My rabbit is getting super aggressive.. :/

[Zarilein]

Hello,

I have two male rabbits, Link (2 years old) and Mido (7 month old). 

Link got castrated one year ago. Now I let Mido get castrated 10 days ago also.

Since then I need to hold them separated, because Link is reacting super aggressive towards Mido.

I already got advices that I should switch their places everyday (Link into Midos cage and the same for Mido),

so they get used to the smell of each other.

They also told me I should wait 1 month before trying to bond them again.

They both have a big area to run around, fresh hay, water and vegetables. 

I heard that often when a rabbit gets castrated, they change their personality, but that didn’t really happen to Mido.

He stopped peeing and is using his toilet now, so that’s great! 
But well, now Link is the one who is peeing everywhere and he is super aggressive against everything.

I can’t clean his toilet without being worried about getting biten, can’t even give him his favourite food without him getting aggressive.

They both can see each other through a fence, whenever they want to. But well, as soon as Mido comes near, Link sprints towards him and tries to bite his nose. I can understand, that he is aggressive against Mido at the moment, but why against me? 

I didn’t changed how I act towards him, I never annoy him on purpose or what so ever. 

I am honestly lost and worried that they will never get along with each other anymore.. 

I hope someone can give me some good advice!! 

Thank you

PS: I got Mido as a “female”.. later it turned out he’s a “male”. I would’ve never got a second male on purpose..

they were happy with each other before the castration, got bond in less than 2 days. 

The reason I castrated him is because he was peeing everywhere and started to act like he was pregnant.

[MrBun&Daisy]

if they are acting aggressive towards each other I would put something so they can’t see each other. usually if buns are already bonded its not a good idea to separate them but it sounds like these 2 might need to be completely re-bonded. obviously link has become very upset by the change. if I were you I would keep them from seeing each other for the month so link can calm down. buns will often forget they dislike another bun if they don’t meet again for a while. then you can re introduce them and its like they’ve never met before. its likely link is not really directing his aggression towards you specifically, just at the world in general. take it slow and let him calm down. try not to invade his space as much as possible. he is probably just sensing the upset in mido’s hormones and doesn’t understand. keep them separate until mido is out of his month window so his hormones are calmed then SLOWLY try to reintroduce them. it can take longer but it is possible to have happily bonded male buns since they’re both neutered now. if they were happy together prior to mido’s surgery I have a feeling once everything calms down and goes back to normal you shouldn’t have a problem. I know its hard, but just be patient. also if you have just touched mido and then try to go near link that could be causing him to react as well.

[Zarilein]

Okay, I will do that.
Someone else told me that I should put them together after a month on neutral space and NOT seperate them if they are fighting each other.. now I really don’t know, if I should seperate them if they fight or not.. everyone is saying something else :/

[Bam]

It depends on how they are fighting. A few minor scuffles are to be expected. There might be fur-pulling. But if the buns are so confrontational that they turn into a ball of fury and fur rolling across the floor, you should separate. Likewise if you see a lot of face-humping. Face humping can end really badly for a male bunny if the other bunny bites back.

[Mykl]

I would say Link is being aggressive because of Mido’s hormones. It will take a month for them to settle and dissipate so trying to bond them during that time is futile.

If Link is being aggressive and territorial then maybe you should put Mido in a different room for the next three weeks. Link will probably settle down again.

I’ve bonded two males and didn’t find it harder than bonding mixed gender. You just need to wait three more weeks. If they get access to each other before then it will be SAVAGE.

[Zarilein]

Okay. Thank you all for the tips. Now I just gotta hope that it will work when they are more calm!

[Author]

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