Have they bonded???

[Ruby615]

A little of the back story…I’ve been working on bonding Dusty (male, neutered) and Lily (female, spayed) for about 5 weeks now.  Dusty would mount Lily at first, but that pretty much stopped after the first week.  Dusty is a more timid bun, where Lily is very outgoing and much more bossy.  She nips at Dusty…less than she did at first, but I still see it a little bit.  At times, it’s a nip to get him to pay attention to her!  But like I said, that has really decreased, and she gets a little spritz from the spray bottle and a “No bites!” when she does.

I was doing bunny dates, lasting around an hour, usually twice a day.  They seemed to have reached a stalemate, so I switched things up.  I constructed a larger area (maybe about 5′ x 3′), added a litter box (which neither has had territorial issues with), a small bowl for pellets, their water, and a few toys.  It was a huge success…an hour the first day, which lasted only that long because I had an appointment to go to.  Yesterday, they spent 8 hours together!  I have them in there again this morning, already for 1 1/2 hours.  There has been barely any nipping from Lily ( she tends to nip mostly when they first get put together), and Dusty even gave her a tiny grooming on the head.  (he did groom her the other evening, as well.  She hasn’t reciprocated.)  I plan to keep them together for the day again.  Lily, right now, flopped and is all stretched out, relaxing.  Dusty is sitting in the litter box, grooming himself.  They seem very content.

So, my question is…are we close to being bonded?  If so, at what point do I give them a try together for an overnight?  I feel this common area has really helped them make some progress, and I want to continue, but if they are pretty much bonded, I don’t want to take a step backwards and separate them overnight.  This is my first bond, so any suggestions or insight is welcome! 

[BB & Tiny]

Is there somewhere nearby for you to sleep, just in case there is a scuffle ? I personally don’t see why that can’t be a viable option right now. I slept on the couch right by the pen for the first few nights.

[Ruby615]

That’s my plan.  The couch is right next to where I would set up their new area.  I think we may be ready to take that step!  They’ve been together ll day and have done so well.  They’re not particularly snuggley, but they stay nearby each other.  Right now, they’re both asleep and less than a foot from each other.  I think I’ll probably work on setting things up tomorrow and plan on a bunny camp-out for the night

[Author]

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