Input on combining pens

[Shmoo]

Hello! I have two bunnies that have unique quirks, and I’m trying to figure out how to/if I should combine their pens. I thought I’d post here for some ideas.

They are fixed and were bonded previously and lived together for probably a year, but one(Stitch) started to get really aggressive and territorial, so I had to separate them. Now their pens are separate, but when I let them out, they’re both out together and get along just fine, grooming each other, cuddling, etc. This set up has been going on for probably about a year as well(I’ve had them for about 2.5 year now I think).

I know typically you’re not supposed to separate bonded buns, so I’d like to put them in a pen together again when I’m not home, but I have some issues.
When I say pen, they both have an x-pen.

Bunny Characteristics & set ups I have now:

Stitch(bun 1): 
-Very good litter habits
-Can be Aggressive/he’s constantly grunting at me and not in a nice way. lol
-Loves to destroy things and gets into everything he shouldn’t.

-Right now he currently has an old comforter as the flooring of his pen, and it’s ALWAYS been that. He has a cheap carpet square that I’ll find at Wal-Mart that he enjoys laying on and digging at. He does really well in his pen in regards to litter habits and he doesn’t chew on the comforter flooring. If there’s a way to escape his pen, this one will find it.

Mumbles(bun 2):
-Not so great littler habits. He loves to pee on soft things and doesn’t really care where he poops
-Mellow and doesn’t chew on things he’s not supposed to. 

-Right now for his flooring he has those big foam puzzle pieces that make a big mat for kids to play with/on, and I have a shower curtain wrapped around it.He also has a rug because if he’s going to pee on something soft, I want it to be something I can easily throw away and replace. I’ve figured out how to get him to use the litter box by putting a piece of newspaper over the litter and putting his food in the littler box with him, so if he wants to eat he HAS to be in his litter box. It’s worked SUPER well for him, and it’s easy clean up for me.

My big issue is flooring because Mumbles would pee like crazy on the comforter as a flooring and Stitch would chew through the shower curtain and the foam puzzle pieces if he got bored enough. Right now when I let them out, they both have access to Mumble’s cage, and Stitch leaves the foam pieces alone, but without the freedom to run, I feel like he’d start digging. I’ve also noticed Stitch likes to destroy the newspaper I have over Mumble’s box, so that’d be another issue.

Big question: Should I worry about trying to have them live together in their pens, or is it okay to keep the set up how I have it since it’s working? They have a portion of their pens connected, so they can interact with each other minimally. Part of me also fears that Stitch would randomly become super aggressive again when I’m not home. I just keep remembering that thing I read about not separating bonded buns.

If you read all this, thank you! Any input would be great. I also have a bunny blog if anyone is interested in that.(it’s just vines mostly of the fluff butts.)

[jerseygirl]

Big question: Should I worry about trying to have them live together in their pens, or is it okay to keep the set up how I have it since it’s working?

I honestly think the way you have it now is suitable. It sounds like a good balance and they get companionship. I too would be worried about a fight occurring if you penned them together in your absence, given the history. You would need to fully re-bond them for them to share the same space 24/7. So you’d have to pen them together supervised for hours at a time until you were confident they will live together amicably.

You’d probably have to forgo having any towels, blankets etc and set them up on a vinyl remnant or similar. Then perhaps things like a couple Seagrass mats hanging on side of pen for Stitch to chew at his leisure.

As I said though, current set up sounds fine.

What is Stitch’s history? I’m curious about his aggressive tendencies.

ETA: How were Mumbles litter habits when they were bonded before?

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