How to stop invasion of privacy?

[ZhuMo]

Notes:
Zhu: Netherland dwarf, Female, 2 years old, spayed at 6 months
Mo: Holland Lop, Female, 2 years old, spayed at 6 months

Its been 2 years since I’ve last tried to bond them. Since my last post I have taken them to a professional bonder and they stayed there for almost a month just for their bond to break a couple months after. And I have kept them in seperate rooms since then. Occasionally I’d open the doors and them them eat together, never any fights. I started to let them play together maybe max 10 minutes and then 20 and then 30. Never any fights.
I finally decided maybe it was time to try and bond them again so here I am in a completely neutral territory for them. I started them with a 4×3 nic grid and a water bowl and after a couple hours I added a big litter box.
They seem to be doing fine rarely any fights but my problem here is,
Only Zhu grooms Mo. Mo never grooms Zhu back and Zhu gets upset and bites Mo. This seemed to calm down after Zhu realized Mo isnt going to groom her ever but the problem is Mo is constantly asking to be groomed and constantly invading Zhus personal space. And this causes Zhu to bite her which causes a fight. How do I stop this? How can i get Mo to stop jumping over Zhus head or constantly asking to be groomed?

Theyve also some what established that they will take turns using the litter box so there is no issue over that either but I’m thinking of adding another litterbox.

[DanaNM]

There really isn’t a way to stop those behaviors, as they are pretty normal rabbit behaviors, esp during bonding. In a bonded pair it doesn’t cause fighting. All you can really do is keep supervising and intervening before fights happen. Eventually the behaviors should calm down. How long have you been working with them in this round of bonding?

Adding a second litter box is fine.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[ZhuMo]

This is the third day and it doesn’t seem to be getting better if anything it’s getting worse. Zhu would get annoyed instantly and would nip at Mo and retreat but Mo would see this as an attack and lung after Zhu after.

[DanaNM]

You may need to slow down a bit. Try removing the litter boxes and shortening the sessions again.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[ZhuMo]

I am currently at a relative’s home almost an hour away from their permanent home. If i bring them back and house them seperately while I do short sessions would this place still be considered neutral?

[DanaNM]

Anywhere they don’t normally spend time is neutral, so that could be an area of your home that’s away from their areas (such as a bathroom). I think given their history, doing bonding gradually may be the safest bet, so you can sure their bond is very strong and won’t break again.  So you could either bring them to the space you are currently using for bonding sessions, or use a space within your house (or backyard, or a nearby friend’s house). It also may help to house them side by side, and swap sides every day or two, rather than in separate rooms, if possible. Ideally you want to see them basically ignoring the other bun through the barrier. If they are showing aggression through the barrier I would wait to do bonding sessions until they calm down.

One thing you might try, that I was discussing with someone in another bonding thread, is doing some side-by-side training with them during bonding sessions. I was having a discussion with a friend at a rescue I used to volunteer at about the trio I’m trying to bond. She said when they introduce new animals to a group at zoos they will often do training with the animals so they focus on something other than the other animal. They start with them farther apart from one another and then have them move gradually closer together. If you work with your buns a bit to clicker train them this could be something to incoporate.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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