Oliver groomed Bailey, but then he tried to mount her though not aggressively. She jumped away. Should I separate them tonight or let them work it out? I am sleeping right next to them.

I would wait to leave them together. It hasn't even been a week yet and Oliver didn't really get a chance to settle in before you started bonding. His personality is going to continue to emerge, and things may change.

The spraying is a territory thing and is very common for bonding rabbits or rabbits put into a new territory.

Keep an eye out for submissive grooming, as in when the dominant bunny places its head down to demand grooming and the other submitting. Once you have a consistent dominant bun you should be ok. They still sound a bit shaky.

Thanks. So I should separate them and rebond? They've been at my moms house (neutral territory) the past 4 days and have been together all day/night. They were doing everything together with no aggression or mounting whatsoever. They basically were bonded.. I trusted them that I could leave the house with no one watching. Now I am back at my place where there is no neutral territory. Please let me know how I should continue the.bonding process here

"They've been at my moms house (neutral territory) the past 4 days and have been together all day/night. They were doing everything together with no aggression or mounting whatsoever. "

This is because they were both in an unfamiliar territory, so they acted bonded to feel better. Until you see the same behavior in your own home in their own territory...they aren't bonded.

I would continue the bonding process with a cage swap. Put him in her cage and her in his cage. This gives them an opportunity to get used to living with the other's scent. I would leave them like that for a couple days with additional bunny dates throughout the day. Since you've done some stress bunny dates (rocking the carrier), it's time to do some normal ones to see if the behavior continues in a regular, non-stressful environment. ]

Do not leave them together all day/night until your extended bunny dates show the SAME dominance pattern on a consistent basis in a normal environment in their own territory.

When you see one actively submitting to the other for SEVERAL DAYS during your bunny dates, and have zero fights, take them both out of their cages, rearrange the cage into one, clean all the objects well so they don't have the smell of either one of them, and put them in the cage together. That way the cage isn't his or her's and they can begin marking their combined cage together. Watch them carefully and if there's an incident, separate them again and give it another week of extended bunny dates and try again.

Thanks Hokankai.

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!

So last night after I set up the x-pen, they each took turns mounting one time which is when I last posted. There was never any aggression or fighting so I decided to let them work it out while I supervised. There was some hovering throughout the night but no more mounting. By morning, Oliver was cuddling by Bailey as much as possible and she has groomed him.

Good luck with your bonding ventures. Every bonding experience is difference since each rabbit is different. Follow whatever flow seems to be working for you.

My bunnies are bonded There has been no more mounting since last night. They are both grooming each other.. it's so cute! I'm so happy because it started off rough.

I just came into this thread - but I have a bonded trio and definitely know the adventures and frustrations of bonding.

Just so you know -- some buns will continue to hump and switch dominance continually and some will always stay the same. My buns have been bonded now for about 5 months and they are still having small dominance battles which has never escalated into fighting. They all groom each other and they all hump each other but as long as there's no fighting, it's perfectly fine. Just wanted to warn you so you don't think they are becoming unbonded.

Compared to some of the horror stories on here, your buns weren't too bad! (Besides the injuries!) But usually the bonding process is just as stressful for us as them so I'm glad you kept with it!

Thanks tanlover! That makes a lot of sense. I'm really glad that everyone encouraged me to go through with the bond since I think they were actually an easy match. The injuries could have been totally avoided if I knew what I was doing at first.. but in the end they were okay and it took less than week

What I wish I did differently
1) be confident with separating the bunnies.. i found towards the end that pouring water on them worked really well at breaking up a fight and also calming them down
2) don't take your eyes off the bunnies for a second during the first few days
3) use 2 separate cages the first couple of days

What I would recommend to others based on my experience
1) try to take a week off work or work from home so you can put them together more frequently/for longer periods of time in a brand new area (family member's house) - it seems to be the fastest way to get them used to each other
2) just accept that there will be a lot of tension and mounting in the beginning.. it fades away over time so stay calm and know how to separate them when a fight breaks out
3) by watching them you will just know how much you trust them together, and that helps you decide when to push forward with bonding

Thanks for sharing your bonding experience. Glad things have turned out well.