Question on stalled bonding

[Devi]

Ok, I been trying to bond 2 neutered males. The oldest is Bun bun at 2yrs and been neutered for 1 year now the youngest is Cotton he is 8-10months old and has been neutered for four months now. It's been up and down but today's session left me baffled Cotton tried request grooming from Bun bun with no luck in fact Bun bun seemed confused by the request. So when that failed Cotton tried to groom Bun bun, and bun bun lunged at Cotton. They do great together up till grooming comes up, they will flop and self groom right next to each other.
But bun bun, Will not groom or be groomed by Cotton.

Is it that Bun Bun is socially inept? Or could it be left overs from when cotton was aggressive towards Bun Bun?

 

[JBun]

I think you may need to move onto 24 hour bonding. Continuing short dates can cause the bonding process to stall or even go backwards for some rabbits. When this happens, the rabbits often need to stay together and not be separated in order for the bonding process to progress. As long as the rabbits aren't trying to fight, injure, or kill each other, I would put them together and not separate, while I supervised(overnight as well) until I was sure they were fine together. This will usually take 24-72 hours.

I had a similar issue. I was doing short bonding dates and one rabbit kept lunging at and chasing the other bun away. It wasn't getting better or progressing, so I did the supervised marathon bond, and by the next day they were fine together and snuggling. The rabbit that was lunging realized that the other bun wasn't so bad and that he actually liked him once given the chance.

Try reading this site and all related bonding links in it. There is a lot of helpful bonding info.
http://www.thebunnychick.com/category/bonding/

"When bonding my 4, I had the most success doing what I called “power bonding sessions.” Sometimes these would last all night and I’d get no sleep, but it worked for me. Of course, if two bunnies are really
going at each other, don’t try this technique. My reason for doing these “power bonding sessions”? I would consistently have the same problem over and over each time the bunnies met(referring to slow bonding/bunny dating method). For the first week this was okay, but then I began to hit the “brick wall”. The brick wall? That point in your bonding sessions where nothing new is happening. You are getting nowhere and the relationship isn’t progressing. "
http://www.thebunnychick.com/2013/06/17/4-rabbit-bonding-beliefs-that-arent-always-true/

Bonding rabbits requires being adaptable and a bit of intuition. Not all bonds are going to work out the same, so you have to be flexible and adapt the process to your individual rabbits. If something isn't working, then don't be afraid to try a different tactic. You really have to tailor each bonding experience to the individual rabbits, as all rabbits are different. With this said, you also do not want your rabbits injuring each other, and you should not continue if you aren't sure about the situation and can't determine what would be overly aggressive behavior.

 

[Devi]

For a push forward I was planning to put them in a large enclosure with a 1" gap dividing them to prevent fights. I am not totally sure what is the cause of their aggression near as a can tell one wants to be dominate (cotton) but the other (bun bun) refuses to accept the others dominance but doesn't try to be top bun.