Hi!
I am working through bonding my own two right now – I am at over 3 weeks in and they still aren’t fully bonded – so just be prepared for it be a bit of a process.

So its a first time bonding for me too – but I’ve been learning a lot from this group, so I’ll go over what I’ve learned from them, as its helped me a lot…

~ Is he neutered? (sorry if I missed that) but you can’t bond them if he’s not fixed yet either. A lot of pet stores and breeders will try and tell people that you only need to get one fixed – which isn’t true. The other one being hormonal can cause the one who’s fixed to act out as well.

~ ok, so yes, you already know you should have gone longer before introducing them (and don’t beat yourself up, you thought you were getting good information – but you are wanting to fix this so thats good!) but its more than for it to be 4-6 weeks after her spay…. its also to allow her to get adjusted and comfortable in her new home.

~ You should give her at least 3 weeks to settle in to her new home. Otherwise she may act submissive out of fear (or lash out at him out of fear) and then things can get even worse once she’s comfortable.

~ You should also do a month of pre-bonding – this is where you swap them between cages and also their toys and items… this helps them get used to the scent of the other and stops them from seeing things as 100% theirs.

*** Have you done any pre-bonding yet? This is critical!!!

~ One putting its head down means they are asking to be groomed – this is them also trying to assert their dominance. So if one gives in and grooms the other they are saying they are the submissive one.
~ If they are both fixed then humping is purely for establishing dominance (my girls is trying to hump my boy more than he’s trying to hump her right now)

A bit of scuffling at the start is normal (again, don’t try this until you’ve done pre-bonding for at least a month) but you never want it to turn in to circiling – fur flying – unrelenting chasing – fighting, as bunnies can hold grudges. But some scuffling is needed to figure out their hierarchy.

~ it could have gone well yesterday because they were unsure of each other.

So can you tell me if he’s neutered?
And if you’ve done any pre-bonding?

Thanks – It’s been a process as neither of mine want to give up dominance lol. It sounds like your guy may run on the more submissive side, which would make it easier lol

No real injury was had, so I dont think you’ve ruined anything. Since she’s been in your home for a little while now I think it would be ok for them to be side by side – leaving enough space so that they can’t fight or nip through the bars. This will start getting them used to each other and the others scents – so leave about 6″ between the cages.

Then start off swapping their items… swap litter boxes and toys inside their cages and see how they react… once they don’t seem fazed by that I would then start fully swapping their cages every night.

I found it easier to let one out for their alone run around time…. then pick the one up that is in their cage and plop them into the now empty cage that was the other ones… then when its time to swap them so that the other one can get out for a bit you just have to put the one that’s out into what was the other ones now empty cage.
Did I explain that well? lol

You can even try using stuffed animals… put them in with the bunnies – let them get their scent on to it and the swap the stuffed animals… they will start to relate the smell to an actual thing BUT with the added benefit that the other thing doesn’t attack or show any scary behaviors.

I agree with almost everything Nutmeg said. I think you should keep them in separate rooms. You’ve had her a day, and she’s stressed out from already starting sessions (I know you’re fixing this, which is good), but still she’s stressed from the move and then a new bunny being all up in her business on the side of her. It just isn’t a good start for her. So have her in a separate room for the next few weeks while she’s settling and healing from the spay. After that time, when you begin prebonding, then you can move their cages next to each other. Don’t do it until then though.

Posted By Asriel and Bombur on 9/24/2018 1:32 PM

You’ve had her a day, and she’s stressed out from already starting sessions (I know you’re fixing this, which is good), but still she’s stressed from the move and then a new bunny being all up in her business…..

Oh, lets change my answer a bit. I miss read the original post at thought that you had her home for a few weeks after her spay. If she’s only been in your home a day then I agree with A&B. I would have her in another room that your other bunny hasn’t been for a few weeks to let her get settles and more comfortable. 
THEN do what I suggested. 
So sorry. I thought she has already been at your home for a little while now. 

Keep us posted when you start to pre-bond after she’s settled! 

Because your boy isn’t new, you can start giving him stuff with her scent, but wait on her till it’s been a month that she’s been with you. When you do cages next to each other, having it be in his room is great because it’ll give you a semi-neutral territory for when you start bonding sessions. When you start, do short sessions in neutral territory.

Epoxy. That super glue is terrible. Over time it gets brittle and cracks, especially if exposed to sunlight. Sorry, what were we talking about?

(Apologies. I felt some impishness)