Our new rabbit: Can it be bonded with Phoebe?

Question
Dana,

We've emailed on several occasions in the past regarding our
steel rex named Phoebe. As a side note, she's doing very well
and is continuing to open up to us in new and exciting ways.

Recently, we took-in a rabbit that had been abandoned on the
street in his cage with a dislocated knee (hind left leg). After a
week-long, expensive debacle with the veterinary clinic, his leg
was amputated just above the thigh, and we finally were able to
bring him home. Naturally our intent was to eventually have a
companion for Phoebe, although we imagine bonding the two of
them will take a great deal of work, and that we realize the
process could potentially be fruitless (as the two rabbits could
be completely incompatible).

Regardless, we noticed that Phoebe and The Rabbi took slight
interest in one another during The Rabbi's week in recovery in
his own cage. She would approach the cage, sniff the bars, and
he would hop over to sniff at her. After a few seconds of this, he
would normally tilt his head in a fashion to allow his lips and
nose through the cage bars, at which point she would hop back
and no longer be interested.

Days passed and I wanted to sit with The Rabbi on my lap, given
that he is very calm once sitting down and being petted. We
decided that we would let him explore the room a bit, and
ultimately decided that we would see if Phoebe would take a
liking to him in a neutral setting such as this.
Phoebe and The Rabbi shared a large plate of romaine, kale,
endives, and so-on, and we thought all was well. Phoebe even
tolerated him sniffing her feet, something that she would
normally not tolerate (she hates us touching her feet).
Regardless, they seemed to make good progress.

The next night, we tried it again, being somewhat expectant of
the same great results of the night prior. This time, however,
The Rabbi aggressively shoved his face under her hind-quarters
and yielded a grunt or three from Phoebe, who then hopped
away and looked annoyed. We separated the two of them at that
point, keeping him content on the other side of the room, and
let Phoebe explore by herself without hassle from The Rabbi.

We're continuing to try and make them interact on their own
terms (never set them down next to one another or putting them
in the same cage, obviously), but they seem to be someone
stand-offish. Given The Rabbi's adjustment to his three-legged
existence, he's still having mobility problems, which brings us to
today's debacle -- he either a) lunged at Phoebe [is it possible?]
or b) quickly/clumsily hopped-up from a lying-down position to
sniff her. She grunted at him immediately before this and stood
her ground -- could it be that he was hopping up to confront
her? Does it sound as if they are being aggressive towards one
another?

As a side note, but still quite important, we're noticing that his
front legs are splaying when he moves around, much like Bambi
on ice. When we first got him, knee dislocated and abandoned,
he was doing this then, too -- but our vet thinks its him over-
compensating for losing the use of his hind leg.

Our main questions are:

1) Do you have any advice and/or insight into our rabbit
bonding situation? Do this sound to be a case of incompatibility?
How long can it potentially take for rabbits to bond?

2) Do you have any advice and/or insight on The Rabbi's front
legs splaying? I've read that rabbits raised in cages with slippery
floors and little out-of-the-cage exercise often develop this, but
our vet doesn't believe that that's the case. Quite curious and
[potentially] concerned, we are.

Thanks in advance. You've always been such a great help with
Phoebe that we knew you'd be the person to ask. Apologies for
the lengthy query.

Sincerely,
Katie and Joe

ps -- As an aside, we saw your memorial to Griffin and wanted
to convey our sympathy for your loss and, simultaneously, our
sheer amazement at his very being. He was a gorgeous bunny
and looked to possess a great deal of character.  

Answer
Dear Katherine,

I'll take your questions in turn:

1) Do you have any advice and/or insight into our rabbit
bonding situation? Do this sound to be a case of incompatibility?
How long can it potentially take for rabbits to bond?

It's difficult to say how they'll be, but the situation sounds promising.  The Rabbi (cute!) was trying to assert his dominance by shoving his head under her, and if she doesn't respond by grooming, he might become aggressive.  The key is to prevent them from lettting *any* hostility develop into biting or actual fighting.  

You can find excellent articles on bonding here:

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

Are both bunnies spayed/neutered?  If not, that will certainly help the situation, and it should be done ASAP.

2) Do you have any advice and/or insight on The Rabbi's front
legs splaying? I've read that rabbits raised in cages with slippery
floors and little out-of-the-cage exercise often develop this, but
our vet doesn't believe that that's the case. Quite curious and
[potentially] concerned, we are.

Well, I have to disagree with your vet.  I've *seen* baby rabbits and large, adult rabbits develop joint problems and even splayleg from having too slippery a surface for walking.  With The Rabbi having only three legs, he's at greater risk, since he can't balance properly. It's really *critical* that he have a good surface for traction.  We use 100% cotton bath mats with rubber backing, and we've had no problems even with our biggest bunnies.

You can also see some tips here:

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

though this is primarily for baby rabbits.  You might be able to adapt something for The Rabbi.

I hope some of this helps.  And thank you for your mention of our Mighty Gryphon.  He was truly larger than life.  But since he's left us, I've met so many rabbits who are larger than life (in completely different ways from Gryphon) that I know a little bit of him lives in all of them.  :)

Take care, and please write back if you think I can help more.

Dana