Suddenly VERY aggressive rabbit – HELP

[Danika]

Please help..

I recently got a second rabbit. Kalbassie (spayed female, 17 months, angora/jersey wooly) was my first rabbit and I’ve had her for more than a year. Then I decided to try to find her a partner as I was worried she was alone too much with me working during the day. So I got Peanut (male, not neutered yet, about 11 weeks, Netherland dwarf). The bonding process went amazing and was a HUGE success,to my utter delight. They have now been bonded for nearly 2 weeks. (I’ve had Peanut for a bit more than 2 weeks).

That is the background. Now. A terrible thing happened this morning when I went to feed them. Peanut suddenly attacked me. Out of nowhere! I’ve never seen or read of a rabbit so aggressive! He lunged at me and bit me on my hand. He continued lunging at me and biting wherever he could reach. Drew blood each time. He wouldn’t leave me alone.. I had to use a pillow to deter him because he kept coming back!! He went completely ballistic! He didn’t try to hurt Kalbassie at all. In fact I wonder now if he has suddenly become territorial and was trying to protect her. I honestly don’t know. He’s NEVER displayed such aggression since I’ve had him. He is the happiest little munchkin and binkies, a LOT. I am shocked. I don’t know what could’ve caused this! NOTHING has changed…They have a whole huge room to themselves, free range bunnies. Nothing new in their territory. No new food or new toys. Literally nothing has changed since last night – when he was completely docile and calm. He is stressed now.. And he’s stressing Kalbassie as well. I don’t know what to do.. PLEASE HELP! Has anyone experienced something similar? I will be getting him neutered very soon.

[Bam]

I think Peanut has started puberty. It often happens like that with rabbits, very suddenly, like you’d flipped a switch. I think he is protecting Kalbassie. It’s purely instinctive. Having him neutered will most likely help.

If it is puberty you might also see an increase in pee- and poop marking. Marking poops are extra big and smell pretty strongly of onion.

[Danika]

Oh wow… ALL the things you just stated are true. He is marking obsessively with his poops and I occasionally find the odd little puddle of wee.. The poops ARE really big. And he gets aggressive once I try to pick the poops up to throw in the litter box.

I am currently trying to schedule his neuter for tomorrow. He is fine now… Very tired, I think because of the stress from this morning. But he is eating and drinking and pooping. Kalbassie seems to be protecting HIM now. He just flopped as I was typing this. He seems to be OK now..

Thank you SO MUCH for your input.

[Asriel and Bombur]

Please separate your bunnies as well. He will not only be aggressive to you, but could be aggressive to your female as well. Your female may even start to show hormonal behaviors again, and become aggressive to him. You can’t keep an eye on them 24/7 and rabbit fights can be deadly. They can also fight in the blink of an eye with one minute they seems great and the next it’s a tornado. Bunnies that fight can hold grudges making the proper bonding process more difficult. And if they do fight while he’s healing from his neuter it could become infected. So please keep them separate for their safety.

There’s a bonding info section on the proper bonding process: both bunnies must be fixed, prebond for a good month while hormones die down, then begin short sessions in neutral territory.

There “bond” is based on him pre-puberty. Puberty and neutering almost always causes bonds to break because baby buns don’t actually make bonds.

[Danika]

Thank you for the information. Peanut was neutered yesterday. He and Kalbassie has been separated. He seemed fine today so I tried opening his enclosure since it looked as if he wanted to be with Kalbassie, but both of them displayed aggression, so I separated them again. I now have one bun in a spacious kitten pen while the other roams the rest of the room. I switch them every few hours so that one is not enclosed for too long. Their bond has definitely been broken. I am a little lost now as to what I should do. Is it possible that their bond can be rekindled? I hear what you say about their bond being based on when Peanut was pre-puberty. But he was never aggressive to Kalbassie once he reached puberty. Only aggressive toward me. I am currently on holiday still. So I am supervising them and he never displayed aggression toward Kalbassie. That’s why I though he was protecting her. But now both of them are aggressive toward the other and toward me..any advice as to how I should proceed? I am familiar with the bonding process.. Should I just start that all over again? Leave them a few days as is and then start introducing in 10minute supervised sessions again? I really hope I can bond them..

[Bam]

It is normal for a rabbit to go through what is known as a post-neuter craze. This has to do with the adaptations the body and brain undergo when the production of sex hormones in the testicles is abruptly stopped. You can expect Peanut to be “worse” behavior-wise for at least two weeks now. Some male buns,need up to 8 weeks to “calm down”, but 2 weeks is about the norm. During the post neuter craze, all hormonally driven behaviors can be exacerbated. Aggression, territoriality, pee- and poop-marking, courting (pursuing, circling and nipping), humping etc can get more pronounced during this phase.

These next 2-4 weeks you should let the buns live separately. Then you can start up a regular bonding procedure. This will optimize the chances of them forming a real and lasting bond.

[Danika]

I think I have the weirdest buns on the planet!! Firstly, Peanut’s doing extremely well. He seemed to bounce back within one day. Doesn’t even realise he is an ‘it’ now ?.. I check his operation site regularly and it is healing nicely. Now.. I have been TRYING to keep these two separate. I have them in the same room but the room is divided in two, and there is about a 50cm gap where the buns can see and smell each other through wire barrier. But… I am having the hardest time keeping them separated!! So this morning when I checked on them all was well. I fed them and went to eat breakfast. After about a half hour I came back and alas here Peanut is on Kalbassie’s side! But both are super chilled.. Kalbassie seems to ignore him now rather than them chasing each other around. So I put Peanut back on his own side. About an hour later I came to check again. Once again Peanut is on the wrong side! Kalbassie is flopped in the corner and Peanut is exploring. I should mention here that I check each time where Peanut could’ve gotten through but for the life of me I don’t know. The only way would be for him to jump over..and it’s not low! But he is quite the jumper. So I decide to take Kalbassie and put her on the other side now. Again about an hour later I come check on them. Again on the same side. But here they are.. GROOMING EACHOTHER.WHAT!? So all three times there was no apparent aggression. Only the first time as I mentioned above when I LET them together, there was some aggression. But I sat with them quite some time after the third time I found them together and they seem very much calm and okay. Is it just me or do I have the weirdest buns!? What do I do now? Do I just leave them be? I check on them every half hour.

[Doodler]

I would absolutely separate them again and make sure they can’t in any way get to each other. Bunnies can squeeze through holes smaller than what seems possible. They can also jump very high like you mentioned. You have seen first hand how one day they are sweet and then things can change in an instant. It is too risky to keep things as they are. It’s best to go through a proper bonding after Peanut is healed and hormones have leveled off. I can understand how tempting it might be to leave them be but in my opinion it’s not worth it.

[Asriel and Bombur]

I have to agree with Doodles. First, he can seriously harm his neuter site and cause it to be infected with jumping so high. So put something on top if need be. Secondly, his hormones could still be all over the place for the next month. He’s literally days after surgery, and God forbid they do get into a fight you’re going to have a heafty vet bill on your hands. You really can’t supervise 24/7 and you have no idea if one could act aggressive suddenly, especially because it’s not on neutral territory, which already could lead to a disaster. Just wait and do it right.

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