Bonded pair had a fight

Hi

I have two male rabbits that have been bonded for about 5 months.
I got them both castrated about 10 days ago, initially they were fine and seemed to be recovering well, then 6days after surgery one rabbit got gut stasis. On the third day of gut stasis (and after second trip to vets) he started to make an improvement and act more lively. At this point he attacked the other rabbit and I had to seperate them! I checked them both over they seemed to have no injuries just managed to pull some fluff. I separated them straight away.
Now Harvey has made a full recovery and I have tried to reintroduce them but the victim Charlie just runs away and thumps whenever Harvey comes near him which leads to the other one chasing him at high speed around the room and Charlie thumping away like mad whilst running.
Help please I want to get them bonded back together.

Thanks

Have you tried stress bonding? Putting them into a pet carrier together so that they have very little space to move arround? TBH I'm not a bonding expert or anything, I only recently bonded Twinkle and Ghibli, but when they seemed to be spending inordinate amounts of time at either end of the room taking them both to the vets in the same career really helped. They haven't fought though [thank God] so perhaps you might want to wait for a confirmation from someone with a little more experience at doing this.

Good luck

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It's best to wait 6 weeks for hormones to completely settle before doing a bond.

I've no time to reply properly now as I'm late for work but when I get home this afternoon I'll reply properly

Eta: I don't think your situation requires stress bonding.

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The exact same thing happened to me last month (not the castration bit, the stasis fallout). You need to separate them until he's better and reintroduce in a neutral space (one they've not been in before) and just hope for the best!

At the moment I have ours in separate halves of our living room, so they can still see and smell each other. I swap them over every 24-48 hours to avoid them getting too territorial over their half. Introductions have been taking place in our bathroom.

Because yours have just been neutered, their hormones will make rebonding more difficult - like others advise, maybe keep them apart for 2 or 3 weeks before you reintroduce them.

Hi again.

So they haven't caused any actual bodily harm to each other?

I'd keep them separate until both are completely recovered from any stasis episode and until it's been at least 6 weeks since neutering.

When you come to rebond them, make sure you use a neutral area (somewhere neither bun has been). Chasing, humping, fur pulling and a little nipping is fine and is an important part of them establishing who is top bun.
Boxing, biting to cause harm, rolling on the floor should all be stopped right away, but ideally don't separate them as ending sessions on a negative note will cause them to associate each other with something negative.

If the chasing is constant etc then I would interfere and stop the chasing. Maybe distracting with herbs mixed into piles of hay (eating is a social experience).

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Hi

Thanks for you advice

No they haven't caused any harm from what I can see I checked thoroughly but the one that was bitten is so fluffly it's hard to see the skin however no signs of any blood.
They were lying on the floor facing each other biting and kicking but it only lasted seconds as I split them up.

I will wait until the hormones have calmed down, they are currently in seperate cages next to each other in the living room, their space and I'm letting them out in turn, also swapping the cages they are sleeping in each evening. (The victim bunny initially wasn't very happy with this, thumping away in the cage)

Thanks

I usually blow gently on the fur so it parts to see any cuts etc. Much easier

If you're able to, I'd completely separate so they can't see or smell each other as this will give them time to "forget" as the hormones settle down. It may make the bonding session easier next time x

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Hi

I have managed to find a wound on Charlie, I messaged the vets and sent a picture and it looks ok and not infected.
So for an update yes there was bodily harm

I'm sorry he was hurt. It doesn't mean the bond is impossible (my females had bodily harm caused before they bonded)

Separate them completely so they can't see or smell each other. This will give them time to relax and "forget".

I'd leave them a little longer than the 6 weeks post neuter and maybe leave them until around 10 weeks post neuter before bonding. (If you want to try again).

Maybe make another post closer to the bonding time for tips and advice x

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I had two brothers who fell out a few days before their neuter. They had a fairly bad fight, both on their sides scratching and biting each other, pulling out lots of fur, I didn't think any skin had been broken and I (thought I'd) examined all their fur but a few days later i felt a large scab. Anyway I left them apart for 4 weeks, they would still try fight through the bars so i had to completely cut off all contact, but after 4 weeks I took them to Small Paws boarding and she bonded them for me so even after a fight between two males, they can be re-bonded. They've had one very minor scuffle since then (just a little bit of chasing) but other than that they've been fine. Neutral territory is very important, and I think as owners we panic when they start chasing and nipping and separate them too soon because we're scared of them getting hurt, that's why I wanted someone else to do it for me