Hi there,

I don’t think you should have your grandma continue sessions without you, as she doesn’t have the same understand of how and when to intervene.

It also seems like they might be getting into an aggressive cycle, so a break while you are on vacation is not the worst thing. More harm can be done to their progress by letting their aggression get out of hand.

In the video Domino looks to be nipping Coco to get her to move? But Coco looks to be frozen, hard to tell if possible because she is afraid?

Can you describe a few more details about the process so far, that will help us give good next steps?

– How large is the bonding space?
– How neutral is the bonding space? Is it someplace either rabbit has been? Is it within sight or smell of their home turf?
– Have you done any pre-bonding (cage swaps, etc)?

Regardless, you will need to work on breaking the aggressive cycle that seems to be building. I know there is conflicting info on “letting them sort it out”, but from your description and the video it looks like things are getting worse. So once you are home, focus on building trust and good associations between them. When Domino approaches Coco, do not let him bite. Start petting them both and swap scents. Pet pet pet pet until they are calm. This will help build a calm association and trust between them.

Again, please don’t have your grandma continue without you there. People do differ in how much fur pulling they will allow during bonding, but things can escalate very rapidly in bonding fights, and if you aren’t sure when to intervene it could result in injury, or at least make it much harder to bond them.

I just wanted ditto what Dana said.   I agree that it is best to wait until you return since they were doing fine with you bonding them, and you were able to break them up before anything aggressive really started and that is key.  Bites can also turn into abscesses so be sure your grandmother checks for any lumps due to any bites that may have already broken the skin.  

So I also agree–separate until you return. Have them still be near each other (but not so much that they can bite through bars).

 They can relax, and you can relax on your vacation without having to worry about how things are going.   

All good on the bonding space, and that’s good that you’ve done some pre-bonding. The grooming certainly is an interesting turn of events, and a good sign!

Sounds like Domino was the instigator of chasing and nipping (which is a display of dominance). When a bun “asks” to be groomed by placing (or shoving lol) their head down in front of another, that is also a display of dominance. Grooming is a sign of submission, so that’s good that it seems like Coco is submitting to Domino.

Hopefully that means things will go smoothly for you when you get back.