Hi all, hoping for some advice from those that are more experienced than I am!

2 months ago I rescued a 2.5yr old (desexed) bunny, he has been a free range bunny in my house the whole time. I thought I would get him a friend since I am at work 40hrs a week so on the weekend I rescued another male (also desexed), 5 months old. 

I have read countless articles, forums and watched a million videos and I know it’s only been a couple of days but I am getting quite disheartened. 

When we met for the playdate they were getting on well. Bunny A (current bunny) was submissive and letting Bunny B mount him and there wasn’t any aggression. However, when I got home, the first time I put them together (outside in a pen) they got into multiple big fights. Growling, fur pulling etc. I freaked out and grabbed them both and split them up. After reading about stress bonding I tried to put them in a carrier together and carry them around the house and shake the box – neither of them seemed to care about it and just kept trying to get out of the box until I eventually let them.

Yesterday I tried them in the bath. There was again lots of aggression and Bunny B keeps biting Bunny A. I used a dustpan to keep separating them but it got to the point that I was scared to even let them get close because I don’t want a skin breaking bite on Bunny A. Lots of articles say don’t try and get in the middle of it too quickly and let them fight it out a bit but I really don’t know how I can do that as I am sure one of them will get seriously hurt. At the same time, I am unsure if I am hindering the process by not letting them ‘fight it out’. I ended the session with forced pats. They were head to toe in the path and I pat them for about 5mins before ending the session. 

I don’t know if I should just give up on trying two males together and write it off as a lost cause as I don’t know how to stop the aggression and how much to let them fight before I stop them. When Bunny B is in his cage Bunny A goes up and they sniff each other. There is no biting (or attempts) through the cage. Seems to be the only time this is the case! I have done the whole swapping things in their cage etc and putting them in one anothers cage and generally they just sniff around and do a few poops!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.