Bonding, the final stage!?

Hi, I have two young doe's that I managed to get to the middle stages of bonding. But this is where they stayed for quite a while as humping which led to chasing was getting in the way. Now both spayed (11 days ago) humping has stopped and things are looking very good ..... well all except -

if the less dominant rabbit is where the more dominant rabbit wants to be she nudges and gives a nip to get her out of her way. The only grooming being done is by the more dominant one.

Today I have caged them together for the very first time, it started off with the more dominant female nipping to get her own way and the less dominant just jumping out of her way. Things have quietened down now and they are both resting in opposite corners of the cage.

I think as night time approaches I shall separate them again to be on the safe side unless someone can confirm that this nipping thing is normal behavior and bonding is complete.

Any advice would be good, thanks =)

I'm not an expert bonder, but I think I would leave them together, unless the dominant one is really pestering the submissive girl. Nipping and small arguments are normal in bonded bunnies, but not when its so excessive and one is bullying the other

Thanks coco, I left them in the cage for a good few hours and all was well. Since that they have been out playing and were only to happy to hop back in together as bedtime came. I now feel much happier about leaving them together over night now

It is normal behaviour and it should settle down the longer they spend together. As long as the submissive bun keeps backing down and dosn't retaliate the dominant bun will feel assured she has asserted her place in the hierachy. When I bond I do it all in one go and tend to allow approx. 3 days for them to get to a stage where I am happy to leave them alone.

So as to monitor them during the night I use an indoor crate which I can move right next to the bed so if anythign does happen I am guaranteed to hear it. There are times when the slow approach works better but for most rabbits (and owners) it's less stressful to get it over and done in one go.