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male rabbit bites and scratches my husband

22 10:02:12

Question
Hi, I have a question about male rabbit behavior. We have a purebred, registered mini rex buck named Chips that is about three months old. We have noticed recently that if my husband opens his cage or picks him up or tries to cuddle him, Chips scratches and bites. Also, Chips comes straight to me for loves, but will run from my husband. My guess is that our rabbit is becoming sexually mature and is sensing my husband as a threat or competition. So we are taking Chips in tomorrow to be neutered by a rabbit vet. The question is: will neutering Chips help with the angry behavior toward my husband? Will Chips begin liking him?

Answer
Dear Becky,

Neutering will surely help calm Chips down, but there's no guarantee that he'll start liking your husband.  Rabbit personalities are as diverse as the rabbits themselves, and it could be that Chips is either jealous of your husband's relationship with you, or that he just doesn't like him for some reason.  Your husband might want to read this:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/shybun.html

for some tips on how to win Chips's trust.  And the tips here might also help with dealing with and stopping Chip's aggression:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/aggression.html

I hope these things--in addition to the neuter--will help bring peace to the family.

Dana