Boy met girl. Boy fell in love with girl. Girl tolerates boy. Is this normal?

[Kitkat]

So I have my bunnies, Nelson and Bella, both rescue bunnies, aged around 2 years old and neutered / spayed. I managed to bond these guys around 10 months ago and I must say, to me, it was pretty successful from the beginning. Nelson literally fell in love with Bella immediately. She, on the other hand, was not too interested in him. After about a month of daily meetings, gradually exceeding in length, she gave in and declared partnership with Nelson. There have been absolutely no tussles or upsets and Nelson keeps Bella in his sight constantly but I can’t help but feel something is lacking in their relationship.

Bella likes to have her own space, which Nelson respects most of the time, just as long as he can see her. They will laze togther, eat togther, play togther and Bella will occasionally accept a grooming session from Nelson, although this is rarely reciprocated. Nelson is a very affectionate rabbit, he will graciously take a stroke from pretty much anyone so I can’t help feel disheartened when Bella refuses him a groom. I can see his upset so when this happens, I will step in and give him a good cuddle. At times he gets a little frustrated when she refuses and he will chase her and try and mount, this happens for a few seconds before Bella tells him to back off. It’s nothing major, there are no fights. She’s just heavily peeved with his refusal of her answer and doesn’t talk to him until he apologises. Reminds me a bit of human behaviour actually!!

On the whole they do seem like a happy couple, with Bella being the dominant female and Nelson being the doting male but my question is: how can I tell if they are truly content in the relationship? Are these signs just some commons relationship traits in rabbit pairings or should I look to changing the dynamics by introducing a third bunny? My concern with this though is the potential risk of ruining the existing relationship! Ahhhh bunny dilemma!

 NB: The bunnies live free-range in my house and have open access to their own bunny quarters  (a converted walk-in cupboard) so space and territory has never been an issue with them.

[LBJ10]

It sounds like a normal bunny relationship to me. There are certainly pairs out there that are more lovey dovey with each other, but that isn’t going to be true for all bonded pairs. If they ignore each other, that’s okay. I wouldn’t force anything where nothing is really needed. Their relationship is what it is. The dynamics may change as they get older as well and you might find them cuddling more.

[Sarita]

That sounds like a very good relationship to me. Like LBJ10 said – all rabbit pairs have a different relationship and while it seems like they should be lovey dovey all the time and quite frankly that is just not the case – just like in human relationships….just like you mentioned :~)

Many times I think just knowing the other bunny is around makes the other rabbit feel good – closeness can come in many ways.

[Kitkat]

Thank you both for your very reassuring replies to my post. I love my floppy-eared fuzzle bums so much, I’d hate for them to be unhappy and for it to go unnoticed by me!

[Author]

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