In bunny language, nipping often means “move” or “stop that”. It’s not meant to cause harm, it’s just their way of communicating. If your bunny nips hard, you can try letting out a high pitched squeal when she does it. This usually gets the point across (i.e. they are hurting you) and they will adjust how hard they nip.

Just a thought: Could Poncho be pregnant? Its very common for young rabbits to be inaccurately sexed. And even if both Poncho and Pepper truly are girls, they could perhaps have been in contacts with other rabbits before they came to you?

A rabbit is pregnant for 30-33 days. A day or so before the rabbit gives birth, she will want to make a nest.

Agree with LBJ and Bam. Every rabbit will nip (for various reasons), it’s their main way of communicating, they aren’t very verbal. Are you housing them together at this point? Since you don’t know how old they are you should keep them separated until they have been fixed. One of them could end up being a boy as they are very hard to sex correctly. Hopefully neither one of them is already pregnant, but keep an eye out for that.

With all that being said, rabbits usually hate being picked up. Babies will allow it, but once they start growing up they will decide they don’t like it. It’s best to find a way of interacting with them without picking them up unneccessarely.