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Update:
I have been swapping them for just one hour twice a day (Lilo isn’t used to the smaller pen I’m using to potty train Pepper so he gets restless being in there for too long, don’t worry it’s still 3.5×5.5, his is just 5×7). The last time I swapped them Lilo was relaxed enough to take a nap. Pepper loved Lilo’s pen from the start. I have also started allowing her to go into his pen when he’s in the living room. He seems fine with it now that he’s getting a little more used to it.
We just did one session lasting almost 20 min. No fights!! Whew! But I was limiting their interactions quite a bit. They were not interested in any of the new cardboard stuff I put on the floor. Just wanted to sniff each other out. I know Pepper is easily startled and bites when startled so I did not allow Lilo to come up to her from behind. I allowed him to approach her if they’re face to face which he did a couple times. She actually approached him this time! This is new, last session she tried to get away from him. Anyways, he pushed his head down asking for grooms. She lowered her head and rest her nose on top of his head… And did not groom. They stayed in this position for 20 seconds. I can feel both tensing up by the second so I petted both and nudged them away from each other. They then ate hay about a foot away from each other. This happened once more time, this time I put a piece of hay on top of Lilo’s head, and Pepper ate it off his head, then they resumed checking out the baseboards. I ended the session by sprinkling some pellets on the floor. They both ate the pellets with noses touching. I petted both of them and ended the session.
Should I allow them to interact more or is the wait 20 seconds during a face off a good margin to allow interaction? Last time they fought pretty hard so I’m very nervous.
