I adopted my 1yo lionhead, Juniper, 9 months ago and my 3yo Holland lop, Alfie, 3 months ago. They are both spayed and neutered. When I lived in my apartment they had cages side by side (but not touching), and Juniper was very aggressive towards Alfie; she would lunge, growl, chew at the bars, etc. I rescued Alfie from my neighbor who had severely neglected him so he had a few health issues I wanted to have the vet treat before I even thought about starting to bond them; to this day they have not had any bonding sessions.
One day when I had a friend over while the rabbits were both out in their separate play areas, that friend forget to secure the barrier that separated the rabbits. I didn’t realize this until I heard a faint rustling in Alfie’s room. I ran in there and they were attacking each other. They got separated and both were fine, there was only hair pulling. From what I could tell by the trail of pulled hair, Juniper hopped into Alfie’s litter box while he was lounging, and he was the one who attacked her. This happened 2 months ago.
This was the last time they have seen each other, and soon after that I moved into my mom’s house because my lease was up and I’m saving up to get a place with some friends. Right now, Juniper has free roam in my room while Alfie has free roam in another bedroom. I love on and take care of Alfie multiple times a day, and when I come back covered in Alfie’s scent, Juniper will sometimes full on attack me!! She is never aggressive towards me otherwise and is very sweet, she will follow me around my room and sit at my feet all the time and give me kisses. But sometimes when I come back from loving on Alfie without washing my hands and changing my clothes, she will bite me to the point of breaking skin. It is very scary, and the only thing that will make her stop is pressing her head to the floor and scooting her into her pen. This aggression only started happening after the incident and has been getting more severe (only towards Alfie’s scent).
What can I try to do to make her not afraid of Alfie’s scent and not attack me?
.
