Bonding - nipping Help!

Hello, I need some advice on the nipping/biting happening in my bonding that I can't find any advice on! I have been trying to bond my 2 rabbits, Jasper (neutered)and Delilah (not neutered), for nearly 2 months now. Jasper is 3 and we believe has never been with another rabbit and Delilah is 6months. In the beginning jasper was very territorial - as expected, and on initial bonding sessions we had quite a bit of humping. The bonding has now gone to what I can describe as toleration, they now have a shared run but with separate adjoining cages and 90% of the time they ignore each other and continue normal activity like eating sleeping etc (no over aggressive behaviour like boxing or growling). But when J does decide to interact with D, D is very submissive and J likes to nip in between her ears. On sight this almost looks affectionate and like grooming but after a few seconds D will protest and run off. After closer inspection tonight I can she that D has bite marks in this areas - skin is broken but no blood, and I can see some hair has been pulled out. There are also a few similar marks in the inside of the ear - indents in the skin but not deep enough to draw blood or tare. This is now the go to response when J approaches D and D is now always trying to get away, so it's obvious that this is not enjoyable for her. However she is not overly stressed as she will hop off and resume normal activity like eating. So I need some confirmation from those more experienced: should I be separating this behaviour? Is this behaviour normal? If not what can I do to stop it? Any other tips to get my rabbits to bond as I can't seem to get past constant indifference?
Thank you so so much!

I expect what you might be doing is confusing your rabbits by putting them together then separating them. It's like a part time relationship. So you really need to keep them together so they CAN bond. Make sure they have plenty of hay to munch together as this will help them to bond. When 2 rabbits are bonded properly they don't usually nip one another, they are best of friends! See how this goes and come back if you need more guidance. :thumb:

Personally I wouldn't start bonding until your doe has been spayed. When are you planning to do this?

Babsie said:

Personally I wouldn't start bonding until your doe has been spayed. When are you planning to do this?

Click to expand...

This :thumb:

Also you should remember the hormones take around 6 weeks to subside after the spay.

You need to attempt bonding in a small, neutral area.