Hi there, welcome.

I just revisited your other thread to remind myself of the situation. It’s good that you’ve been doing pre-bonding and working to build up positive associations, but a couple of things seem to be hurting your progress (as you realized).

First, it’s very important that they are not able to nip each other through the fence during pre-bonding, as this can cause bad feelings to build. Nipping is not a form of play in rabbits, it is a dominance display. Lunging through the fence is also a dominance display.

When you let them sit next to each other, was this in neutral territory? At this point, they should not be allowed to interact at all if it isn’t in completely neutral space.

I wouldn’t be so sure to question Hazel’s interpretation of Henry. I think she understands more than you give her credit for. So far he has done nothing but chase her, lunge at her, nip her, and pull her fur, so I think she is right to run away!

Since Hazel is fearful of Henry, you need to adjust their enclosures so he cannot threaten her during this pre-bonding phase. One of the goals of pre-bonding is for them to realize the other bunny is not a threat. So this means they should not be able to nip each other through the fence or access each other in any way. If they are food aggressive, don’t feed them right next to each other, but do feed them at the same time within sight.

I will say, the fact that she is retreating is better than her turning and trying to fight back, but we don’t want her to be afraid of him all the time.

Have you done any formal bonding sessions since you did pre-bonding? If so, can you describe the length of the sessions and bonding area?

It’s very important for the space to be as neutral as possible, and it’s equally important that you do not let them fight.

I think the basement is probably your best bet if no bun has been there in years. Wipe down hard surfaces with dilute white vinegar to neutralize bunny smells. Just to clarify, are there three levels (basement, ground floor, and upstairs)? Or just the basement and upstairs?

Even though neither bun lives in the living room, because they each spend time there, it isn’t neutral, so stop having them interact in that space. Even if you don’t let them fight, I think it might be causing tension and aggression. That area would prob count as “semi-neutral”, but more on the not neutral side.

Think of it this way, if you met a stranger on the street, your first instinct is (usually) not to fight or fear them. When you make friends, it is usually in a place that is not your home. But, if a stranger just arrived in your home one day, and was like “I live here now”, you might be pretty upset, and maybe afraid. Even if that person set up camp in your backyard, you would still be pretty apprehensive about that!

So the idea is to give them an area that neither has ever been in, so they don’t feel like they need to defend themselves so much and don’t have to worry about their food being threatened. I think the treat thing would be better to do while they are in the split bun room, with each on their respective side and the fence between them.

The fact that Henry flops against the fence near Hazel is a good thing. It is basically bunny language for “I’m not afraid of you”.

I think since there were some issues during the pre-bonding phase, keep pre-bonding for a bit more now that you are fixing those issues. I would see how they are doing after another week or two with just swapping sides, and no nipping or anything.

In terms of the bonding area, I think you would benefit from as large a bonding area as possible (2 x-pens linked up works great), with lots of neutral hiding spots (fresh cardboard boxes work great) with at least 2 exits, maybe even some tunnels or other obstacles (all neutral).

That way if Henry chases Hazel, she has somewhere to retreat to, and he will realize she is not going to challenge him. Part of bonding is allowing them to interact at their own pace and not forcing them together if they aren’t ready for that. Especially in the early stages I think it helps build trust.

For first sessions, set short time goals. Bring the rabbits to the bonding area at the same time, and place them on opposite sides. Stand in the area and observe. They will most likely spend a few minutes just exploring the area. If you reach your time goal and they haven’t interacted yet, that’s OK! Still end the session at your time goal. Them exploring means they are more interested in where they are than in the new bunny, which means they don’t think the new bunny is a huge threat.

No need to have any food in the area at this point, and no litter box yet.

If/when they approach each other, start petting them both and swap scents as soon as they are close together. This will help calm them both and start building the trust.

Repeat this plan for several sessions. If they are doing well with this, you can start increasing the session length, and start easing off the petting a bit. (Pause petting for a bit, then resume, and see how they react).

Very important that you do NOT let them fight. A brief chase of couple seconds is OK and light nipping is OK, but in the early phases things can escalate rapidly, so do not allow circling or all out chasing. Try to break up any negative interactions with a loud sound, or if you must intervene physically, press the chaser to the ground and pet them to calm them.

Try to always end the session on a good note (could be ignoring each other, being petted, or just relaxing).