Bun housing questions...

[Jenk]

Our two Mini Rex girls share a bedroom (their pens separated byan NIC-panel divider). And our Cali boy has another (penned-off) bedroom to himself.

My husband would like to put all three buns into the larger bedroom, which currently houses the girls. My concern is that all three buns coulddevelop less desireable behaviors (e.g. aggression) as a result of being in close proximity to one another.

Also, I'm concerned that they could protest a downsized penned area. (The girls' pens would need to be reduced to three NIC panels wide x five NIC panels long; our boy's area would need to be5 NIC panels squared.)

Is it generally okay tomove a "stranger" bun into the same room as two semi-bonded buns? (I saysemi-bonded because our girls aren't 100% trustworthy around each other, which is why they're house separately.)

Thank you,

Jenk

 

[JadeIcing]

I think it all depends the bunnies all mine are kept in the living room and I have fosters coming and going. Sometimes there is an adjustment period. Mostly on the part of the fosters.

 

[Jenk]

JadeIcing wrote:

I think it all depends the bunnies all mine are kept in the living room and I have fosters coming and going. Sometimes there is an adjustment period. Mostly on the part of the fosters.

More than a year ago, our one girl, Zoe,approached our boy, who was in his pen. They sniffed each other's snout excitedly and seemed generally friendly. But a few weeks ago, the same interaction took place, and our male tried nipping our girl's nose. (At least it looked like that's what he attempted. Thankfully, she pulled her snout out of pen very quickly.)

If anything, though, our boy would probably do better if he's housed alongside Zoe. Our other Mini Rex is immensely bossy; I suspect that she would butt heads with him.

I guess that, if anything, we could try housing them together and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out, though, my hubby will be greatly disappointed; he really wanted to take back our one spare bedroom for human use.

 

[tamsin]

It depends on the rabbits. Sometimes there is referred aggression. One bun in a pair really wants to attack the guy over the fence but can't get to him so gets grumpy and takes it out on his cage mate. That can often be solved by blocking the sight line.

The other issue is adding a bun/adjusting accommodation can make them want to rework the hierarchy again which could cause problems if they're a bit rocky.

Other rabbits are totally relaxed about neighbours. If nose nipping's an issue, clear perspex is handy.

If the girls are unreliable together have you thought about pairing up the boy and one girl? That would give you more pen space.

I wouldn't judge reactions based on meetings at pen boundaries, border skirmishes are normal and not necessarily a good reflection of how buns will react when bonded somewhere neutral.

It's all down so much to individual personalities, there are half a dozen options for what might happen but trying it's really the only way to know for sure.

Good luck

 

[Jenk]

tamsin wrote:

If the girls are unreliable together have you thought about pairing up the boy and one girl? That would give you more pen space.

I'd prefer to leave all three in separate spaces mainly because the girls have chronic digestive issues (e.g., stasis). Keeping them apartmakes it easier tosee exactly what they're consuming/eliminating on a daily basis. And since they are prone to stasis, I don't want them ingesting another bun's fur.

The info. you've provided gives me much food for thought. At this point, I'm concerned that putting all three buns in the room will affect the girls' behavior toward one another.

 

[tamsin]

How close are the two rooms? It's likely they are aware of his existence already from his scent. Have they shown any upset if they've had the opportunity to smell him on you? I guess you could try him in a carrier (block the mesh so they can't nip through) and just see what their initial reaction is.

Visual seems to be a big cue with fighting so if you can split the room (be like having two separate rooms) so they can't see each other, that would lessen the risk.

Bunnies are so hard to predict, just because it could effect them doesn't mean 100% it will.

 

[Jenk]

tamsin wrote:

How close are the two rooms? It's likely they are aware of his existence already from his scent. Have they shown any upset if they've had the opportunity to smell him on you? I guess you could try him in a carrier (block the mesh so they can't nip through) and just see what their initial reaction is.

Both rooms are at/near the end of our hallway (one's straight at the end and the other'sat the end/right-hand side of it); so everyone is aware of everyone else.

When we'd brought our boy home (16 months ago), the girlsdefinitely smelled himon our clothingand acted more aggressively for about a week. (One girl snapped at my forearm after I'd handled our boy; thank goodness for long sleeves!)

Have you tried the carrier method that you recommend? If so,have you ever noticeda restrained bun acting stressed/angry about being restrained--and approached by free-roamingbunnies? (I'd almost think that the restrained bun might feel territorial about the carrier and, thus, act/feel aggressive.)

Visual seems to be a big cue with fighting so if you can split the room (be like having two separate rooms) so they can't see each other, that would lessen the risk.

That option is possible, but we'd have limit their pen space that much more (in order to have asizeablebarrier between thepen divider).

 

[tamsin]

I've tried popping a male in a carrier in with a male-female pair to try and judge the reaction on their bond. I imagine it does make the single bun a little frustrated. I only mean to try it for a brief period to get a better idea of the pairs reaction before swapping the whole room/pens around. Don't leave him for any length of time

It does sound like it is likely to effect your girls, it may be they'll settle down again though as they get used to him.