r/Rabbits

Have been trying to bond these two rabbits for 2 months now, I can't seem to get past the first few steps. I have them in the same room separated by a cage, I've tried switching the litter boxes. The male rabbit I've had since a baby, he lost his partner a couple months ago and we just got this 2-year-old female to help with his destructive tendencies that showed up afterwards.

Whenever I put them in they either immediately start fighting or ignoring until they start fighting. I have them in a bin right now and they still fight but the fighting is very infrequent in a bin, but as soon as I go to the 4x4 pen with both their litter boxes they immediately separate and the one just keeps attacking the other. It's specifically the mail attacking the female. She's not reciprocating anything and he's not asking her to bond. In the beginning she attacked him so many times while he was trying to do bonding things. He won't reciprocate anymore.

TL/DR: how much nipping is normal? how to know if its a lunge vs just greeting? how to get over the fear of bonding? is going in the same carrier too much right now?

Hi, I have two female bunnies (8 months & 5 years) the 8-month-old is spayed, but the 5-year-old is not because she had a mate in the past that was and I didn't think anything of it. The mate has passed, and the vet is weary to put her under due to age. Surprisingly, the un-spayed bunny is being a saint this whole bonding process. She really just wants a buddy, and I haven't worried too much about her since the start. We did trauma bonding the day before in a laundry basket just in case the 8-month-old tried to fight her (she has in the past), but it went great! I brought them home and put them in the bathtub for further bonding. The 8-month-old kept lunging and trying to nip (caught her each time, so she never fully nipped her), and soon enough, she submitted, and the 5-year-old started grooming her and flopped right next to her, completely chill.

Today, I did the same thing, except I had no trauma bonding before. I cut off the bathtub, and they were flopping next to each other and grooming. After an hour, I added some hay to distract the 8-month-old from getting nervous and possibly lunging. This was great, but the 5-year-old would NOT stop eating the hay, she is a treat lover and hates toys if she can eat them. I was concerned about this because she would not pay any mind to the other bunny. The 8-month-old got bored and was standing and sniffing about the tub when she was standing and slid down on top of the 5-year-old. She got off of her quickly, but the other bunny wasn't having any of it and walked up to her and nipped her nose. I pushed the 8-month-old away because I didn't want to start a fight, but I understood the older one was just settling out that she was dom (I think she thought she was trying to hump her, which she wasn't)

Anyway, baby bunny was a little afraid after that because she never snapped before, but I continued the bonding because nips happen. Baby bunny went up to her after a while and put her head down, being submissive, but the older one nipped her again and again, and when she went in to nip her a third time, I removed her from the tub.

Now, I'm a little shaken up because she's been so good to her this whole time. I know this stuff happens, but I'm concerned because I think she was being territorial over the hay and her supposedly trying to dom her. I think tomorrow I'm gonna drive around with them in a carrier together. But my question is, should I do the laundry basket in case they fight and I need to pull them out? Should someone else drive? Should they not even be in a tight space right now? My parents think I'm being too scared with them and should let them "nip it out," but I don't know...was the older one in the right? Should I have kept them even though she kept nipping? Is this normal? Please help me!