Oooo boy. These two wanna fight. We’ve only started up again after a first rocky introduction so wanna make sure we’re on the right track.

Spay/Neuter
Are your bunnies spayed/neutered? Yes
If so, for how long (for each)? Tater (male) over a year, Pepper (Female) 2.5 months

Housing
Please describe your bunnies’ current housing set-up (living together, as neighbors, etc.).

One is out in a small room with an X-Pen that houses the other. They get swapped spots every 2 days. The X-pen blocks off a good portion of the room and had edges and areas where the outside rabbit can’t get to the pen.

Bonding background
Did you allow the bunnies to “settle-in”? We let Pepper settle in about a 1-1/2 months before attempting bonding.
How would you describe your bunnies reactions towards each other (answer for each bunny): shy, scared, curious, calm, aggressive, excited, affectionate, etc.?

Tater – Suuuuuper affectionate with people, kisses, cuddles, all of it. Tried humping Pepper the first time they met, but now is just aggressive.

Pepper – Very shy, but learning to get attention, was a rescue colony rabbit. She Will take food from people and will settle in on your lap for pets with some happy tooth grinding but HATES being picked up. She was still a little hormonal and peed during their first meeting and instigated a fight. Now she’s also just aggressive to Tater.
Have you done any “pre-bonding” (cage or litter box swaps, etc.)? I sweep any poops out and about and put them in the opposite litter box daily. They swap positions every 2 days.
If so, for how long? 1.5 months.
Have you started sessions yet? Yes, we tried and had Pepper exhibit hormonal behavior with peeing and fighting immediately so we separated and waited another month. Just started back up again and they still hate each other.
How long have you been working on bonding your bunnies? 4 days after starting back up.
How frequently do you have bonding sessions, and how long are they? Once a day, until we can get them to sit peacefully for a good moment.
Have you tried any stressing techniques? Yes, we tried car stress bonding, but they got into a fight in the carrier in the middle of the drive. Now we use a 1x1x1 C&C grid to stress them before starting a session.

These two just wanna fight, I need tips on how to handle more contentious bonding sessions. When we first introduced them, Tater attempted to hump and interact, but Pepper attacked him and peed, telling us she was still hormonal so we stopped for another month (she was about a month post-surgery at that point.)

We have now started stress bond them with the grid container for a few minutes before placing them in the bathtub. They get stressed and will sit still in the tub, without traction they don’t move at all, we did it this way for a couple of days. We tried today with a towel for traction they stayed stressed for a moment, then immediately went in for a fight. We broke it up immediately, stressed them again, and placed them back in the tub with constant petting for both of them. We did this for a couple of minutes and ended the session so we could at least end without a fight to hopefully not backslide further.

So at this point, I need some tips for going forward, we didn’t get a fairytale bond so we’re in it for the long haul. We’re willing to put a few months into this to try and get some progress before considering other options. I have a few questions, but please give me any advice you have.

-I’ve heard both let rabbits interact and even sometimes nip if it’s just that, but don’t allow for fights. In my case, it seems almost any interaction or nip is a fight, so should I just block access to each other in the neutral space (with dustpan and gloved hands) and avoid letting them get close to each other for now?

-Food or no food? Should I give them something to snack on while they’re in a neutral space? Would a bonding session where they both just eat some greens and it ends there be productive?