New male suddenly biting :(

Hi there,

I have a male bun, Max - (9 months approx, vacc'd and fixed, Rex x) whom I (Rescue) bonded to my female (9 months, vacc'd and fixed, dutch x). We have had him 5 weeks now and all has been well between the two. He is friendly and lets you pet him also.

Yesterday when my BF opened the hutch door to say hello, Max bit him. It didnt break skin but was more than a nip. We didnt think anything of this at first as it happens and buns get annoyed if they dont want to be petted - cant fault him there!

Shortly after this, I started to clear out wet hay from their run and he went for me and bit my wrist. He didnt break skin but boy did it hurt!!

Today, we went in with caution and Max was his usual self in the hutch. Saying hello and accepting my petting - no biting. I then put hay in the run, again, no biting. But a few hours later when giving them their veggies, he lunged and bit the tub!

Do anyone have any idea why he might react this? I know the easy option is to feed etc when he is sectioned off so he cant react like this but something is obviously amiss here as he has suddenly started acting like this.

Do they have constant access to the run? Sometimes rabbits get territorial and it can be linked to lack of space. Perhaps his initial fears due to being in a new place have worn off and he is getting bolder.

Difficult one to pin down. I agree, some it could certainly be that it now feels like his home so he's being a bit protective of it. Could you be startling him? Rabbit's don't have good up close vision so they'll sometimes react to movement aggressively without realising the thing moving is attached to you - someone they like. It might help to talk to him and let him know what you are doing/about to do.

ya they have 24/7 access to their run. From lots of googling, it sounds like he is angry with us (ears back etc) but we arent sure how to move on from this.