HELP! Milo is chasing Pippy and being agressive 2 days after her being spayed!

Hi, we have two rabbits, male and female who have been absolute equals since bonding in that they love each other are always together and I see them both grooming each other, maybe more femail to male but he does love her. Anyway, Pip was spayed on Monday and has been quite low and not right, she has been off her food and not moving around much. Today Milo is chasing her quite aggressively and scaring her? What's going on? How can I help her/him? What do we need to do? Is he jealous of the attention she is receiving, we are trying to remain the same but she needs extra care as she is not eating much and we have to keep offering food, greens, drinks, and medicine. She is not allowed out of the hutch and so he has be going out on his own - does he suddenly not want her around? HELP please !

You need to separate them immediately. Different housing completely.

She probably smells of vet and he thinks she is invading his territory. If she is feeling under the weather too, he will know it and do the same.

You will likely need to re-bond in the future, a good few weeks down the line once she has fully recovered.

Isn't there something we can do to help before separating them? We can lock the hutch with her in and him outside in the run. He is not doing it all the time and it only started today. I think he is jealous and is a bit stressed by the change of routine they are in? If I separate them then they will most likely unbond for sure? I don't want this to happen and wonder if there is an alternative in the meantime?

They do need to be separated. Getting spayed is a major operation and she needs time to recover without getting hassled by another bun

It takes about a month for all the hormones to die down. You can rebond them then.

i had to separate mine when honey got spayed as he kept eating her food and they ended up fighting. rabbits ca sense if their friend isnt right and sometimes this leads to fighting. if it is preventing her from recovering it woud be good to separate and rebond. mine are happily rebonded now

Definitely separate, before it gets worse. They should be fine to rebond if they were perfectly happy before. I know its a nuisance but it's the best thing to do :wave:

whenever one of mine is vulnerable, the other attacks. separate, wait for full healing, reintroduce gently. it works.

I always thought separation would be best after spays anyway, since buns like to climb over one another and groom, and you want to minimise the likelihood of things getting caught or over groomed. Someone correct me if I'm wrong
If they're fighting though she definitely needs a break, it won't help her start eating again if her partner is chasing her.

RavenMoon said:

I always thought separation would be best after spays anyway, since buns like to climb over one another and groom, and you want to minimise the likelihood of things getting caught or over groomed. Someone correct me if I'm wrong
If they're fighting though she definitely needs a break, it won't help her start eating again if her partner is chasing her.

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:thumb:

As others habe advised, defiintely separate them until they are ready to re-bond. Her wound will still be quite sore and delicate.

Has Milo been neutered?

Hi everyone, my daughter was sitting with them all day and had to stop him getting her twice. I sat with them tonight for an hour and a half and they seemed calm, I bought them a treat and Pippy got up and starting eating with him, it lasted 2 mins and he went for her. It is so scary and sad and I feel so sorry for them. I have separated them, have been in tears because I worry for both of them.
Pippy has never been on her own before as we got Milo first had him neutered and then introduced Pippy, she was only a babe and after five days of bunny dates they moved in together and have be inseparable ever since. It seemed to be love at first sight, he was so happy to meet her, he did mount her a couple of times so I guess he is the boss. Anyway. I don't have two hutches so I have set up a a run in the kitchen and moved Milo there. I thought it best to move him out and leave her in their usual hutch and run to be more comfortable. She is eating more today and is hopping around more and is lying flatter she must be in less discomfort, so is defo on the mend that is something to be grateful for
I feel pretty stressed and worried about the whole rebonding thing. I am so glad I found this site, you have all been so helpful today and of course without your advice to separate I guess I would be still refereeing - I even considered sitting out there all night to watch them at one stage!! MAD!
Thanks and I will keep you posted on her progress and will of course be back if I need help with bonding! These are our first rabbits so the whole bonding experience was quite worrying for us because we were doing it all for the first time. They made it easy because they never fought, there was never any agression and they instantly hit it off. Milo is normally so loving and sweet that it has been a real shock to see him behave like this - oh well there is nothing I can do to change it. Thanks again to all!