Ok so long story short last few months haven’t been the best. I started a journey to bond my bunny Missy with a half blind bunny from the petstore I work at who desperately needed a home but when going through the spay process my sweet girl Missy did not make it. I’ve had time to grieve, but I will forever miss her, she was a very special girl.

The blind bunny got spayed and it was successful. She healed for roughly a month before I found an add for a neutered male bunny who also needed a new home. I took him in and for roughly 3 weeks the two lived together separated by two gates. All has been going well but as a new bonder I feel excessively nervous when I put them together. I’ve tried a mix mash of bathtub bonding, table bonding, basket bonding one car ride and small room floor bonding. In all these situations one thing has always been consistent, they both demand grooming but only the male will bite when she doesn’t submit. In he basket both have bitten but he always has started it. I am unsure how to treat dominance nipping as I’ve read it is a neutral reaction as long as they’re not duking it out and causing injuries. I’ve not witnessed any attempts at mounting either. I’m wondering if I should allow them to roam in a small space and allow nipping as long as it doesn’t result in a full fledged fight? Every time one nips I immediately intervene and I’m not sure if I’m interfering with their process since both seem to refuse to back down. They have not had any serous fights aside from one time she escaped into his enclosure at night, they tusseled  but the only injury resulting was her running into a wall and got a bloody nose but nothing else. Hoping anyone has some suggestions, I feel like I’m too uptight with their bonding but I’m afraid to let them get close without having control of them.