Re-introducing former friends - help and advice needed

Hi, I wonder if anyone could offer some advice. Apologies if this has been discussed on the forum before, but I couldn't see it

We have two rabbits, a dwarf called Ebony and a standard 'English rabbit', Hettie. Both are female, both bought together about 3-4 months ago. Both are about 7 months old, both spayed 6 weeks ago today. They live outside (both vaccinated of course).

The problem - about 10 days ago, Ebony had quite a deep cut on her foot (It could have been from Hettie, but also we did find one piece of wire sticking up tight in the corner of the run). On vet advice we separated them while it healed and during the antibiotic course. Now the challenge is to reintroduce them.

Shortly before they were spayed, Hettie - who has always definitely been Top Rabbit - developed a phantom pregnancy and was aggressive to Ebony, so we had to separate them. But once that pseudopregnancy resolved after a few days, we put ebony back with no problem (a little chasing, nipping and humping to re-establish who's boss, but no more). But this time, after being separated for a week, attempting to put Ebony back was a disaster - Hettie chased Ebony round and round with no let up and we had to separate them again.

Having read Tamsin's website and book and the forum a bit, I guess this is about territory - Hettie thinks it's all hers now. So, even if we reintroduce them on neutral ground, how can we put them back in their accommodation together?

They have an 8' x 3' run plus a a double-decker hutch (4' x 2' - I know that's a bit small but we know a lot more now than we did when we bought that). They are interconnected with a 2' tunnel. They also had an interconnected 5' x 3' run, but that is now occupied by Ebony, attached to an old guinea pig hutch (again, a bit small but only temporary and for a dwarf I hope not too bad). Their runs are alongside each other and they seem to interact fine through the wire.

Sorry for the long post. Any advice gratefully received.

Hi there! You will have to put them somewhere neutral and keep them together for a week or so and hopefully they will settle down together as they were. When you feel they are happy together you will have to return them to their proper home and hopefully everything will be ok. Try to clean the hutch very well, wash it out or use white vinegar/water, a 50/50 mix. You can't neutralise the ground really but give them long enough to re-establish their bond before going back to their original set-up. Don't rush this, give them at least a week.

Thanks very much, that is extremely helpful.

Thanks again tonibun, following your advice and also some helpful advice and articles from Camp Nibble, Leeds, we've got a puppy pen now to provide neutral ground. So, today we tried the two together for a short time. We scattered a fair few pellets (which they both adore) first, and got some leather gardening gloves...

At first they just appeared to ignore each other, more intent on hoovering up pellets. Ebony (submissive one) then approached Hettie, but retreated in response to a growl.Then all quiet, followed by a bit of chasing and fur pulling from Hettie (I intervened at that point to put some space between them). A bit more intermittent chasing but no more fur pulling, then back to eating the pellets.

After about 10 mins we put them back in their separate runs - aiming to finish on a good note ie not rewarding Hettie by doing this immediately after she chased Ebony. They immediately went to see each other through the adjoining wire mesh, which seems positive.

We plan to repeat this every day if we can, building up time together until we can leave them unsupervised on neutral ground for a week or so as tonibun suggested. Does that sound reasonable? We're pleased with how things have gone today.

As always, we'd welcome any comments, tips, etc.

Yes I think you are doing the right thing. If you were bonding male/female it would be different but as you have 2 dfemales you are going to have to do a slower bond. 6 weeks is not a long time for some females' hormones to stop getting in the way, so the slow method will be the best. There is no guarantee they will bond successfully as they are still female rabbits with babies in mind, so they are possibly going to be territorial for a while. You have chosen the most difficult of pairings but that's not to say it can't be done.