Girl bunny over grooming boy bunny and pulling fur out! Help!

[Jovynne Tan]

Hi guys,
I have a 1 year old girl and 3 year old boy bunny who are both desexed. We have been trying to bond them and things have been going really well (they flop together, they groom each other, they hang out side by side together etc.) They are still separated overnight with a play pen, but I let them out together supervised in the rest of the house every night. This has been ongoing for 3 or 4 months now.
About 2 weeks ago, I noticed my girl bunny has been grooming my boy very "aggressively", leaving him with bald patches on the top of his head and ears. He goes to her always for licks and just sits there and lets her groom him, even when fur is being pulled out.
I dont know what to do and how to fix this! I have not let them out together for the past few days as I want his bald patches to heal up. I've heard of the term barbering and am wondering if this is what is happening?
Can someone help me please I am very upset as I just want them to love each other and be friends. Thank you!!!

 

[Jovynne Tan]

 

[Suzinstew]

My female rabbit usually does this to build a nest. She will gather his and her hair and make a nest. How long has she been doing it for?

 

[Jovynne Tan]

Just under 2 weeks. I've checked her enclosure and she hasn't built or attempted to build a nest.
She did build a nest about 8 months ago and that freaked me out! She was not desexed at the time but has since been desexed in December 2018.

 

[A & B]

What is she fed? Rabbit barbering can be a result of dominance or nutritional issue.

 

[Jovynne Tan]

I feed her Burgess nuggets for breakfast, some rabbit-safe vegetables for dinner, and they have oaten hay all day to munch on. They also get one bunny cookie/treat each before bed that's homemade a lady that sells them online. They both live indoors and have very comfy set ups!
I don't know what I could possibly be doing wrong
Maybe she's trying to show Gus that she's boss? I think he's happy for her to be boss though, he is very timid and she's the opposite.

 

[JBun]

Overgrooming can happen with rabbits. Sometimes they can get a little over obsessive about cleaning their friend. I have a bonded pair and my girl bun has chewed a patch of fur on her bunny partners back. Not really anything I can do to stop it besides separating them(which I don't want to do). For mine it's really not a problem, she's not hurting him, just doesn't look pretty. For yours, it's possible they are ready to be permanently bonded and the continued separation is upsetting her, and the separation anxiety is leading to her barbering him. So finishing the bonding process could possibly help. Or it may not. Another possibility is she's doing it because he has an underlying skin issue like mites or fleas, and she is just trying to help get rid of them. So it would be good to closely inspect his skin for any signs of dandruff, crusting, or fleas/flea dirt.

I would only suspect barbering from a nutritional deficiency if your rabbit was doing it to himself, not with his bunny partner doing it.

In the meantime, if you want to be able to keep them together and deter the behavior until you can figure out the cause, I would try to find some sort of scent that she doesn't like(that is rabbit safe), and rub it on the area. If there is an herb she doesn't care for, or maybe a tiny bit of vinegar(just a tiny bit, don't soak the fur). That's what I would try.

 

[Jovynne Tan]

Thank you JBun for all that great info! I think I will start by inspecting Gus properly in case he has a mite or flea infestation.
And also probably would try some vinegar on his fur tonight to see if that would deter her from grooming his poor bald head.

One of the reasons why they're not sleeping in the same area overnight / permanently bonded is because I left them unsupervised on 2 separate occasions in their bedroom one time and they started fighting and jumping and circling. I freaked out so I decided to let them have play time together but sleep separately. Maybe I'm not bonding them well enough for that to happen.
Would you have any suggestions?

I will try the suggestions you have given me. Fingers crossed! Thank you once again xxx