Bonding

[kkiddle]

I'm back, asking another question =). So I'm trying to bond Millie and Cheeto and it's going okay---I think. I've been trying other neutral areas and Cheeto has stopped freezing, Millie is still the same.
My new problem is nipping. Cheeto will bow his head down to ask Millie to groom him and Millie will nip him. It never turns into a fight; I've never had to separate them. She doesn't seem all that aggressive but she nips him every time without fail. Cheeto reacts with his typical scared/frozen-ness. But then after a few seconds they'll carry on. They will lay next to each other (not side by side, but facing each other if that makes sense). She has also groomed his body, but will not groom his head, only nip!

Is this good or bad? Does it mean that she wants to be the dominate one too?

 

[Yield]

Does it seem to hurt Cheeto? Sometimes the buns with chew each other's fur and it will look like nipping. Sabriel used to pull Solara's whiskers out as well... it stopped once they started living together- though for a while they had to sleep separately at night and be together during the day. And Solara humped him the second day after that when she had never humped him before... they settled it.

Where are you bonding them? Could I recommend the bath tub? That is where I bonded my buns and after they seemed to get along better, I'd set them on the bathroom floor. Slippery so they're a bit more nervous, look to each other for comfort, and have a hard time fighting or anything.

You may already know this, but be sure not to separate them after a fight or spat. Making them leave each other on a bad note will lead to problems : ( But you sound like you don't have that problem.

Hmm, I don't think nipping should be a problem though unless it really hurts Cheeto. He may get upset then. I'd say just keep a good eye on them and pet Millie/gently push her away if she nips. Distract her so she forgets to. : )

Hope that helps somehow!

 

[kkiddle]

Thanks for responding Bailee! It doesn't seem to hurt him but he doesn't like it either. This is definitely a nip and not grooming. It's a short, quick movement and she only does it when he "demands" to be groomed. It doesn't seem to be that aggressive, which is why I'm wondering what it is.
I did do the bathtub, but Cheeto was so frozen there that there was no good coming from it. So I started doing it on the bathroom floor (and now the kitchen) and all seems well except for that nipping! These are all neutral territories btw, with hard flooring to induce some cuddling.
Thank you! I am prepared to separate them if need be. Gotta love oven mitts!

 

[kkiddle]

So they showed their first signs of dominance today. There were no signs of aggression, but BOTH want to be dominate! They were running in circles for minutes until I finally decided to separate them. Is this common? Will they work it out?