Advice on fixing a broken bond?

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Catlyn

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After a long time of trial and error my two boys finally decided to accept each other and bond. It was all nice until about a week after moving when they had a serious fight, so we kept them separate until Lümi's wounds healed and tried again, that time more slower. They managed to spend the whole day together in their pen but shortly before that nightfall they had another mock battle. Since then i have tried separating and re-introducing them in hopes of a better rebond. Sometimes when they were just out, they would snuggle quite nicely but still fall apart some time or another. That has been going on for about a month.
It's been about a month and they still show no stable signs of wanting to get along. They tried at first but still ended up having a big squabble(luckily nothing more than a bit of fur was lost that time) so we gave it a rest. They do fine separately, are calm and whatnot, but when either gets too close to the other's pen or zooms too fast, usually the other will attempt to follow angrily and nip through the gaps. We keep them separated in the same room, and they share their roaming space.
I was given advice that a total reintroduction was what i should do, but i have run out of absolutely all rooms that neither have been to, in both our residences. Cleaning all over with vinegar hasn't helped the slightest and i'm not too keen on stress bonding since their bonding wasn't an easy one and i'm thinking that the stress would harm Lümi's frailer immunity more than it would help them bond.
I love them both and would really not want to let either of them go, but i'm dubious that they'd have to re-rebond each time we move.
 
I think you should do a reintroduction. I don't think you have to put them both in rooms they have never been in before when you separate them, you just need neutral territory when bonding. I would keep them in separate rooms for a month (normally it is 2 weeks, but since they have had fights I think it is necessary to have them apart for longer) so that they can completely forget about each other. During this time, only keep them in their rooms so that the whole rest of the house can become neutral again. Once they have been apart for a month you can restart the bonding process.
 
The first persisting problem is absolute lack of neutral territory. They have been EVERYWHERE in both our residences so absolutely no space is neutral for them. Even if they have not been to the room for a long time, they will still take it as no-mans-land to fight for. That dituation haoprned in our cottage where neither had access to the kitchen but they still fought over it. Somehow they got bonded in Lümi's condo and room though. What a mystery.
The second problem is the room, or lack thereof. They both are "forced" to live in the "big" room with me because they wouldn't find a comfortable living in any of the other places our tiny apartment has. Parents' room, just like the kitchen is crammed to the brim and i don't think that even one bun could nicely fit in the narrow corridor-like free space that is there. The only free space in the other room is the double bed but i don't think that rabbits can live there all day long, so it's a bit of a hassle.

Any extra advice on room?
 
Could you bunny proof the room with the double bed and keep one rabbit in there? Could you do bonding outside? They wouldn't really be able to fight over a space then.
 
Hmm. There isn't much room there, and a maze of open wires, secret nooks, crannies and loose wallpaper gallore would make it a terribly hard and expensive room to rabbit proof as the supplies aren't readily avaliable and i'm not spending 30€ to get some product shipped. That place is also littered with stuff like chairs and cabinets and tables on which the rabbit could seriously hurt himself. My parents are strongly against having either of the rabbits in the small room that they currently have, too.
Right now i wouldn't be able to take them outside either as true fall is hanging around with daily temperatures being only a couple degrees celsius, the boys would freeze with their summer coats.
If i had any friends or relatives willing to house my rabbits with me for rebonding in winterbreak, that could work, but i'm not sure that two large restless dogs and a cat would be really pleased to have rabbits with them.
Maybe it would be better for us to wait until we move again in spring?
 
Yes, if you can do separate rooms for a month, then try rebonding, I think that's your best chance. Though I don't think you need to restrict their free time from the rest of the house.

If separate rooms isn't doable, I would put up a solid barrier between their two areas so they can't see each other at all, and do that for a month. Then start rebonding, but still keep the barrier up between their areas until they are really getting along in their bonding sessions. Then remove the barrier so they can see each other again, until you feel they are good and you can keep them together permanently.

You don't necessarily need to worry about a completely neutral area for bonding if that's not possible for you. Just set up a pen for the bonding sessions to make the bonding area different than it would normally look and neutralize that space as much as you can. Putting down a tarp or something different for the floor space that they aren't used to seeing might help as well. Even maybe putting up sheets or something on the pen walls so they can't see very well outside of the space. The idea is that the pen and the different flooring will make the area less familiar to them, so will be a somewhat neutral space.
 
I wonder if putting sheets over the larger condo would do equally well as a barrier? We don't really have any other option that wouldn't block our living too. I'll give it a try, and see how it goes long-term.
 

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