Jealousy or Territorial? Please help!

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This topic has 2sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 1 month ago by LBJ10.

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- 12/16/2021 at 12:03 PM
  RudyardandOscar
  Participant
  1 posts
  Hi! So I have two lil bunnies, Rudyard and Oscar. They’re brothers and most of the time, a dream.
  
  They’ve been recently neutered, and have been reintroduced. They now play together, eat together, groom each other, sleep together. Except…
  
  When I’m there. I don’t know if it’s jealousy or territorial or something else, but when I’m sitting with them, or just around their pen sometimes, Rudyard gets so arsy and starts chasing Oscar away. Sometimes quite viciously. Sometimes he won’t even let him come near me or near the food. Sometimes he scares Oscar to the point he doesn’t want to even come close. But then when I go out of sight, they’re back to sitting with each other.
  
  im so confused! I’ve tried googling it and everything is just talking about bonding or saying that rabbits get jealous not what to do when they are!? Please help? Is it that or is it something else? And how do I fix this? I’m truly lost.
- 12/16/2021 at 12:05 PM
  DanaNM
  Moderator
  9064 posts
  Hi there, welcome 🙂
  
  So, did you go through the bonding process with them when you reintroduced them? Baby rabbits do not bond in the true sense of the word, even when they are related. When puberty hits, and then again with neutering, the hormonal changes mean that it’s common for them to start fighting.
  
  You can read about bonding here: https://binkybunny.com/infocategory/bonding/
  
  It sounds like they are doing well for the most part, so they probably just need some supervised time in neutral territory (a place neither rabbit has been) to fully establish their bond.
  
  . . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
- 12/16/2021 at 9:26 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17213 posts
  One bunny can definitely become more possessive of their human… but aggressive behavior like you’re describing is usually hormone-driven. How long has it been since they were neutered? Perhaps it was too soon for reintroduction? It can taken several weeks for hormones to settle following neutering.
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