We recently (2.5 weeks ago) adopted a male, neutered rabbit as a companion to our female, spayed rabbit. They are similar in age, and doing great together, cuddling all the time and all that. We had a very easy bonding for them. After 2 sessions, they stopped dominance displays and just acted as friends. About a week ago, we put them in the same cage (a 6’ x 14’ xpen) and they’ve had no trouble adjusting to each other.
However, in the past few days, the new male (Milk Dud) has become what I can only describe as neurotic. I went in one morning to refill the hay rack. We keep the hay in a rather crinkly bag, so it’s kind of noisy, but he has heard it before with no problem. This time, he flipped out and sprinted around the pen, overturning litterboxes and toys and food bowls. Kit Kat didn’t really react to him. I needed to get the hay filled so I just moved quickly and then put the bag down out of sight with no further crinkling. But he still kept charging around the cage like there was a predator trying to eat him, thumping away. I had to leave the room because I thought he might be scared of me. About 5 minutes later, I heard the thumping and charging stop, so I left for work. When I got home, Milk Dud was all fine again, wanting treats and his version of petting (which is that he will climb in my lap but if I touch him, he hops away).
The next day, I asked my boyfriend to clean the cage while I was at work. We do that by putting both bunnies in carriers, changing out dirty litter, and vacuuming the rug that we use for the floor of the pen. He went into the cage and immediately Milk Dud freaked out again, running and thumping. So my boyfriend got out of the cage and Milk Dud calmed down after about 10 minutes. So he tried entering the room again and Milk Dud freaked out once more. We left him alone until I came home from work several hours later. Milk Dud (and Kit Kat) ran to the cage door to beg for treats and climbed all over me to beg for pets when I got in the cage. I caught Milk Dud no problem and cleaned the cage. No thumping, no craziness. My boyfriend was even in the room with me as well, helping.
This crazy behavior doesn’t seem to be focused on either my boyfriend or I, so I don’t think Milk Dud is just selectively afraid of one of us. He will spazz out at all times of day, but if you come back a few hours later, he will be fine again.
We have also stopped letting him come out to the living room to play for now. It used to be that both bunnies would be free range when we were home after work. However, Milk Dud put up a huge fight last time it was time for him to go back in his cage and after a long chase we managed to corner and pick him up. I know they don’t like being chased, I know they don’t like being cornered, but we needed to get him back in his cage. I didn’t want to continue chasing him every time I needed to put him back, so I decided to let him get more used to me before we let them out to play again. They live in a very large pen, so they don’t really need the exercise. They have at least a dozen toys at one time, which I rotate out weekly, so they aren’t bored. And I’m trying to get Milk Dud used to me by spending time in the cage with them.
I just don’t know what to do to help Milk Dud feel more secure. I don’t understand why he is freaking out, because it seems incredibly random. He was fine with the hay bag the next time I used it. And he was fine with my boyfriend and I cleaning the cage the very next time we tried. He thumps a lot when he gets in these moods and as we live in an apartment building, I am dreading the noise complaints. I do not want to have to give him back because we’ve already fallen in love with the adorable little psycho. Any advice on why he might be doing this? Or how to make a nervous bunny feel more secure?