Bonding frustrated bunwife

[MiniLopHop]

My mini lop pair has been together for about two weeks. It was very peaceful at first with both of them showing neutral to positive interactions. They have been living in the same space from his first night (I sleep in the same room). There was slight chasing and one instance of hair pulling, but nothing major. I have never seen either one hump the other. :biggrin2:

Becky is clearly the boss. She will shuffle Indy around if he's in the way or nip at him if annoyed. She seems to be very frustrated because she presents to be groomed and he just ignores it. He came from an abuse situation and I don't think he knows how to be a bunny (learning how to hop, periscope etc). He's very food motivated so I put a dab of baby food on her head. He licked it up but then started to pull at the fur to eat it all, this caused her to box his ears. ssd:

From repeated snubs she's starting to be frustrated and nip at him when he doesn't groom. Is there anything I can do to help teach him proper protocol? :?

 

[hillrise]

Are you trying to breed them or just make them friends? If friends, are they fixed? If breed, how old are they?

 

[plasticbunny]

Try putting the babyfood/mashed banana on his head, to see is she grooms him instead. This may teach him what to do.

 

[MiniLopHop]

Sorry, I should have stated that they are both fixed for well over 6 months so hormones are not an issue. My intent is just to have them be happy together. They both had rough starts in life so they are learning to live the good life

Thanks Erin, I will give that a try tonight. She is a kisser so perhaps she will groom him. I don't care who is the boss as long as they are happy

 

[plasticbunny]

I knew someone who had a female bunny that was four when she finally got a boyfriend. The boyfriend bun groomed her all the time, but she never got the hang of it. They still managed to work it out, though!

 

[MiniLopHop]

That's good to know. Both of these are 3 and this is their first relationship. She has neurological damage from trauma (who could hit a mini lop? She's my avetar) and he's blind/deaf on one side from an infection that was ignored. They work well though and other than the grooming issue seem happier together already.