Bonded rabbits chasing

[Chaos34]

Hi everyone. I'm looking for some advice please. I have to mini rex's bothe male and 8 months old. They are litter brothers and were well bonded. I had them with neutered 2 days ago and they had an overnight stay with the vet. Previous to neutering they were bonded but I noticed they were chasing each other quite often. There were small fights but nothing too aggressive. One bunny likes to chase and the other one is more shy and as soon as the other bunny goes near him he thumps and runs away, even if the other bunny is just sniffing him. They still often bathe each other etc. I've Brough them home and was upset to hear the vet say she separated them whilst they were there and I needed to rebond them. She said she thinks I may need to separate them indefinitely to stop any fights and to see how they go. They travelled home together fine and lay together for an hour but the chasing started again and after the vet saying I may need to separate I'm starting to worry they'll never bond again. They're not been aggressive at the minute just one chasing the other and the other thumping and running to hide. The vet did say the hormones drop may be enough to have them bond again but she can't say for certain. Any advice please would be so much appreciated. Thankyou

 

[Chaos34]

I also forgot to add they do eat together with no issues and they are currently in their play pen in view of each other and chewing the same toy and seem comfortable until one decides to go to close and the other thumps and goes in his hideout. So far no spraying though which was a massive issue before neutering.

 

[Shimmer]

If they are not actually fighting or fur pulling, would just keep a close eye on them for now. They need time to recover from their neutering, then their hormone levels will fall over the next 6 weeks or so. The rest sounds like pretty normal adolescent rabbit behaviour. Make sure they each have somewhere that they can escape from the other if needed - so provide tunnels, boxes, etc. It may also be helpful to have hay, water and litter trays provided in multiple places if one is stopping the other having access to them.

 

[Chaos34]

Thankyou for your reply. Its reassuring it sounds pretty normal. There's been no fur pulling, or biting just one chasing the other but I was concerned they also may injure themselves whilst running around. They have plenty of hay, boxes and hideouts. One does tend to sometimes chase the other out of the hideout but do settle. They have been near each other, allowing each other to eat etc. The vet just concerned me by saying I may need to separate completely if they don't rebond. I wasn't aware they'd put them in separate cages at the vets.