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Need help bonding

Zoehall

New Kit
I am a first time rabbit owner getting my first rabbit in July (male mini lop 6 months when I got him, 1.5kg and neutered). He was starting to look lonely throughout the day so I adopted a female lion head x lop (possibly about 2 years, almost 3kg and spayed) in October. When I brought her home my male forest came strait up and smelled willow through the crate door they both seemed very happy and comfortable around eachother the whole time. I gave then about 2 months to get used to eachother through the hutch doors and swapping the the hutches there in over night.

However when I started bringing them inside to try bonding them in a neutral place willow would try to nip at Forest (never broke skin or left any visible injuries just pulled a bit of fur out) slowly they started getting along better and will flop next to eachother and forest will groom willow but she won’t groom him. Willow will also let forest jump over her and mount her however the last time I had them inside (about 3/4 days ago) they had been together inside for almost 2 hours most of the time they had been flopped next to each other cuddling and forest climbing on willow and she suddenly started to chase and nip at Forest this time with lots of fur pulled and a little bit of broken skin I don’t know if that was caused by the fur coming out or her teeth.

Since the attack I’ve been to worried to bring them in together again but they are acting like nothing happened when they are outside. They are in separate hutches but share a walk-in run so can see and smell eachother and I’ve not seen any signs of aggression either before or after the attack

To try and stop any unwanted behaviour when they are inside together I use a water spray bottle. Is this something that will help or not any other options to help out with this would be helpful

Any advice on what to do to get them bonded would be greatly appreciated
 
Chasing, fur pulling and mounting are all normal behaviours during bonding but full-on fighting must be stopped. The Rabbits have to sort out the hierarchy and I have always used a good sized space so that the female can run away from the male. He usually gets fed up with this after a couple of days and then they start settling down together. They have to learn to trust one another. Don't put them in an area where the female considers is hers as she won't like it. Females are very territorial whereas males not so much. If they start acting in a way you don't want them to, say NO! This usually works. So put them in a neutral space, leave them there until you are happy they are getting along, then they should be ok to go back outside together, but don't rush anything. Give them lots of Hay and a few treats as I try to make bonding a bit like a holiday :D One thing to bear in mind and that is it is not very good for Rabbits to be brought in from outside into a warm atmosphere then returned to the cold as it can upset their respiratory system.
 
It is the female chasing and pulling fur from the male. They get brought inside with the door to outside open next to them. Neither have been inside the house before and are only ever inside together
 
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