Advice please - Bonding 3 Rabbits

[susanBunnies69]

Hello all,

I'm new to the forum and wondered if you bunny experts may be able to offer me some advice?

I currently have 2 bonded bunnies (male and female) who are neutered and spayed and 5 months old.

I really want to adopt another bunny and have a gorgeous male in mind, he's not castrated as yet so i appreciate i will have to keep them apart until he has been 'done'.

Is it wise to introduce another boy to the group or would a female be better? And also, how would i start the bonding?

Thank you in advance

Susan

 

[susanBunnies69]

BUMP....please anyone??

 

[HoneyPot]

Hey there - I believe a male would be easier to introduce as females tend to be more territorial and protective and adding another female to the established pair may be harder than adding another male(I think I read that somewhere - people correct me if I'm wrong).

There are several members on here with trios, so I am hoping one of them will chime in. I know many of them worked on bonding one bunny at a time with the new bunny, and then working up to having all 3 out together.

I'm going to update the name of your thread so others will know you're looking for advice on bonding a trio.

Nadia

 

[susanBunnies69]

Aww thanks Nadia, really appreciate that

 

[susanBunnies69]

BUMP!

Please people! someone out there must have some advice??

 

[gentle giants]

Welcome to the forum! I have to say first, I really appreciate hearing you say that all your rabbits are, or are going to be, neutered/spayed. That is a breath of fresh air to me.
Well, I am not expert at bonding, but I would say kep the pair in a cage next to the new guy so they can get used to the sight and smell of him. Then,like Honey Pot said, let one at a time out in neutral territory, not the pair's usual play space. Then, when everything seems to be going well, try letting all three out together. I have also heard that you need to end on a good note, if at all possible. In other words, don't separate them when they are all arguing wiht each other, wait until they are getting along ok to end the session.

 

[TK Bunnies]

Hi I'm new here to!! I'm not an exper but, here's what I think ...

The cage idea is a good one. Let them see, hear, and smell one anouther. When you want them to metput them in a small nuetral area. They might fight or like my bunnies snuggle up right away. When you release them together give them a small teritory and slowly increase it as they bond. At frist fights are to be expected. Tuffs of fir will be all over as long as there is no blood on them it's okay.

We recently introduced a new pair of rexs (male & female) to our mini rex (female). At first the girls (Kali and Teacup) fought and laid out terf. Now there best friends. Saddly our male Bud past away a couple of days ago which has made the girls even closer.

 

[cmh9023]

Hi,

I have a male/female bonded pair that I worked on bonding with my newest neutered male for a few months. I think it could have worked out if I had continued but I decided to stop because the dynamics of the group got so weird and I was very concerned that it might break the bond between the existing pair. That can happen and I didn't want to risk that. To me it would have been totally unfair to have one of the currently happy pair become the "odd bun out" and that can definitely happen.

Bonding a trio is definitely possible. There are some members who have done it very successfully. However, it is my understanding that creating a trio is generally difficult and doesn't work more often than it works. That was the advice I got from our state's HRS people based on their experienes and, based on my experience, I think I agree.

They lived next to each other with an adjoining wall for about 3 months and I would switch sides every few days so they didn't get too territorial over "their" side. Sometimes it was nice and peaceful, but sometimes the male from the existingpair would attack his female partner if she groomed the new guy or sometimes attack her for no apparent reason. Also, the two males sometimes got along well, but out of nowhere they would start to fight. When I worked on bonding them in neutral territory, skirmishes always broke out and it seemed stressful for my female.

I don't feel like I ever would have trusted the two males together 100% because after weeks of peace, a fight could still break out, and, likeI said,I began to feel like it was a pretty stressful situationfor my little female. Her litterbox habits got worse and the boys would mark by pooping and peeing along the adjoining wall a lot. Also, the main thing for me is thatI thought it would be wrong to risk breaking up my pair who'd been together for a year. I decided it would be better to work on bonding my newest male with my single female. I've been working on that for about 3 months now.

Every situation is different. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This is just what my experience was. I'm totally envious of the people who have trio's that work out so easily .

Also, keep in mind that if you get a male his hormones won't die down for several weeks after he is neutered so you wouldn't want to introduce them until you are sure he's "neutralized".

 

[binkies]

Tulla and Ivory came to me already bonded close to 2 years ago. I tried to adopt a baby (female) and it ended VERY ugly. Tulla was angry with me, biting and drawing blood. Not to mention the baby was ripped open down her side. But recently I got the urge for another rabbit, so I took Tulla to the shelter to pick out "her" buddy. That was the best idea, she loved Phillip! Of course she beat up a New Zealand and another mix before she picked him. I brought him home, nervous about her territory and whether or not she would let him share it. It worked out great. There was some dominance humping for a bit, but no blood. Where is Ivory in all this? She was just sitting around. She is so layed back, it didn't matter to her.

I guess what I am trying to say in a not so short way is: let your rabbits pick out the next member of the family.