2 female rabbits that fight

Question
My husband and I have had rabbits for 5 years. We first brought Thumper home in 2003. He was a male mini lop and very mild mannered. Then Chloe joined us in 2005.  She was about 3 months old, a female mini-lop when they were introduced. After about 10 days of "bunny bonding" they were the best of friends. Sadly, Thumper passed away in December 2007.  Chloe was very depressed.  My husband and I heard of a  New Zealand that was in a local "kill" shelter. We rescued Jayden. She is approx 1 1/2 year old female who I have litter-trained and bonded with. I suspect that she did not have a very good life before coming to live with us. She was not very trusting of people. I do not think she was ever let out of her cage as she did not know how to jump. She has become a very nice house rabbit.  The only problem is that for the past 4 months, with every "bunny bonding" trick I have read about on line, the girls still fight. Jayden is, at times, aggressive to Chloe and usually starts the fights and once provoked, Chloe fights back hard. I recently ended up in the hospital and 2 days of IV antibiotics after receiving a bite myself. I have tried 15 minutes a day in a neutral setting, car rides, putting their cages together with minimal improvement in the past 4 months. There are occasional times where I can see a glimmer of hope.  2 days ago they were together without fighting for about 10 minutes. This is only under constant supervision and while both are receiving pets from me. That's the only way they will NOT fight each other.  Chloe was spayed nearly 2 1/2 years ago and Jayden was spayed about 5 months ago. Do you have any suggestions about how to help these two females to get along? Or is it a lost cause?  My husband and I love Chloe as she has been part of our family for > 3 years and we have really made progress with Jayden and are able to offer her a good home. We would appreciate any advice you might me able to offer.

Answer
Hi,

well, it sounds like you have tried bonding and it has not worked.  I think that after awhile, you have to see that this is a message they are sending you.

Now having said that, that does not mean it is not a workable situation.  They may be perfectly fine dealing with each other from separate areas, across a gate.  They may even eventually get to a point where they might be able to play for a short period of time, and then that's it and they play seperately the rest of the time.  They may be content to see another bunny across a room while both in their houses. We have this situation in our house, and it works fine.  

This is by far a terrible situation.  They will be happier having their own territories, and be able to get all the needed attention from you both.  Once they are confident and comfortable in their own areas and there is no threat form another female for their turf, they will realize this and they will be able to deal with the other through a play gate.  Just get a tall play gate, at least 2 1/2 ft high, 1 inch apart bars.  If they seem to bite through the gates, you will need to get two play gates and double-gate it so there is a few inches between the gates so neither can nip the other.

Lee