2-1 bonding, Dwarf=fight starter.

[Fluffy19]

I am not very good on line and I don’t know how to put my post on “the Bonding rabbits” here, my English also not good, I hope I can make someone who experience difficult bonding.

I have experience bonded my mini-rex(3.8 lbs) and my Dwarf3.2 lbs. (This Dwarf is the problem one, he is always the one who is the fight starter here ). now I have a new bun who is 4.8 lbs. ALL fixed a few months ago and I have been cleaning up with mixed vinegar/water for bonding. I have started 3 session already, each session was never reach to 45 mins, I see every time it is the same problem, once the Dwarf started the fight, once the new bun who normally friendly, got attacked, he will be extremely angry and turns into a hunter, he will not stop bitting the Dwarf and mini rex, then 3 of them all fighting. my husband and I spend more time trying to breaking the fight and petting them than bonding them. If anyone have a tip to help me stop the Dwarf bad behavior pls give me suggestion. Actually all my buns are good, I can see my Dwarf has been always self center, he has to have everything first and yes I think he might be very territory and jealous when mini-rex was grooming the new bun. PLS help us, I will be very much appreciate it. I attached the pic of the fight starter.

 

[Blue eyes]

Are they all males?

This is a difficult situation if I'm understanding correctly. It sounds like you had 2 rabbits that were bonded (yet the neuters were only a few months ago). If the neuters were that recent, then they weren't fully bonded yet. That's actually a good thing if a 3rd bun is going to be introduced.

If these are all male rabbits, the chances of successfully bonding them together may be slim. Rabbits tend to do best in pairs. Trios -- especially among males -- can be difficult. Their weights and breed are irrelevant. Their personalities are key (now that they are all neutered). Your little dwarf seems to be a spitfire! If they are fighting each time they are put together, then I'd suggest giving it a break for awhile. Any fighting they remember and that makes it all the more difficult each time.

What I would suggest would be to separate all three so each one is by himself. Reserve some neutral space for later when you'll try to bond them again. In the meantime, each one should be in a space that is separate from that neutral space. I would not put the first two together for this time. It is better if all 3 are introduced together rather than trying to add a 3rd rabbit to a pair.

Give them time apart. Maybe 1-3 weeks would be good. The idea is that they will forget that they don't get along. After that time, you could go one of two ways. Either begin bonding sessions again, being sure to end the sessions before any fights break out. (You want the sessions to end on a good note.) OR, the 2nd option (and probably the better option) is to do some pre-bonding. To do this, put the rabbits in 3 areas where each area is almost touching the other area. Dog crates or ex-pens could be used to create these areas. This way they can each get accustomed to the presence of the other 2 rabbits while not being able to interact directly. This is often a way for rabbits to get used to the scents and presence of the other rabbits. They can stay this way for a month (or more). This is called pre-bonding and can be a good thing to do before starting up the bonding sessions again. It may help particularly in this case with a feisty rabbit.

I wish I could say for sure that this will work, but there are no guarantees when it comes to bonding. It really depends on the rabbits themselves. But the suggestions offered may help give them the best chance to bond.

 

[Fluffy19]

Are they all males?

This is a difficult situation if I'm understanding correctly. It sounds like you had 2 rabbits that were bonded (yet the neuters were only a few months ago). If the neuters were that recent, then they weren't fully bonded yet. That's actually a good thing if a 3rd bun is going to be introduced.

If these are all male rabbits, the chances of successfully bonding them together may be slim. Rabbits tend to do best in pairs. Trios -- especially among males -- can be difficult. Their weights and breed are irrelevant. Their personalities are key (now that they are all neutered). Your little dwarf seems to be a spitfire! If they are fighting each time they are put together, then I'd suggest giving it a break for awhile. Any fighting they remember and that makes it all the more difficult each time.

What I would suggest would be to separate all three so each one is by himself. Reserve some neutral space for later when you'll try to bond them again. In the meantime, each one should be in a space that is separate from that neutral space. I would not put the first two together for this time. It is better if all 3 are introduced together rather than trying to add a 3rd rabbit to a pair.

Give them time apart. Maybe 1-3 weeks would be good. The idea is that they will forget that they don't get along. After that time, you could go one of two ways. Either begin bonding sessions again, being sure to end the sessions before any fights break out. (You want the sessions to end on a good note.) OR, the 2nd option (and probably the better option) is to do some pre-bonding. To do this, put the rabbits in 3 areas where each area is almost touching the other area. Dog crates or ex-pens could be used to create these areas. This way they can each get accustomed to the presence of the other 2 rabbits while not being able to interact directly. This is often a way for rabbits to get used to the scents and presence of the other rabbits. They can stay this way for a month (or more). This is called pre-bonding and can be a good thing to do before starting up the bonding sessions again. It may help particularly in this case with a feisty rabbit.

I wish I could say for sure that this will work, but there are no guarantees when it comes to bonding. It really depends on the rabbits themselves. But the suggestions offered may help give them the best chance to bond.

Here is additional information:



Bonded pair has been bonded about 10 or more months roughly 1.5 yrs (mini-rex 3.8lbs and Dwarf 3.2lbs) fixed Dec 2020, new bun(Unknown breed 4.8) 8 Months fixed Sept 16, 2021, all males

I have done prebonding by putting them in a pen next to each other and switching the litter box, and toys., also giving them treat and petting all the same time.

Thank you very much for the suggestion, I am very much appreciate it.
Yes, all websites I read saying the same as you are “3 males is hard to be bonded” I have read some posts from other websites, there were some people bonded 3 males, none of them saying it was easy. But I have 2 friendly buns and only 1 Jealous bun who I guess, afraid to loss his buddy. So I have 2 out of 3 chance to get them bonded. just want to stay positive.

From knowing each of my bun’s personalities. I could tell before starting this, that the Dwarf is going to be the only problem. Dwarf started to attack new bun, when the new bun gets angry, he went hunting everyone. Actually, the new bun is the super friendly. I didn’t expect that angry behavior from him during bonding plus inexperience to break off the fight so below is our mistake.

Our BIG MISTAKE: We boned this pair (Mini rex-Dwarf) mini-rex was friendly so during the bonding was no fighting just chasing. this is first time for us having to separate buns from fighting and the session before last, (we don’t really remember it was so fast) someone picked up the new bun while Dwarf hanging in his mount and the 2 buns on air and new bun didn’t let go for a few second, before I know it, the Dwarf was on my chest as I was petting him. that was very traumatized for the buns, I realized that we have made a big mistake, as the following session they all fighting badly. I actually can tell that they were still angry with each other, but according to many websites suggesting to do the session every day. “Big THANK YOU” to you to tell me I should give them a break for at least a week. Anyway, even we have to start all over again, we now have improved our skill to separate rabbits’s fight a lot better so when my buns ready, I think things will be better.

Thank you for your suggestions again very appreciate it, I will see how the buns feelings if I can start bonding after a week or longer.

 

[Fluffy19]

those are the buns who are giving me big time headache, but they will be fine, They all good boys, well the Dwarf kind of awww being Dwarf i guess lol.

 

[Blue eyes]

You can wear oven mitts to protect your hands if you need to separate them. (I still have a small scar on my wrist when I tried to separate two rabbits bare-handed.) Also, having a large piece of thick cardboard or thin wood can serve to separate 2 buns who are beginning to fight-- a piece about 2 ft square. You can see a sample of this in the video "Cherry and Peter’s bonding session did not go well: " at the 6:30 mark at the link below.

This site is a great resource:
https://cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/bonding-bunnies/
The site shows videos of bonding sessions in progress, including ones that were difficult or would not work out. These are very informative.

 

[Fluffy19]

You can wear oven mitts to protect your hands if you need to separate them. (I still have a small scar on my wrist when I tried to separate two rabbits bare-handed.) Also, having a large piece of thick cardboard or thin wood can serve to separate 2 buns who are beginning to fight-- a piece about 2 ft square. You can see a sample of this in the video "Cherry and Peter’s bonding session did not go well: " at the 6:30 mark at the link below.

This site is a great resource:
https://cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/bonding-bunnies/
The site shows videos of bonding sessions in progress, including ones that were difficult or would not work out. These are very informative.

Hey Blue eyes, Thank you so much for yr support, it does mean a lot to me!!!! Yes we wear gloves while bonding, “Thank you” and yes the gloves got a few gentle bitten.

I ‘ve been reading/watching VDO about bonding most of the day, including the site you sent me. The fight of Cherry&Peter at the end of the VDO, very much look like the last session but my buns are 3 of them. And yes I am silly enough to not just give up as it was our mistake, inexperience how to stop the fight properly, and I was full of fear. From now on it is going to be better.

I just have this idea, not sure if it is good, pls suggest what is yr opinions?:

** I analyze my Dwarf’s personalities and guessing Dwarf might get jealous. This is his thing, everything he has to get it first, petting, treat, toys. So If I am able to make the Dwarf become friendlier to the new bun, in the same time not let him see that his buddy is grooming the new bun then bonding may be smoother.

This is my plan:

Step 1: I will start with force head to head petting in small space just Dwarf and new bun, when see them more relax, let them hang out in the bonding pen, not sure how long per session or how many sessions yet, depends on the buns reaction. When they are done,

Step 2: I will also do the same to mini-rex and new bun, when they all done, put them in their own pens. Do this till the bonded pair friendlier to the new bun,

Step 3: When step 1 and 2 going well for a few sessions, then can start bonding 3 buns.

Sound good or bad in yr opinion?

 

[Semac]

Hi Fluffy,
I am bonding my trio of rabbits as well, 2 females and 1 male. I had two bonded pairs but one my males , Gus, died recently, leaving Raisin single. And my other bonded pair (Floppy and Peanut) “unbonded”’after a Peanut went to the vet. Peanut and Raisin are sisters. I’ve had all of them for a couple of years, all of them were adopted from the Humane Society.
I am using an xpen outside. I put all three of them in there together. I stand guard with my ski mitts on. And I have another xpen set up near by in case one of them gets nasty so I can isolate the problem rabbit. I am doing multiple sessions a day. Each session is 40-60 minutes. I start each session with a short ride in a stroller. I am on day 4, so far I’ve had a few skirmishes but no major fights. As soon as they start circling I separate them. I think this is key so things don’t escalate. Raisin is my problem rabbit, she wants to be the boss.
My concern is where they will all live when it is time for them to be together 24/7. Since they all live separately now I don’t have an area that none of them have been in.

 

[Fluffy19]

Hi Fluffy,
I am bonding my trio of rabbits as well, 2 females and 1 male. I had two bonded pairs but one my males , Gus, died recently, leaving Raisin single. And my other bonded pair (Floppy and Peanut) “unbonded”’after a Peanut went to the vet. Peanut and Raisin are sisters. I’ve had all of them for a couple of years, all of them were adopted from the Humane Society.
I am using an xpen outside. I put all three of them in there together. I stand guard with my ski mitts on. And I have another xpen set up near by in case one of them gets nasty so I can isolate the problem rabbit. I am doing multiple sessions a day. Each session is 40-60 minutes. I start each session with a short ride in a stroller. I am on day 4, so far I’ve had a few skirmishes but no major fights. As soon as they start circling I separate them. I think this is key so things don’t escalate. Raisin is my problem rabbit, she wants to be the boss.
My concern is where they will all live when it is time for them to be together 24/7. Since they all live separately now I don’t have an area that none of them have been in.

Hey Semac, thank you for yr suggestions ! That’s going to be helpful for the next attempt. I couldn’t believe my cute buns fight like that and I can tell that we did not handle to separated them good enough but with that experience, we will do better next time. By the way, my English is not good not sure if I understand yr problem about where u will put all yr buns. When yr buns are fully bonded, can’t you let all 3 buns live in the same x pen that u already have? ( my buns are indoor and when they are fully bonded they are going to be free roaming in our house, our first beloved bun crossed the bridge, she used to be free roaming so our house has been set as rabbit(s) house ready for buns to run around have fun, now I have to put them in the pens next to each other, that’s sad for me) if u don’t mind when your buns have any improvement or fully bonded , I would love to hear how, thank you

 

[Semac]

Currently they are all residing in the basement, separated by fences. The problem is they can be very territorial. So while they may all get along fine in a neutral area, when I put them together in the basement they may stake out areas that are familiar. This can cause fights, etc. Which means I have to clean any areas where they have been so that they cannot smell that any other rabbit has been there. My goal is to have all three of them be free roaming but their home base will be the basement. My office in down there so I hang out there most days.

 

[Fluffy19]

Currently they are all residing in the basement, separated by fences. The problem is they can be very territorial. So while they may all get along fine in a neutral area, when I put them together in the basement they may stake out areas that are familiar. This can cause fights, etc. Which means I have to clean any areas where they have been so that they cannot smell that any other rabbit has been there. My goal is to have all three of them be free roaming but their home base will be the basement. My office in down there so I hang out there most days.

That is such a great idea , sounds like so much fun having 3 buns running around hanging with your while you working. well yeah, I know clean up bun's smell, big time. i guess yr 3 buns will be free roaming shortly, my buns still ???????

 

[Fluffy19]

Currently they are all residing in the basement, separated by fences. The problem is they can be very territorial. So while they may all get along fine in a neutral area, when I put them together in the basement they may stake out areas that are familiar. This can cause fights, etc. Which means I have to clean any areas where they have been so that they cannot smell that any other rabbit has been there. My goal is to have all three of them be free roaming but their home base will be the basement. My office in down there so I hang out there most days.

Hello Semac, It was a while ago, I posted asking a difficult bonding with 3 males buns, yes I got find out online that 3 males have few chance to be bonded but i didnt know before getting into this and you reply me that you bonding 2 female with a male anyway, after 3 weeks break due to they were very angry with each other because 2 out of 3 got bitten (just small bite each) I just started the 3rd attempt yesterday, 3 hrs and I started as yr recommendation to have short ride before putting them in the bonding pen. they have a lot less fighting once time has passed and they started to be less fear from the car ride they started nipping each other, I separated them right away as i do not want any to get bitten like the last time. here is the question ** The bonded pair and the new bun are ignore each other as attached pic, once they near each other, they started nipping and about to have attack, i separated them. it just happened like that all the time after they have clam down with the fear from car ride. Is that kind of positive sign or negative sign for the first session? I also wondering if yr 3 buns are bonded yet?

 

[Semac]

Hi Fluffy19,

Sorry for the delay in my response, I just saw this post. Unfortunately my trio did not work out. My male rabbit (Floppy) and my newly single female rabbit (Raisin) got into a fight and I don't think either one will soon forget. So I have decided to get a rescue male for Raisin. Floppy is territorial and refuses to share his space or his friend (Peanut). While it would be easier for me to have them all bonded I can't force them to like each other if they just don't.

 

[Fluffy19]

Hi Fluffy19,

Sorry for the delay in my response, I just saw this post. Unfortunately my trio did not work out. My male rabbit (Floppy) and my newly single female rabbit (Raisin) got into a fight and I don't think either one will soon forget. So I have decided to get a rescue male for Raisin. Floppy is territorial and refuses to share his space or his friend (Peanut). While it would be easier for me to have them all bonded I can't force them to like each other if they just don't.

Oh I thought the reason u disappeared because u busy detail cleaning up ready for the trio to free roaming, I am deeply sorry and share yr feelings. I personally don’t believe rabbits cant be bonded, as animals don’t care what colour/language/ financial status of the other ones are, it might take long time, I thought if I kept bonding them&patient, take break if needed to, one day they will be bonded. I still think that even found 101 rabbits VDO saying eventionly the buns will be bonded, however, I didn’t think of this issue: beginning of last week both of the bonded pair finally grooming new bun, (this is the beginning of problem, the new bun never groom back when requested plus he attacked the bonded pair after they groom him, so every time grooming, will end with 3had bad fights. I follow directions of a website say “have to do bonding every day, the longer hrs is the better so I do 7-8 hrs a day) by Friday 3 buns didn’t finish their treats. I didn’t understand why, till Sat I found a VDO about rabbits depression due to stressful from bonding. All of my buns no longer happy buns!!! I am asking myself what have I been doing to the innocence buns who I suppose to protect and provide them good happy life????? I am very exhausted from stress and not enough sleep, fall down at my garage floor and broken my hand. Just perfect timing to have a break from bonding and think what I supposed to do to make it right????? I just realized that the bun I called mixed mini rex also mixed “cinnamon”. Cinnamon breed roughly live 5-8 yrs, What if his live is only 5 yrs? And I making him unhappy for a year? That’s so not fair for him. I am unable to make any decisions yet as I am mentally mass up, afraid if I make a wrong decisions again.

 

[Semac]

Yes bonding rabbits is stressful for the rabbit and the human. I had a pair of female rabbits that took forever to bond. They just tolerated each other, never formed a strong bond. The recent rabbit fight between Floppy and Raisin was my fault. While cleaning there condos I didn't secure the gate between them. Floppy got in with Raisin and basically beat her up. I had to pull him off of her and she required a trip to the vet. She is fine but we were all traumatized by it. So instead of subjecting all of us to more stress/trauma I decided to get Raisin a new friend. Floppy is very territorial, I think this contributes to his aggression and lack of interest in having another rabbit share his space.
It sounds like you are doing what you think is best to give your rabbits their best life. Don't beat yourself up over it. They will get over any stress caused by bonding trauma. Raisin is perfectly happy now and has forgotten all about her bout with Floppy, and so has Floppy.