Need help bonding 3 dominant bunnies

[KayDai]

So as the title reads I have 3 bunnies all dominant and honestly getting aggressive as well, I have 2 males and 1 female, all of which are spayed and neutered, they are all varying ages but are all under 3. Right now I've been trying to slowly bond them all with no avail, right now I have them in 3 small pens trying to get used to each others smells by moving them around pen by pen to get used to each others smells and territories. Honestly I need them to get bonded as soon as possible because the pens are taking up a LOT of room and I have one very large area for once they are all bonded to move into. I'm not sure what to do because I've tried bonding them slow and have done stress bonding a bit as well, issue is I don't have a lot of time on my hands right now and I have looked into rabbit bonders in my area but there isn't any that are closer than 3 hours away. I plan on calling my local spca's to ask if they do bonding there maybe but I'm not sure what to do next.

I really need help if anyone has suggestions it would be great because I don't want them getting hurt during any bonding times but my 2 males got into a little brawl and the one has a bite on his ear now and I don't want to move on with bonding. I've done a ton of research but nothing seems to help so that's why I'm reaching out for help.

 

[JBun]

So, I have a bunch of questions to try and get a better understanding of your rabbits and what's gone on to this point.

How long have they been spayed/neutered? How long have they been in adjacent pens, and how long have you been moving them pen to pen? How long have you been attempting to bond them, and was this all done in a neutralized space? How was their behavior initially towards each other at the start, any favorable signs, or was there immediate aggression? What were the changes in their behavior as the bonding process went on, if any, and what was the time period when these changes occurred?

The scuffle that happened, was there only one, or how many and what occured when these scuffles happened? With any of the scuffles, was the bite a latching on bite, where the rabbit locks on and sometimes twists, or was it just a nip and release?

What kind of behavior are they showing towards one another while in their pens next to each other? Any two that seem to get along better, like one of the males and the female?

Do you have any short videos of your bonding, that you would want to upload here, or provide a link from a hosting site like youtube?

 

[KayDai]

So, I have a bunch of questions to try and get a better understanding of your rabbits and what's gone on to this point.

How long have they been spayed/neutered? How long have they been in adjacent pens, and how long have you been moving them pen to pen? How long have you been attempting to bond them, and was this all done in a neutralized space? How was their behavior initially towards each other at the start, any favorable signs, or was there immediate aggression? What were the changes in their behavior as the bonding process went on, if any, and what was the time period when these changes occurred?

The scuffle that happened, was there only one, or how many and what occured when these scuffles happened? With any of the scuffles, was the bite a latching on bite, where the rabbit locks on and sometimes twists, or was it just a nip and release?

What kind of behavior are they showing towards one another while in their pens next to each other? Any two that seem to get along better, like one of the males and the female?

Do you have any short videos of your bonding, that you would want to upload here, or provide a link from a hosting site like youtube?

Trying to keep this all organized my female has been spayed for about 4-5 months now, my one male around 3-4 months ago, and my last male has been neutered for over a year.

They’ve been in adjacent pens for around 2 months with bonding sessions in between, everything seemed well with my bunnies flopping and the main issues come in with my youngest male. I’ve been moving them pen to pen for a week or two id say so they get used to eachother and their smells and what not. I’ve been changing it up so they go into different pens I want to say every day or two so they can really heft used to each others areas while still being close. (This was done in a neuteral area) Mostly bonding wise hasn’t been to bad but it’s been going downhill faster once they get to even slightly larger bonding areas, the adjacent pens I let them be closer together (pen wise) and the little scuffle happened today once I switched the two males next to eachother, luckily nothing to bad but with me not having a lot of time to bond them I haven’t been able to make a lot of progress at all. I have a full time job and that’s why I need them to bond and I just can’t seem to get any of them to be submissive, all of them are dominant and not very willing to do anything to try to get along.

As for the bite I’d say he grabbed and wouldn’t let go, luckily my other male isn’t to badly injured but I don’t want that to set them back even though I know it has, all of my bunnies have been very sweet never signs of aggression but recently these last months have been rough even towards me my rabbits have been getting aggressive. I’ve never really had serious issues with them at all and that’s why I reach out.

If it’s ok I don’t feel to comfortable showing them bonding at the moment because it’s not my home to show at the moment.

Not sure if I left anything out but I appreciate the help I really got the other bunnies because I started having less and less time and didn’t want my other bunny to get lonely but with me barely being home it’s been so tough to try and move forward with bonding. I plan on calling my local SPCA’s tomorrow to see if they know of anyone who may be able to do bunny bonding but I don’t know if there’s anything like that around me

 

[JBun]

What was the size of their beginning bonding space, how long were bonding sessions, and how long a period (days, weeks, etc) were you doing bonding in the smaller space before increasing the size of their bonding area?

How exactly was this space increased? Did you keep them in the same small bonding area, then just increase that space, or did you move them to a different larger bonding area? And how big was this larger area? Is the area you plan to move them into when bonded, being used at all for this bonding process, or are the buns let in this area at all when by themselves?

So were they seemingly progressing alright in the smaller area, with no escalation of aggression? How was their behavior in this smaller area, what were their interactions like?

Were all bonding areas neutral space that no bun had either been in, or it had been sufficiently neutralized and changed that they wouldn't see it as their space to claim?

Any particular reason you decided on a trio, as opposed to a bonded pair? Trio's are just very difficult usually, and often don't work out, especially when there are 2 males. You had your male and female you were planning to bond when fixed a while back. I'm just wondering if there's a specific reason you decided on adding a third bun?

 

[Semac]

I had a similar situation. I tried everything to bond a trio, but had no luck. I ended up getting a fourth rabbit as I didn’t want a bonded pair and one reboot on its own. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I now have two bonded male/female pairs.

 

[Jumilli]

I had a similar situation. I tried everything to bond a trio, but had no luck. I ended up getting a fourth rabbit as I didn’t want a bonded pair and one reboot on its own. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I now have two bonded male/female pairs.

Yes,I too had 3 litter mates,2 males,1 female who were all in the same space.I took them all to be ' done' and they all went and came home together.

The next morning a male and the female had pair bonded and had really had a go at their brother,leaving him with quote a few bites.
I tried for a week to get him bonded back but the aggression increased and I rehomed him
I hope you do get some results but I just couldn't sit back and watch it happen.

 

[JBun]

Yes, trios are probably the most difficult and least likely to succeed. But it's not completely impossible. I had a trio that was happy together. But it only works with the right combination of personalities, and provided a true fight hasn't occurred.

@KayDai I was thinking there still might be a chance of things working, with some changes made. But after rereading your post, I'm not very hopeful. Your rabbits sound like they're all excessively on edge, which is counter productive to the bonding process. And after a true fight breaks out, chances of a successful bond are slim. A rabbit latching on is a true fight with real aggression and the intent to cause injury, not just the minor dominance nipping that normally occurs when rabbits are sorting out heirarchy. Because this happened with your 2 males, it doesn't look good for a successful bond. And actually might be a risk to continue. If another fight broke out, very serious injuries could occur.

What I would do at this point is stop bonding for now. If your rabbits are showing referred aggression towards you, they're unhappy and under excessive stress. I think they need a break. If being in adjoining pens is overly stressful for any of them, I'd suggest moving the stressed bun to another space, away from the other rabbit. In another room if necessary and if possible.

The best way to proceed that I can see, is go for a bonded pair, whichever male your female gets on with best. Then either keep the other male by himself, get him his own bonded friend that's already fixed from a rescue that allows bunny dates to find the best possible match, or rehome this bun to a good home.

But if you're still determined to continue to try, I'm willing to share any thoughts I have that might be helpful.