Bonding Questions...

[Jenk]

I'd like to hear the thoughts of bun-savvy people regarding my current situation and future bonding goals.

My two girls live separately but are housed within the same room andplay together every evening. It took several weeks for things to calm a bit. The girls recently began lying side-by-side and grooming one another. Zoe would act submissive in the face of Emma's humping; thus, things seemed peaceful.

Fast forward to this past weekend, when I decided to adopt a (male) bun. Since he's entered the house, the girls' behavior has altered. (Not a shocker, I suppose.) One day, Zoe bit my arm when told her to enter her cage. (Normally, she'd just grunt at me.) And last night, the girlsscuffled when I was out of the room. (I found a tuft of Emma's fur on the floor upon my return. )

So here are my questions:

1) Is it possible that the girls' bonding is permanently lost due to the scent of a (neutered) male in the house?

2) Would it be possible to bond all three of them in time? Or is that only possible if two of them are already tightly/entirely bonded?

I may have more questions, but I'll stop for now.



Thank you,

Jenk

 

[dquesnel]

No one has replied yet but I am not an expert at bonding- just thought I'd put in my two cents.

I would actually try bonding the male to a female first. I would introduce them seperately. It might be then easier to introduce the other female. You may get a situation where none will bond, but if the two females are already semi bonded then it might be easier to bond all three if one female chooses to bond first. However I would wait a while until everyone is settled, then stir up the pot a bit lol.

 

[Jenk]

dquesnel wrote:

...I would wait a while until everyone is settled, then stir up the pot a bit lol.

That's my thinking, too.

The girls were getting along well, in the sense that Zoe was submissive to Emma's humping/dominant behavior. It worked. Now Zoe's also humping Emma, and this turnabout isn't boding well; they're apt to scuffle again.

It must be the smell of another bun, especially a (neutered) male, that's disrupting the harmony. Ideally, I'd like to work to rebond the girls before introducing either one of them to the new guy; but I don't even know if that's possible, as long as they can smell his presence. :?

 

[Spring]

For my trio, I started off with Bruno, a dominant, opinionated male but who loved to groom and snuggle and a mellow,affectionate andsweet girl who can sometimes be possessive. I attempted to add Pebbles into the mix, but Bruno and Pebbles clashed quite a bit during trio bonding, and Poppy was a bit too territorial over Bruno for it to work. Basically I had 2 opinionated bunnies with one who was possessive because Pebbles had a strong personality, so that didn't work. I added Jasmine to the mix and it was love at first site with the trio since she was so submissive, the other two accepted her from the first bonding session and never had a problem since.

I would say if the girls are sharing familiar territory, they could be fully bonded if introduced to a neutral pen to live together. A few tussles are alright, especially with a new bunny around because it's confusing. Even my trio can sometimes get a bit nit picky with each other if Georgie comes too close, a tuft of fur can just be that the rabbit nipped at the fur, since they drop any fur in their mouth after a nip, so don't worry about that. I've had fights were therewas ahandfulof fur on the ground, and no injuries.. so sometimes they just like to pull out fur.

I would, in a month or so when the big boy is settled in, just have them out all together in a neutral area with a broom and a spray bottle nearby and see what happens. Then go from there and work on the two that seem to clash the most.

If you manage to find the really affectionate one in the group, try to pair him/her up with the dominant one, then try to add in the more submissive one. That's what basically happened with my trio, and it worked out awesomely well.. They were living as a trio in less than a week, and heck, probably could have moved them in together after the first introduction.. sometimes bunnies just hit it off right away!

 

[Jenk]

Any which way I cut it, the bonding thing will prove tricky (I think). But I'd be happy to be wrong.

Considering the girls' confusion and newfound aggression at this time, I may start using some bonding techniques (e.g., carrying them together in a laundry basket) again.

 

[Spring]

Oh yup . Don't worry about it, probably just them confused about the new scent.

I'd personally try each girl separate with the new boy in a week or so, and just see where they stand, then go from there possibly?

 

[Jenk]

Spring wrote:

I'd personally try each girl separate with the new boy in a week or so, and just see where they stand, then go from there possibly?

I plan to wait at least a month's time before attempting anything with the new guy. I want to assess his health/temperament some more, give him plenty of time to settle into our household and to keep a close eye on the girls' bond status.