My two buns have had a falling out.

Question
I have a female rex and a male mini-rex, both desexed, both have been for a while, and they have had a massive falling out all of a sudden. They got along alright before hand, I wouldn't have called them bonded as the female rex didn't agree with being the one to do the grooming and would begrudgingly groom the male and then rip his fur out. She would go through phases of this and then stop for a while, while he acted like he adored and loved her, flopping next to her and snuggling up with and and other such things. So today, I decided to let them have a run around in our new backyard for the first time. Bad idea apparently. Whenever they ran into each other, there would be an argument about who grooms who, and then the male mini-rex would jump up on top of her and then a fur flying fight would ensue. This happened multiple times, I took them back inside to my room where they are used to being, same thing again, they just all of a sudden will not get along at all. So for now the boy is locked in the cage until I figure out what to do. They're usually free range in my bedroom with the boy only being stuck in the cage at dinner time cause he's a bit of a piggy. So I'd like to rebond them as soon as possible if at all possible so I can go back to having free range buns. So any advice on what I can do?

Answer
Hi,

you can't keep the boy cooped up all the time.  For about 2 months you will need to have a pet exercise gate separating the room in half so both can be out and get exercise, and see each other but not be able to get at the other.  Both need to be out.

Wait two months, then try to rebond.  If it doesn't work I would keep them separate, with a gate separating them.  If they actually fight through the gate (throw arms, really try to bite face, etc) you will need to put up double gates separated by a few inches so they can't get at each other.

It may get to a point where they need to be separate, but can have a small amount of time together, always supervised.

Either way, you need to end up with 'free range' rabbits, you can't keep the boy locked up exercise is necessary for health.  They may just not be in the same space together.