Thanks for the advice.

We tried a couple of bonding sessions in the kitchen. We laid out a rug because I didn’t want them to slip and slide. They had a few scuffles, but we pulled them apart quickly. From what I can tell, Pilgrim is almost always the aggressor. Mince retaliates, but she never picks the fights. She sat quietly most of the time, which was cute.

How can I encourage Pilgrim to calm down?

Posted By Sam and Lady’s Human on 05/19/2012 03:08 PM

From my own experience, aggression was from fear. Keep the rug out, sliding is ok for bonding sessions you might try only feeding them their greens or pellets while they are in a session, sit with them close of course because some rabbits have food aggression. Mine didn’t, and eating together I think really helped Sam ( the aggressor) calm down. If Mince will let you, you can also try holding her in your lap or securing her on the floor and grooming her, letting Pilgrim come up on her own terms and sniff her/ figure her out. Or offering Mince treats while petting and letting pilgrim come up on her own ( and reward with treats). Craisins work really well because they are really small, and you can get away with giving a little more dur ing sessions IMO.
I also would scooch them together and groom them at the same time, ( damp washcloth or paper towel) and they would relax a bit more that way too.

I think you are right about the aggression from fear.  It seems like the more scary noises or sudden movements there are, the more likely Pilgrim is to lunge at Mince, so we have cut those out.

So far I think that grooming Pilgrim and letting Mince hop around gives pretty good results.  Mince does not attack, and we can keep Pilgrim calm.  Sometimes when we are petting him, Mince comes and rests by him.  Maybe she has a crush on him hehe.

Unfortunately, Pilgrim is usually too scared to eat during bonding time.  He’s a very nervous rabbit.

Hmm something happened during today’s bonding session. Mince has done it once before, but I had forgotten about it.

She came up to Pilgrim and seemed to sidle up to him so that they were facing opposite directions. I thought she was being nice, but then Pilgrim freaked out and hopped away suddenly. I think Mince may have bit him on the butt? The last time was the same way. I’m not really sure what she’s thinking.

Today, we decided to put them in the bathtub.  After we put Mince down, she hobbled straight for Pilgrim and hid behind him!  It was very cute!

Unfortunately, Pilgrim still had some issues with nipping.

The bum nipping actually hasn’t happened since then. Rabbits are so unpredictable haha.

Unfortunately, Mince seems to be getting fed up with being nice to Pilgrim. She’s started fighting back when he tries to nip her. Sometimes when he reaches his head out to sniff her she’ll kind of shrink back, presumably because she’s scared.

Tonight they had a scuffle or two, but we separated them quickly. The two of them didn’t take off any fur or anything, so I suppose it was not that serious. Pilgrim also groomed himself during bonding, which he doesn’t really do normally.

It’s hard to say how much progress has been made, but I’m prepared for it to take awhile if it comes to that.