Post-Spay Problem

[Bunnisox]

I need some help. Ever since Rosie's spay operation (12/27), her neutered brother Ducky has been acting randomly aggressive with her. He attacked her a few times over the course of a few days right after her surgery, so we kept them separated by a gate for about 4 days after that. It has been very stressful for her to be separated from him and she kept trying to shove her head between the gate bars to be with him. She even started pulling out her hair down her arm and excessively grooming herself while they were separated. It was killing me, so I put them back together in a neutral territory (the livingroom) and they get along fine! They've been getting along so well... for the most part...
They have their own room that I put them in at night and while I'm at work. I've even taken precautions and have been sleeping in their room on the floor with them there past 3 nights to make sure there wasn't any fighting.
Well, over the course of these last few days, I had noted a few times where I hear running and I go to check on them and Rosie is hiding and is scared but Ducky looks fine. Then they go back to getting along and grooming each other and eating together like everything is normal. A big part of me felt that something was off... I had nothing to prove what was happening until this morning. I have a camera set up in their little bunny fort and caught this video (link below)! Then little things started to come together in my mind. She's always hanging out outside the fort... I never really see her in there - and she LOVES forts. Ducky is being super territorial!

Video:
http://imgur.com/gallery/OjfPGhr

I don't know whether I should take down the fort? Would that make him then turn into seeing the whole room as his, instead of just the fort? I've read in a forum post from someone that giving them small hiding places like this can make them territorial / aggressive about others being in there.

It should be noted that I think I understand where this behavior originated from. Before Rosie was fixed, she was pretty dominant. She would mount him and honk at him and pick on him a little by digging and pulling at his fur. She did this for a few months, then about October/ November, they had a bit of a fight because she was doing this and it appeared he was sick of her crap and pushed back. That happened only twice before her operation (both in Oct/Nov), but I'm pretty sure that's where the root of this aggression started. It should also be said that she's been nothing but sweet and kind ever since her spay, though, so she's definitely not provoking this behavior right now. She just wants to cuddle and groom him. I feel awful.

Any thoughts to what's causing him to behave so territorial and aggressive? Should I remove their fort or will that only cause new problems with him having no place to hide?

I currently have them separated in different rooms right now, as I had to go to work this morning and didn't have time to set up a barrier gate in the room for them. I plan on letting them get together again tonight after work in the designated neutral zone again... but am really unsure what to do afterward.

Help or advice would be sincerely appreciated. Thank you.

 

[JBun]

I would take out anything he's being territorial over and see how it goes. When rebonding, you don't really want to have things that are going to spark off a squabble.

Also remember that now that she is spayed, the dynamics of their relationship can change. So it may take a little time for them to sort out their new relationship now, and who the boss is going to be.

 

[Bunnisox]

Thank you for your response!
I just don't understand where this aggression is coming from because she's not provoking it. It's so frustrating. I'm going to go take down their fort and see how the rest of the evening goes...

I'm also unsure what to do with them while I'm at work during the day. It's probably a good idea to separate them when I'm gone, yeah?

 

[JBun]

It's because she used to be the boss before the spay and her hormones are changing now, which is affecting her behavior, and so is affecting the hierarchy in the relationship. Which just means that now they have to sort out who the boss is going to be.

If you aren't sure about how they are going to get along, then yes it's probably better to separate when not supervised, rather than risk a fight breaking out.

 

[Katie94]

Did your male go with your female to the vet when she was spayed? If not that could explain his sudden aggression towards her we were told it was extremely important to take them together otherwise fighting could happen when they were put back together due to the female smelling different. Obviously it’s too late now if that didn’t happen but may save another difficult episode in the future if one ever requires vet treatment. As it worked out we had to separate just afterwards anyway to allow healing time but when we put them back together there was no aggression just a little chasing and they were settled ever since. Hope your bunnies can work it out.

 

[Bunnisox]

We did not bring them to the vet together, unfortunately. I was concerned about stressing him out unnecessarily, and also how he would react to her once she was fixed and under anesthesia, being in the same carrier. I didn't want to risk anything. It's good to know for future buns, though! Thank you!

 

[Bunnisox]

Is the chasing something I should be concerned about? He hasn't actually fought with her since the spay, but is just being very territorial and chasing her. It scares her, the poor girl. She has never experienced aggressive behavior before and she just looks so confused and terrified after her chases her...

 

[Katie94]

Ah don’t worry I never would have done it either if the rescue didn’t tell us. I had guinea pigs and rats growing up and never took them to the vet together and never had an issue. Don’t feel bad about having to put one through the trip unnecessarily as the stress of rejection by a partner or consequences of fighting are far greater than having to do a short vets trip once they are home they’ll forget it very quickly.


For the current situation I think you are looking at having to rebond from scratch to stop the territorial behaviour. The only method for that I’ve ever done is side by side enclosures with wire partition swapping each rabbit for minimum 1 week (advised by rescue centre) and then putting them back together on completely new territory and leaving them there for a few days to establish their relationship again. If you want them to live in the same area that they have been in before you then need to clean everything very throughly to remove scent and remove any items that can’t be cleaned or you know have caused on issue before. Just as a precaution as your female was quite recently spayed you may want to wait until a full month post spay before allowing them to actually be together I don’t see any harm in them living side by side though and swapping in the meantime. I only say this as we had a pair of brothers and basically very long story short we attempted a re bond 1 week post neuter having followed bad advice from the rescue and all seemed fine for 1 week and then we had a total disaster back to fighting but this time both rabbits were acting aggressively and were no longer able to live together. We handed them back to the rescue to try and save the relationship but they couldn’t either. So that’s how we now have 4 instead of 2 haha. This is very unlikely to happen in your case though as male/male relationship is quite different to male/female. It may just make the process a bit easier for you if you are dealing with a rabbit who won’t undergo anymore behaviour changes due to lingering or declining hormones. Again my example is very extreme of the worst case scenario but just something to consider when starting bonding again. I’m sure they will be happy together again in no time