of the blue, there was some fighting. She had to separate them into 2 m/f pairs. It turned out the pellets she had bought from the feed store contained some rabbit poop! There was a feral colony of rabbits that had gotten into the feed. The owners found a bag and swept up the contents and still sold it.   They admitted this when my friend returned the bag telling them what she had found. ‘

It was the scent of these other rabbits that caused the breakdown in the bond of her group. 

Is your rabbits hutch outdoors where other animals (not just rabbits)  could have approached? Or have you added any new pets to the household at all? 

[Bam]

Two weeks is a very short time. A castration throws a rabbit into hormonal turmoil. The body and brain still “crave” male sex hormones, but the production of sex hormones is stopped abruptly. There are still hormones circulationg in the blood and the adrenal glands can also start up a bit of testosterone production. This means the rabbits can get “extra” hormonal behavior-wise during the first 2-8 weeks post neuter. It’s known as a post-neuter craze ands its very common.

The main problem here is that your rabbits have formed a dislike of each other before they were neutered. This “dislike” (it’s not something they conciously choose of course) can linger even if the hormones will die down. In some cases two rabbits that have learnt to hate each others will never become good friends. For this reason your buns need to be kept separate, and then you should start a full bonding process. We have a bonding section and there are also bonding tips on our resources page, scroll down to Bonding: https://binkybunny.com/RESOURCES/tabid/67/Default.aspx

I’m afraid there is no real quick fix to this. Bonding two rabbits can be difficult. That your two have grown up together is an advantage though.

[Author]

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