That’s great they bonded and are getting along well. I’ve read that sometimes two bonded buns won’t seek out human attention as much as single buns. Also, it could be that your male bun is being more jumpy because he is taking cues from the female bun being jumpy. Maybe he will not be so jumpy again once your female bun becomes more comfortable with you and humans?

That’s very interesting… how long have they been bonded?

I wonder if during the time you were working to earn the trust of the new bunny, your relationship with your original bunny deteriorated a bit? Perhaps he got tired of being handled so much during the bonding process, and started being afraid of being handled when you approach? 

I suggest working with your original bun the same way you did with the new one. Sit or lay on the floor with them, allow him to approach you. Don’t try to pet him right away, even if he comes up to you, minimize handling. Sometimes with bunnies it’s best to play hard to get. Keep up the hand feeding! 

Keep working with the new girl. He trusts her, so if she trusts you, he will eventually trust you again.  

Great, that definitely sounds like progress! I’m sure you will have both of them trusting you fully soon. Rabbits are definitely social learners, so you’re right that he may have picked up on her being jumpy, but should also pick up on her being calm. 

One of my first bunnies, Bunston, was sweet but very shy when I first got him. I would lay on the floor and just ignore him at first. Once he got to the point where he would lay down outside of his cage during play time, I would slowly inch closer to him on my belly, and eventually get close enough to pet him. Then he would just melt, and eventually I could just sit next to him and pet him (or he would come up to me and ask for pets). I think it just had to be obvious to him that I wasn’t going to try to pick him up.  I also would never pet him when he was in his cage, and that was his personal space, and I tried not to mess with/clean his cage while he was in it (or he would get so grumpy at me!). 

Oooh, yeah, grooming is tricky, cuz ya gotta do it! 

Have you tried reinforcing with treats during and after grooming sessions? The shy bunny I mentioned hated being groomed with a comb,  but tolerated hand-plucking of tufts when he was molting. He also liked being brushed with a soft bristle brush (which didn’t actually remove much hair), but I would start with the soft one to let him settle in, and then switch to the fur buster comb, and then switch back to the soft one if he started getting fidgety. I would try to do short grooming sessions on the ground.  But yeah, tough love is necessary with buns, especially with ones that need lots of grooming!

Sounds like you are doing a good job with them though  

You’re welcome!