How to bond bunnies/bunny dosent like other bunny. Need help

[Farm_Lover_With_Bunnies]

Rabbit info:
Name:Twilight
Sex: Spayed female
Age: almost 2 years
Breed: Certified Black Silver Fox Rabbit
Weight: 10lbs (trying to get her to gain a pound or two)
How long have I had her: since she was about a Month old
Picture:


Name:Max
Sex: neutered male
Age: Roughly a year and a half
Breed: unknow as he was a rescue
Weight: about 5lbs
How long have I had him: 1 week
Picture:

Hello everyone! I’m new here so sorry in advanced if I can’t figure out how to work some things lol. Anyways I’ve had a rabbit (Twilight) who I originally got to show in fair but she quickly became a pet and I only showed her once and when I got her I didn’t know to much about rabbits but I did a decent amount of research. She was fed a mainly pellet diet (which I totally regret) for her first year and she also was only fed only Timothy hay EVEN AS A KIT (stupid me I know). But now she is 2 years old and has become a free roam (in my room) bunny who mainly eats veggies and meadow had (she’s picky) and only a very small amount of pellets for the past year. She has been the only rabbit her whole life except for now. She is very attached to me and even licks me quite often. She lets me rub her tummy sometimes , flops near me ect. She was spayed about 2 months ago and is fully recovered and that’s why I decided to get her a friend as I have done a lot more research the past year and know that they are very social animals. I’ve only had the other rabbit (max) for about a week now but he’s a very friendly and curious but shy rabbit. The rescue I got him from he was bonded with another rabbit and they said he was the dominate one in the pair but he was paired with another male. I’m not sure when he got neutered but the rescue said probably a long time ago. So far I’ve them caged next to each other to get used to each other. Twilight (surprisingly) is very submissive with him for example lowering her head when they have supervised visits and kind of staying in one place while max looks around. She flops all the time right next to him in the cages and tries to lick his nose through the cage. Max however tries to attack her with his feet and has actually stared a fight or two when they get to be with each other in the bath tub. I’ve switched their litter pans around, their toys, and their beds so they are used to each other’s smells. It’s only been a week so I know I shouldn’t give up yet but is this normal? Twilight seems to want to be friends but max doesn’t seem to like her. Should I try a different method of bonding? If so what should I try? Or should I just give them more time? This is a picture of what their caging looks like (excuse the mess please lol)

Thank you so so much for any help!

 

[Blue eyes]

Twilight (surprisingly) is very submissive with him for example lowering her head when they have supervised visits and kind of staying in one place while max looks around. She flops all the time right next to him in the cages and tries to lick his nose through the cage. Max however tries to attack her with his feet and has actually stared a fight or two when they get to be with each other in the bath tub.

You may be misinterpreting their behavior. The rabbit that is lowering its head is actually the dominant one (or the one wanting to be dominant). That is the one demanding to be groomed. Flopping on the border of territories can either mean they want to be near each other, OR it can mean the opposite. It could just as well mean, "this is my territory, don't you dare cross this line."

Max's reaction in the tub could be aggression, but it could also be fear. He could be stressed and simply afraid of Twilight.

Since you've only had Max a week, I'd suggest keeping them in their separate cages/pens near each other for awhile longer. Give Max more time to settle in. You can start the tub bonding later on. Since he's already started fighting, you want him to forget about that. So give him more time without bonding sessions. Just let him get used to his new home (near Twilight) for awhile.

 

[Farm_Lover_With_Bunnies]

You may be misinterpreting their behavior. The rabbit that is lowering its head is actually the dominant one (or the one wanting to be dominant). That is the one demanding to be groomed. Flopping on the border of territories can either mean they want to be near each other, OR it can mean the opposite. It could just as well mean, "this is my territory, don't you dare cross this line."

Max's reaction in the tub could be aggression, but it could also be fear. He could be stressed and simply afraid of Twilight.

Since you've only had Max a week, I'd suggest keeping them in their separate cages/pens near each other for awhile longer. Give Max more time to settle in. You can start the tub bonding later on. Since he's already started fighting, you want him to forget about that. So give him more time without bonding sessions. Just let him get used to his new home (near Twilight) for awhile.

Okay thank you very much! This is what I was thinking of doing but wasn’t sure. Thank you!

 

[Farm_Lover_With_Bunnies]

You may be misinterpreting their behavior. The rabbit that is lowering its head is actually the dominant one (or the one wanting to be dominant). That is the one demanding to be groomed. Flopping on the border of territories can either mean they want to be near each other, OR it can mean the opposite. It could just as well mean, "this is my territory, don't you dare cross this line."

Max's reaction in the tub could be aggression, but it could also be fear. He could be stressed and simply afraid of Twilight.

Since you've only had Max a week, I'd suggest keeping them in their separate cages/pens near each other for awhile longer. Give Max more time to settle in. You can start the tub bonding later on. Since he's already started fighting, you want him to forget about that. So give him more time without bonding sessions. Just let him get used to his new home (near Twilight) for awhile.

So they still aren’t getting along. Max is still attacking her. Should I try a different bunny?

 

[John Wick]

Bonding takes time. I would do prebonding measures (swapping litter boxes, pen areas, and toys) exclusively for a longer time. This let's him settle more and feel more secure. I would also have a gap in between the areas so he can't actually reach her, and the slight distance may calm him down.

I think it's notable that he was separated from a previous bonded mate? Even if it was a male-male pair, if they were truly bonded, it may be very stressful for him right now to be alone.

As to not grow any animosity between the two, I wouldn't start dates until he seems a bit more calm with her. It is not unusual to do exclusively prebonding, with zero dates, for longer than a weeks time.

 

[Farm_Lover_With_Bunnies]

Bonding takes time. I would do prebonding measures (swapping litter boxes, pen areas, and toys) exclusively for a longer time. This let's him settle more and feel more secure. I would also have a gap in between the areas so he can't actually reach her, and the slight distance may calm him down.

I think it's notable that he was separated from a previous bonded mate? Even if it was a male-male pair, if they were truly bonded, it may be very stressful for him right now to be alone.

As to not grow any animosity between the two, I wouldn't start dates until he seems a bit more calm with her. It is not unusual to do exclusively prebonding, with zero dates, for longer than a weeks time.

I’ve been doing to pre bonding the whole time even when they had play dates. He was bonded to another male when I got him, I felt really bad separated them. I’ll try putting some spare in between the cages and just give it some more time then. Thank you!