We've had our first male/neutered bunny for 3 years now, and recently introduced a spayed female to the mix. The bonding process took about a month and they have been coexisting for about 3 months now. They spend all day near one another and interact constantly. They share the litter box/hay feeder without any issue, relax by each other all the time, etc. The female grooms the male occasionally and we VERY rarely see some actual snuggling take place. Altogether, we've gone forward assuming that they're more like siblings than mates and have felt comfortable with things.
However, there still appears to be one area of disputed territory - directly under our bed, which is where they like to sleep as well. Our first rabbit made that his home base right away and sleeps there during the day and every night. This was the last area we allowed them into during bonding because we knew how heavily marked it was - and it was definitely a challenge to re-introduce it. They will now both sleep under there without many issues, but I've noticed that they seem to have clearly drawn lines of which half belongs to which bunny. When the male bunny crosses over to the female's side, she tends to nip at him and he retreats.
I'm confused about this because in my opinion, they ARE bonded - but I'm surprised that there's still territorial behavior, especially since they've had access to this spot for months now. It doesn't seem like they're interested in fighting it out, more like they've come to an agreement to disagree in this particular spot. Is this normal for some bonded pairs, or have we done something wrong in the bonding process?
However, there still appears to be one area of disputed territory - directly under our bed, which is where they like to sleep as well. Our first rabbit made that his home base right away and sleeps there during the day and every night. This was the last area we allowed them into during bonding because we knew how heavily marked it was - and it was definitely a challenge to re-introduce it. They will now both sleep under there without many issues, but I've noticed that they seem to have clearly drawn lines of which half belongs to which bunny. When the male bunny crosses over to the female's side, she tends to nip at him and he retreats.
I'm confused about this because in my opinion, they ARE bonded - but I'm surprised that there's still territorial behavior, especially since they've had access to this spot for months now. It doesn't seem like they're interested in fighting it out, more like they've come to an agreement to disagree in this particular spot. Is this normal for some bonded pairs, or have we done something wrong in the bonding process?
