Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting but I’ve been reading a few of the forum threads for a while. I know this topic has been posted about before and I’ve read some of those threads, but I’d appreciate some experienced comments on my situation. Apologies in advance for the long post but I wanted to try and give useful details.

I have 2 male lop bunnies – we got them as a pair when they were about 3 months old and they lived together very happily. They live outside in a big hutch and run but when we are home they free range round our garden and house. When they were about 10 months old obviously the hormones kicked in and they had a massive fight which resulted in them both being injured. Yes I know we made a rookie mistake by thinking they were happy together when they probably hadn’t really bonded but first time bunny owners so we didn’t know at the time.

Anyway we separated them after the fight and had them neutered a week later. They have been separated since then – living in hutches next door to each other but not close enough to touch through the wire and still free ranging but taking it in turns so one comes in the house while the other is outside for a while and then we swap them over. They can obviously smell each others scent around the house as they often sniff and investigate.

This week is 7 weeks since their operation so we reintroduced them for the first time today. We chose our bathroom which is a neutral space but not the bathtub as one of our bunnies gets quite spooked on slippery surfaces. To start with they ignored each other and investigated the new room. Then there was a bit of sniffing but not much interest. Their ears were forward a bit but their tails were down
At one point Snowball was washing and Smoke went up to him and took him by surprise. Snowball started which in turn made Smoke jump so we separated them just in case it turned nasty. They seemed ok so we let them back together. There was a bit more sniffing and at one point Smoke was sitting and Snowball went and sat by him and sort of buried his head into Smoke’s side. Not underneath him like he was asking for grooming but just in the side and they both sat there like that for a little while. We ended the session after that as they seemed happy and it had been about 10 minutes.

So my question is, does this seem promising? I am very apprehensive about reintroducing them in case they fight again (balanced a bit by my other half who is more confident they will be friends again). And what should we do next? Continue with short sessions in the bathroom until they show more positive signs?