Bonding baby to adult

Question
QUESTION: Dear Dana,
Thanks for your previous advices and Jojo has been doing very well ever since, despite of her loneliness being the only rabbit at home, so I had got her 1 baby rabbit 2 days ago.
The literatures on the websites have not explain much on the bonding of adult with baby rabbit, and I do not know whether the situation is considered normal. Jojo, the adult rabbit 2.5 years old is spayed female, and seems like she does not welcome the new arrival of Cotton, a 10 weeks old female. They both now stay in my room with no cage and can roam about inside the house freely. When Cotton try to go near Jojo she will jump away and keep avoiding, but does not attack her. She even avoid her by not going near the food bowl (because Cotton likes sleeping inside the food bowl) and I have to prepare another food bowl for Jojo.
How do I tell whether they have bonded? What other attempt should I take to bond them?
Look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you!

ANSWER: Dear Susan,

Actually, what you describe is more promising than if there were open hostility.  As long as they don't fight, there is hope for a bond.  

The two are currently establishing who's who, and who will be top bun.  This is hard to predict with Cotton being a baby, and when she reaches sexual maturity, all bets are off.  It is still very important to have them both spayed to prevent fighting, and because unspayed females have a very high risk of uterine cancer.

Bonding can take a long time in a situation like this. But do NOT let them get aggressive with each other.  If they show any aggression, separate them for "time out" and only when they are calm, try again.  One good fight can ruin the whole effort.

If they are co-existing in relative harmony, then just let them work it out gradually.   I had a situation recently like yours.  An older male, very sweet, was introduced to a younger male with an orthopedic problem.  They made each other nervous, but there was no hostility.  Gradually, they started to trust each other and sleep closer, and now they are fast friends.  But they had to work it out themselves, and we didn't force anything.

So I'd say...keep a close eye out to prevent any fighting, and then hope they start to like each other more and more as time goes on.

Hope this helps.

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear Dana,
Thanks for your advice.
At the meantime Im putting little Cotton into a box first because Jojo does not eat anything from the food bowls. (Cotton is eating from every bowl I put although it is meant for Jojo)Im guessing maybe she does not like the scent of Cotton and refuse to eat? She munched happily without Cotton around. However Jojo's stools became runny after that. Does it have anything to do with Cotton?
I would like to do what is best for both bunnies.
Thanks for your help!

Answer
Dear Susan,

Yes, it sounds as if introductions should be made gradually.  You can find tips here:

http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-a=00062824-sp00000000&sp-q=bonding

The stress of these introductions could be causing Jojo's runny stool, as you can read here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

Hope things are going well.

Dana