Katie, good point. It looked like just a relaxed flop though, since at the time that he did it, he wasn't trying to get any grooming from her, but I could be wrong.

DAY 7

We did another hour long session late last night.... I think we're stuck in a bit of a rut. They're fine in the bathtub (well, if fine means lots of grooming from Leroy and not much grooming from Jeannie) but when I let them out on the bathroom floor, they suddenly have another scuffle (when that happens I promptly put them back in the tub). Ah well, this is how it was at first in the bathtub too. I think I'll start doing 30 min bathtub sessions first and then let them out for another 30+ minutes or so in the bathroom - maybe doing tub sessions first will help them calm down and prevent as much fighting when we move to the bathroom floor. Until Jeannie starts grooming Leroy some more I don't feel comfortable progressing farther than that though because Leroy is still occasionally expressing his frustration in aggression. Little nips here and there - nothing to break the skin or pull out fur, but still... it annoys her and I don't want an all out fight! It's not often that he nips her, he does it maybe 5 times in a 2 hour session. Also, I think Leroy might be getting annoyed by how demanding Jeannie is when it comes to grooming. If he stops grooming her and hops away, she'll follow him and shove her head under his face or tummy. It's kind of funny, actually. I've been careful not to let it turn into chasing though.  I think if Jeannie groomed Leroy just a bit more, all of our problems would be solved and we could move on to larger spaces and to cementing the bond... sigh. 

Does anyone recommend cage swapping?  Would that be helpful at this point?  I mean, they're fine just sitting together in the tub and we haven't had any poop wars (*fingers crossed, knock on wood!*) and I thought cage swapping was more just to get the bunnies used to each other's scent, so we're beyond that stage now... but I'm open to anything!  The banana on the head trick doesn't work as well as  I'd like anymore.  Even though I smoosh the banana on Leroy's head, yesterday Jeannie started just scraping it all off in one go and then she doesn't come back to lick the remaining bits off his head...

DAY 8

Arghh! Things didn't go well today. I put them in the bathtub again and they were fine for the first 45 or 60 minutes, so I figured I'd go about some of my chores and leave them alone... poor choice. I don't know who or what started it but they started fighting! Jeannie pulled out so much of Leroy's fur in the 30 seconds between when they started fighting and I got there! Sigh. I pulled them apart (thank goodness for my gloves!), held them down a bit, and when I released them, Jeannie almost immediately went for him again and tried to start a fight again. They calmed down enough for me to feel ok leaving, so I hid outside the bathroom so I could still see them but they couldn't see me, and they started up again! I think it's Jeannie that's starting it...

I feel like everything we've done so far has been useless. All they've learned is to just behave as long as I'm around. I sat there in the bathroom with them in the tub for a while longer, and Leroy started grooming Jeannie, and things were looking good. So I moved them to a pen that I had set up (it's 2x3 NIC grids on top of towels that neither bunny has been on). Mistake. They started fighting again, so I broke them up and then Leroy ran over to the corner and peed! It may have been territorial, but i think it was just because he really had to go - I didn't give them a litter box. When Leroy peed I had to end the session becasue I had to clean it up (we were on top of the carpet). Sigh. I'm frustrated, but I'm not giving up. I'll do another session with them tonight and I'm determined to get them at least back to where we were yesterday.

Elrohwen, I've read that too, so I wasn't too discouraged about the set back, but still, the disaster of this afternoon's session was kind of a downer when I thought we were progressing so smoothly.

DAY 8

Stress bonding might have worked, but... I did another session tonight and just proceeded as if nothing had happened. I tried not to get too tense during the session because I know they can sense that, so I tried to put today's earlier debacle out of my mind. I just let them out in the bathroom to roam around there like I've tried before - didn't even put them in the tub first because I wanted to keep this session short. I was reading a textbook, but I kept a close eye on them and intervened before anything escalated. I'm able to tell now when one or the other looks like they might attack/nip and usually use a "no" or firmly petting them on the head/shoulders and holding them down will get their minds off of it.

We only did half an hour, I didn't want them to get on each others nerves too much. Leroy groomed Jeannie. Jeannie did not reciprocate. Leroy didn't groom as much as usual, then again, he was also spending time exploring and doing his own thing since the bathroom floor is SO much more exciting than the bathtub  They did really well this time, no scuffles. At the end of the session, I went to go get them a baby carrot each, and rather than shut the door behind me, I left it open to see what they would do. Leroy knew to run home on his own, so away he went. Jeannie was a little slower to move, she followed me part way to the kitchen and then ran home when she saw I had a carrot for her. I was within earshot the entire time and hardly out of eye sight, so I wasn't too worried about anything happening, but I wanted to see what they would do if I expanded their space a bit. MAYBE not the smartest thing to do, and I know I wasn't following the usual bonding steps, but the way my apartment is set up, not much could have happened in the hallway and Iw as 2 steps away anyway, but hey, no one fought or even tried to fight, so it was encouraging 

DAY 9

Had another hour long bonding session in the bathroom.  Again, nothing eventful.  Not much grooming from Leroy, none from Jeannie.  No fighting, they just kinda hung out.  I swapped the cages tonight.  It was also litter box duty tonight so I cleaned all the litter boxes but left the cages as they were (hay strewn about, fur, dirty towels and cat beds) and put a few of Leroy's poops back in his box, same for Jeannie, so when I swapped cages, Leroy got Jeannie's "used" litter box and vice versa, so they could get used to each other's scent.

I'll do nightly cage swaps as long as it goes well tonight.  We haven't had a poop war yet, I'm really hoping the cage swapping doesn't trigger anything.  I know they've both been in each others' cages briefly before this when I'd let them both out and the bunny that stayed in the bedroom got into the other bunny's cage (sneaky little buggers!) Nothing happened from those events.  *fingers crossed for no poop bombs tonight!*

At this point, how quickly can I move with them? Can I move to a larger area in say the living room? Or do I need to try to solidify their bond in the bathroom first? Obviously if things turn sour in a larger pen, I'll move back to the bathroom or to the bathtub.  I think they're ready for a bit more space.  However, I don't want to undo what I've done so far, which is why I'm asking if it would be better to stay in the bathroom for awhile longer or to move on?  Should I do more bonding sessions in the bathroom and wait for Jeannie to give in and start grooming Leroy more, or is that something that might come in time?

Oh yay! That's good to hear. I have to do some laundry soon so if I change things up and it looks like they need some more stress bonding, I can always put them in a basket on top of the dryer

Last night went well. No one had a hissy fit when I swapped cages - at least not as far as I could tell - they let me sleep though the night.  Jeannie is a bit lax on her potty skills; she usually leaves a couple poops around when she's out playing, so I was actually expecting her to make a mess in Leroy's cage, but it turns out that it was Mr. Leroy! He pooped on Jeannie's bed  It wasn't too bad though, nothing I'd call a "poop bomb" it was just funny to see that Mr. Impeccable Potty Habits decided to leave a few presents for Jeannie and me. He did keep all his pee in his litter box, which was good.

This picture was from Tuesday's bonding session (day 8) but I love the way it looks like Leroy is trying to save Jeannie from the big bad flashy thing! (camera) 

DAY 10

WE HAVE ACHIEVED MUTUAL GROOMING!!!!

I blocked off the hallway tonight and let the little terrors loose there. I spent the first hour and 45 minutes sitting with them and playing mediator, but they really didn't need me. Initially things were just going like usual (lot of grooming and the occasional nip from Leroy, no grooming from Jeannie), even though they've never been in the hallway together. I then gave them some banana and smeared some on Leroy's head. Something about the banana I think did the trick. Jeannie happily ate her banana off his head and then set about cleaning him all up and picking at the bits of banana dried into his fur (left over from past bonding sessions... ick ). Both have laid down next to each other and just relaxed. Lots of happy flops. Both have been using the litter box. They even went and drank from the water bowl together! I will post videos and pix later (I'm supposed to be doing hw now, lol). Jeannie has been grooming Leroy much more throughout the night, and I'm pretty sure all the banana is gone, meaning she's voluntarily grooming him! They've been taking turns grooming each other and it's the cutest thing ever!!

Still have a bit of nipping/attempts at mounting/chasing, but it's not bad, and I can break it up just by clapping at them and saying their names or "no!" in a loud, firm voice. This is looking so good! I'm THRILLED at the progress that we made tonight!

ETA: We ended the session at 3.5 hours.  They were starting to get on each other's nerves I think.  Chasing each other.  They also wanted their evening veggies, so they were probably getting worked up over that.  And since I have homework to do, I just ended the session after a crazin each and after Leroy groomed Jeannie.

I went back and added videos from Days 5-9, so go check those out if you're interested

Also, I added pictures from yesterday.

DAY 11

I was brave today and expanded their space AGAIN.  I blocked off half of the living room and let them out there.  Things have been going FABULOUSLY.  Ok, so we still had two small tussles - nothing major - and Leroy tried to mount once, but.... it's been SIX hours and we're still going strong!  They have been snuggling, sharing the litter box (even though I gave them two), munching on veggies, and generally just acting like bunnies.  But now they're both bunnies with a pal! 

Thier interaction is so much fun for me to watch.  Every time I glance over and see them snuggled up together I giggle.  They're already getting into trouble together - pulling at the NIC fences to get behind it to the TV stand or to the rest of the living room.  It's the cutest thing ever to watch Jeannie follow Leroy around, she is so in love with him! Jeannie has been grooming him a lot more, but still demanding lots of grooms from Leroy. 

The most hilarious thing is Leroy's face when Jeannie does her binkies!  Since they had more space tonight, Jeannie was able to do her evening binkies during the bonding session... Leroy was SO startled when she started popcorning around the living room.  He doesn't do binkies too frequently, but he did several tonight after he saw Jeannie doing them, so this is great!

I'll continue to swap cages - I think that really accelerated the bonding process.  Tomorrow I'll probably give them the whole living room if things continue this well.  When are they considered BONDED?  I know part of being bonded means that they live in the same area, so obviously we're not there yet, but I'm confident that we're close.  I think this weekend I'll re arrange their crates and fashion a new home out of NIC cubes for them and try a sleep over. But do you guys think it would be too soon for that?

ETA: The session was 9 hours long - I wanted to let them stay out as long as possible, but man I have GOT to get some sleep

DAYS 12 and 13

Well, I handed over the entire apartment to the bunnies yesterday afternoon - no more restricting them to half of the living room. AND... the love buns spent the night together last night. I rearranged their space for their sleep over, now their home is a combo of large dog crates and NIC cubes... 7.5'x2.5' with a platform for a second level. I have to admit, I probably committed the biggest bonding faux pas ever when I bypassed the vinegar scrub down before putting them in their new home. The way I see it, they both spent time in both of the crates - I'd been switching crates daily for the past few days - so they'd be ok sharing the space together since their scent is already all over everything. Jeannie was the good, sweet, little girl that she always is, but Leroy was NOT pleased with the new arrangements. He thumped for an HOUR after I put them in the crate together, voicing his disapproval of me. The good thing is that they got along fine with each other over night, no tussles or anything. When I got up this morning, they were cuddled up together on the second level. (But Leroy peed and pooped in the cat bed that was Jeannie's, lol, even though he hadn't done that when we just swapped crates).

Today is day 13 and as I'm typing this (and all day long) the happy couple is snuggled up next to each other under the dining room table.

I have to leave for a few hours this evening, and even though they've been doing well and have been together since yesterday evening, I think I'm going to separate them (they'll still be able to see/smell each other) while I'm gone tonight, and then put them back together for bed time when I come home. I don't want to rush things too much, and the last thing I need is for them to fight and hurt each other when I'm gone. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that they will fight if I'm away for any length of time right now... When I was still bonding them in the tub, we worked up to a couple hours per session, but when I left to do some chores around the apartment, they started fighting... like little toddlers that only behave when mommy's around, lol. We worked though that now, and now I'm fine to do whatever around here while they're together, so I want to work on cementing their bond some more before I completely leave them home alone. Opinions? You don't think that by separating them when I'm gone tonight will move us backwards do you?

Thanks for the nice comments everyone And Beka....nice try.

yay!!

*searches for poking stick, ahh hear it is, evil glares. i thought you knew the rule by now, PICS ARE A MUST AROUND HERE!*

Hahaha! Did you not scroll up and check out the two earlier posts on page three and go back to watch the vids from days 1-9?

Lol. I'll post a couple more...

And another from yesterday.....

They do share litterboxes, but I always give them two.  They chose to each take one this time since I had just put new hay in

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For their home, I put together their two dog crates... Sorry about the mess, I had JUST gotten things set up when I took the picture.  I added extra length to their space by using the cage doors and NIC grids.  When I get another tarp, I'll be able to epxpand their space some more.  It's hard to tell in the picture, but the set up is over 7.5' long. They're out most of the day anyway.   I think I might switch to a large x-pen eventually - the crates are kinda hard to clean, but the one crate was free from my parents, and I got the other one fairly inexpensively off of Craigslist.  They like it

And there's a second door on the side of the crate that the bunnies are sitting in in the picture.  So it's easy to let them in and out.

And have you all seen this one? I think it's funny. I posted it in the lounge the other day.... Jeannie jumped into the trashcan all on her own!