Broken bond after I bring in a foster!!HELP!!!!

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Bashful_Lamb

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Islington, N1
Hello, I am writing after the bond of my original pair (male and female) broke after I brought in a friend's bun to foster while she goes on holiday
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Originally, my pair lives in our large living room, free range. They never had any problems since we've moved here!

However last week a friend's bun (who is actually my male bun's twin brother) has come to stay with us since her owner could not find any sitters. I had set up his enclosure in the living room, making sure there were no gaps for them to bite each other through the bars.
The plan was to free-range them separately, however when I put away my original pair to allow the new bun to have a go at the living room, he began to pee EVERYWHERE and chinning EVERYTHING (he is neutered, or so i've been told, so I was shocked at the lack of potty etiquette).

I scrubbed everything as clean as I can after his session and let my original pair back in, however my male bun must have smelt the pee or chinning despite my cleaning, because he went CRAZY and began to chase my female bun, who has become absolutely terrified.

Fur is flying everywhere from both parties, however i've observed that no one is biting, the fur is from all that aggressive running..? (my male bun, if he pushes the female to a corner, just stops and sits there staring at her, not attacking or anything.).
So now i've closed up their enclosure for some type of re-bonding. I have observed that if I give them treats or food in their small enclosure, they will come together and dine quite peacefully, however once i've opened up the enclosure, my male goes back to frantically chase my female around the whole room
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it's HORRIBLE to watch.

I have now moved my foster bun to live in the corridor, where he has space to binky with a heavy door in between him and the living room. He will only be living with us for a month and a half, I am hoping that by moving him outside my original bun's living area, his scent from all that previous chinning will disappear soon....

I am so scared that my original bun's bond may be broken forever, can I PLEASE have advice from someone on what to do to repair this situation? When I let them live in their small enclosure they seem to do good..however when should I let them have a large space again? Literally crying myself to sleep these days.
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uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
 
Unfortunately this is not an uncommon reaction when a 3rd rabbit is brought in. It would be best to keep the 3rd rabbit as far away as possible from any place your own pair usually live. Out of sight and out of scent range is best.

No surprise either that the visiting male was peeing everywhere. It wasn't lack of potty training but him smelling the other buns and feeling the need to mark out his territory. I'd go over any spots several times with white vinegar to remove as much as possible of his lingering odor. Wipe down every place he could have chinned as well.

As for trying to salvage the existing bond, keep them in the small enclosure for now. Let them be at peace in there for a minimum of several days, possibly longer. Then, when you feel they could expand, just give them a little more space, not the whole room. Do it gradually and in small increments. So you increase the space a bit and then let them enjoy that for several days minimum. If there are no issues, no chasing, in that time, then after the several days, expand a little more.
 

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