bonding a trio

[SnowyShiloh]

We have a little bunny family: Maximus and Macie are 8 month old siblings and their mom, Nomi, is about a year old. Maximus and Macie were fixed in the middle of January, so a bit over 5 weeks ago. Nomi was spayed in December. The plan has always been to bond Max and Macie, and while Nomi is a foster bun, we would be happy to keep her if we can bond her to her babies (plus it's been almost 2 months with no home for her found).

Max and Macie lived together until 10 weeks and have been kept in side by side cages (and had their cages swapped back and forth) ever since. Tonight we let them out to "meet" each other and they pretty much acted like they'd never been apart. They spent a lot of time just running around and ignoring each other, but they used to do that as babies, too. They did spend time near one another and Max licked Macie's head some, he's always been a very licky boy. No dominance issues or excessive sniffing of one another or anything. I would say that bonding is off to a good start! Is it possible that they managed to retain their bond somewhat even though they've been separated for months? Seriously, they acted like nothing had changed!

How do I bond a trio though? Should I try to get Maximus and Macie started off, then introduce Nomi? Or tomorrow should we introduce all 3 bunnies together (starting with a car ride) and always have all 3 out together? I should note that I have a tiny bit of bonding experience- a year and a half ago we tried bonding Phoebe and Ned and things were coming along very slowly but surely (they both tried to dominate one another) so I feel ready to deal with these buns.

Let me tell you- these bunnies are so alike! Maybe it's just a mini rex thing or maybe it's a family thing, but these 3 are by far our most HYPER bunnies! Having Max and Macie out at the same time is crazy because they race around everywhere, climb all over us, and get into everything. Nomi is the same way except she's even better at it. It will be soooo interesting having all 3 out to play at the same time if they bond as a trio They are the Jack Russell Terriers of our bunny family and we just love them!

 

[Flashy]

Hey Shiloh. I wrote this for another forum. It might be useful for you though http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?317003 it's about bonding trios.

 

[LakeCondo]

Your situation MIGHT be easier than the normal case, as they're siblings & mom. So you're probably the best judge of how to go on, as you know their personalities & history, like knowing if mom was equally attached to each of them when they were last together, etc. Did Max lick Nomi & did she like it? If so, you could try just those 2 together for a meet & decide from there how to put the 3 together. If he licked her & she didn't like it you could put the 2 girls together for a meet etc.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

ray:

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Thanks for the help!! Flashy, that's a good article. Haven't seen you around for a while, how are things going?

I think what we'll do is just see how it goes. Start with a car ride with all 3 bunnies tonight. Max and Macie's cages have been within an inch of one another all this time so they know each other (even if they hadn't been spending time together), but they haven't really seen Nomi since they were 6 weeks old and she kicked them out (so to speak) because she had another litter of babies. I do know that Nomi was with her husband bunny up until the middle of December when she was abandoned because she kept getting pregnant and her owners didn't want to spay her.

When Max and Macie were out last night, they seemed to like one another fine, like I said before... That could change of course, but they were running around and bouncing around, sometimes/often close to one another, and I saw Maximus licking Macie's face (practically her eyeball!) which she seemed to like since she didn't run away or flip out. They're so cute together!

 

[MiniLopHop]

I think mini rex are the original energizer bunnies! Mine is nuts too. I couldn't imagine all the chaos of three

Best of luck with the bonding. It sounds like the kids are well on their way.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Well, the intros went pretty well I would say! Paul didn't want to drive around in the car, so we put the 3 buns in a large carrier (the lid is very easily and quickly removed in case a fight breaks out), and we sat on the couch rocking the carrier gently from side to side for about 10 minutes. Then we let the buns out in the kitchen to run around. They bounced around at hyper speed (like normal), and were sometimes together, sometimes apart. Just exploring and pooping (marking) a fair amount. No mounting, but Nomi did run after Max a couple of times. She didn't bite him or anything when she got to him, but she kind of half mounted him one of the times and then I shooed her away. We let them run around the kitchen for about 10 minutes, then I gave everyone treats and group pets (petting 3 mini rexes at once is THE BEST!), and intros were adjourned! Tomorrow we will actually go for a car ride and then do another session.

 

[LakeCondo]

It's a good thing they're all fixed, though with rabbits inbreeding does go on, if it can. Very Jerry Springer-ish.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

LakeCondo, I've wondered if Maximus and Macie's parentes are siblings because apparently they thought Nomi and her husband bunny were both boys and she had her first litter quite young. It would make sense that she and her husband bunny were siblings. Max is rather unusual looking with blue eyes, I've never seen a blue eyed Mini Rex before. Maybe it's because both parents had the blue eye gene since they were siblings? When we adopted them, they were there with 2 of their siblings, and both siblings were broken castors like Max, also with blue eyes (apparently there was a 5th baby that looked like that as well, he was adopted before we goth there). Also, Max and Macie are both about 2/3 the size of Nomi. They're little things next to her, and their fur is not as thick and plush. So far they haven't had any health issues and they seem smart enough so I'm not too worried either way I guess

 

[LakeCondo]

I wouldn't be surprised.

I just remembered a song from when I was young, "I'm my own grandpa." He married his grandfather's much younger widow.

 

[funnybunnymummy]

Breeders very often practice what is called line breeding (father to daughter, grandfather to granddaughter, etc.). It strengthens desirable traits. In fact, many breeds that exist today came about due to line breeding (like the Rex and the Satin). Anyway, it can cause undesirable traits to pop up too (usually in health defects), but most often not.

As for your trio, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they bond well. Even though Nomi was forced to wean Max and Macie early due to her next litter, I don't think mamas forget their babies.

Oh, and to be able to offer the most helpful advice, we require pictures or video.

Hope that helps!

Rue

 

[MILU]

LOL a car ride? Well, it seems like it's working well.. keep us posted on how the bonding goes!
And yes, pics please!! :nod

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Vivian, when you're trying to bond bunnies, it's suggested to take them on car rides in a carrier together to stress them out a bit so they comfort one another instead of fighting. Putting them in the carrier and rocking it back and forth a bit accomplishes the same thing!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Day two of bonding went great! The buns spent about half an hour together: 10 minutes in the carrier being jostled around lightly and 20 minutes in the kitchen. There was no aggressive/dominant behavior at all. No snuggling or licking either, but they're so hyper when they're out that there's no time for such business! They're very "monkey see, monkey do"- one bunny will do something (like figure out she can jump from the step stool to the bunny carrier and INTO the trash can), then the other two copy. At one point while I was plucking Nomi out of the trash can and dragging Maximus out from behind it, Mabel managed to scale a 30 inch high NIC panel barrier and perch at the top so she could visit with Phoebe Mae, whose cage is right next to the kitchen. They got into/knocked over other stuff, too. FUN TIMES Not kidding, I don't think I stopped laughing.

 

[LakeCondo]

:trio:bunny18:bunny18:bunny18

 

[MILU]

Thanks for the explanation about the car ride. I'm glad everything is going well and it sounds like you have your own bunny sitcom with the 3 bunnies doing funny things and copying each other. I wish I could see that!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

We put a hold on the bonding attempts and restarted tonight. I have the entire next week off from school so we can do bonding sessions twice a week! I decided that doing the sessions in the kitchen wasn't working out so well because they had a lot of space to run around in and they're so hyper that they were bouncing off the walls instead of getting to know one another. I made a bonding pen using NIC panels and put a litter box in there, then deposited the bunnies in there for about 15 minutes after a 10 minute long rocking session in the carrier (as described before, I just rock the carrier back and forth a bit). In the much smaller space of the bonding pen, the bunnies have to be closer to one another. It went fairly well. No biting or fighting or mounting, though Macie did seem to be irritated by Nomi a couple of times and responded by running after her for a foot or so before stopping. Max and Macie get along like peanut butter and jelly, no issues there at all so far. Sweet Maximus just wants love, he was licking both girls and putting his head down so they would lick him!

 

[LakeCondo]

He sounds like a sweetie.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

He is a sweetheart. Also I meant to write bonding sessions twice a DAY, not twice a week

 

[SnowyShiloh]

This is so cute and kind of odd! The bunnies are all still in their own cages, but Max and Macie's cages are right next to each other and they trade cages every few days. A little while ago, I let Macie out to run around by herself in the other room. Max started thumping his foot a couple minutes after I took her away and didn't stop until I put her back in her cage. Is this a normal thing to do for bunnies that are bonded or on their way to being bonded? I'm pretty sure the thumping wasn't just a coincidence.