Rebonding father and son

[chibibun]

We have 3 sweet rabbits in total, mother, father an son. Mother and son are neutered, father is yet to be neutered. We've had to seperate the father and son as they have faught a couple times when put together (before the son was neutered), although they used to get along just fine. Today we decided to reintroduce them (since the son has recovered from neutering) by putting one of them in their cage and one outside the cage to see how they react to eachother.

The father seems calm but curious and would sniff the cage, however would go along and mind his own business. However the son seems to be frightened? He almost looked liked he was trying to threaten his father away by pouncing at him when he gets near the cage - and dashes towards the father repeatedly. He would also bite on the cage when the father got close.

We then swapped them and put father in the cage and son outside. The son seemed to be hiding and reappearing, and then hiding again.

we were surprised that the son showed more aggression since he is the neutered one out of the two but it seems he is still scared of his father.

I also thought id mention that the son would sniff my hand very intensely whenever I touch the father and have his scent on my hand however the father doesnt seem to care for the sons scent as much.

I was wondering if anyone could give any other suggestions for rebonding or if I should carry on with introducing eachother through the cage. And any suggestions on what their behaviour means?

 

[Preitler]

How long ago was his neuter? After that there can be a surge of hormones making everything even worse before hormones dissipate - which can take up to 8 weeks.

I wouldn't interpret too much in such a setting, they can't interact naturally with a cage in between, can only tell from girls that it's not compareable if there is a fence or not, don't have any experience bonding males.

 

[WhiteBunnyEcho]

He is probably being territorial over his cage to you should always find any neutral space such as a bathtub or bathroom when bonding rabbits so that they aren’t trying to protect their cage.

I would also recommend switching out stuffed animals that have been in their cages with them for a while so they can get used to each other’s scent.

before housing them together make sure you thoroughly wash everything so they can’t smell their scent and want to be territorial over it.

I would also wait until the father is neutered and everyone’s hormones are settled down before trying to bond them.

Hope this helps a little, good luck!

 

[chibibun]

How long ago was his neuter? After that there can be a surge of hormones making everything even worse before hormones dissipate - which can take up to 8 weeks.

I wouldn't interpret too much in such a setting, they can't interact naturally with a cage in between, can only tell from girls that it's not compareable if there is a fence or not, don't have any experience bonding males.

Its been about 3 months since his neuter and there was a noticeable change in his behaviour, much calmer then before - hes only set off again when he sees his father unfortunately.
Yes it would be better to have them actually intereact without the cage but I think we'll try that after dads neutered aswell.
Thanks for the info!

 

[chibibun]

He is probably being territorial over his cage to you should always find any neutral space such as a bathtub or bathroom when bonding rabbits so that they aren’t trying to protect their cage.

I would also recommend switching out stuffed animals that have been in their cages with them for a while so they can get used to each other’s scent.

before housing them together make sure you thoroughly wash everything so they can’t smell their scent and want to be territorial over it.

I would also wait until the father is neutered and everyone’s hormones are settled down before trying to bond them.

Hope this helps a little, good luck!

Ah yes that makes sense, perhaps we will change to a neutral setting and see how they react there. And now that you mention it, washing off scents would be useful as the father is always rubbing his chin on everything!

I think I'll also wait for father to neutered too and hopefully bonding will be easier. Thanks for the help!