concerned about my rabbit bonds

Question
Ok I will try to make this simple, and by the way thanks for this forum it has helped alot being a rabbit owner now..
Ok question is about my main dutch Dora she is 7 months old and she was fixed about 2 weeks ago-also go 6week old dutch about 2 weeks ago..my main problem is after she got fixed she has become mean, she nows growls at me, if she lets me pick her up she nips at my chest and only that no hands, she wont stay still more then a sec, I know have to chase her non stop, she is so much worse then before, I always heard that getting fixed is supose to tame her, not my bunnie, what went wrong anything?...and at the moment they are not together either they are in different rooms also, when she did she the baby dutch when I brought her home she could have killed her:-(.. she hates her....Please help any information would be helpful

Answer
Hi Barbara,

I will also try to make my answer concise as well.

Two enormous events for Dora happened two weeks ago.  She was spayed (pain, strange people, etc).  And she came home to find a strange female rabbit on her territory.  Females are very concerned about territory.

She is still upset at you for the operation.  She is upset at the other (female) rabbit for invading her territory.  She is the only female rabbit and is bonded to you, and after you (by transference) took her to someone that scared her and caused her pain, now comes walking in with another rabbit.  Can you possibly see where her behavior is being affected?

You can never just put 2 rabbits together that have never known each other and have not gone through a supervised bonding process.  Yes you could have created a situation where one or both could have gotten injured.  And rabbits are like people, they pick their friends.  They don't get along automatically because they are both rabbits.  this is why bonding processes are done to determine if a match can work, and then progress to the point they can either play together but have separate houses.  Two females are not the best pairing but unless one really hates the other, it can have varying degrees of success.

It takes 4-5 weeks for hormones to be used up that are already in Dora's body.  So she may have behavior that is hormonally influenced until a month or so after her spay.  

You need to give your Dora a lot of TLC.  If she doesn't want you to pick her up, only pick her up if you absolutely have to.  Move slowly around her and in her cage, talk soothingly and pet her awhile before actually doing any chores.  Keep both rabbits separated, and if possible, keep the new rabbit out of any areas Dora already has as her own territory.  This will help her in coping with the new rabbit.

You will need to learn about how to bond two rabbits.  I suggest picking up "The House Rabbit Handbook, 4th Ed" by Marinell Harriman, and also visit the House Rabbit Society web site (www.rabbit.org) and search their extensive article archives for "bonding" articles.  They have great information.

Just be extra caring and loving to her, and be patient and understand why she is acting the way she is.  Bunnies behave a certain way because they react to things.  She's not doing it because she's bad, she's reacting to the events that have recently occurred.  She'll eventually get over it but you need to help her.  

I would suggest that you don't try to pick her up or pet her or do anything with her after holding/petting/touching the other rabbit.  She may be more aggressive to you if she smells the other rabbit on your skin/clothing.  You may also want to wear baggy sweatshirts or wrap your arms in a towel if she shows her displeasure with nips.

Please check out the resources online at the House Rabbit Society web site.  You'll learn a lot.  You can also search on 'behavior' to pull up a list of behavioral articles that may help as well.

PS - you will need to get your other female spayed when she hits sexual maturity (4 1/2 to 6 months).  You can't keep an intact and a fixed rabbit together and have a good bond.  I would not try to bond them until after your other girl gets spayed.