Trio bonding - help needed

[Jessica Lamirande]

we adopted two bonded and litter trained 2-yr old sisters two months ago who live cage free and justttt adopted a third 2-month old baby boy bun. Since bringing him home on Sunday the two sisters have been pooping everywhereeeeeeee marking their territory. They are also super vicious towards the baby, trying to bite him through the cage.

For those that have gone through the bonding process with a baby, does it get better ? Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated !

 

[Popsicles]

Are your girls spayed? Are you intending to get your boy neutered. Trio bonds can be really hard, and you run the risk of breaking up the bond between your girls by introducing another bunny. Female rabbits are also a lot more territorial and aggressive than people think, and in my experience, even more than males. Have you placed his cage into their territory? You will need to bond them somewhere neutral, otherwise they won’t accept an outsider on their patch. You are also best to wait until he has been neutered and the hormones die down before bothering, as often bonds can change with hormones. I’m wondering why you chose to get a third rabbit? It might not work out and the reality is you could end up with keeping them separate for life.

 

[Jessica Lamirande]

Actually there are mannny bonded trio rabbits but thank you for the positive support

 

[Popsicles]

Absolutely agree it is POSSIBLE I’m just letting you know it is very difficult and you run the risk of it not working, so needing two separate enclosures, or of breaking up the existing bond between your females!
If you do wish to continue, the best thing to do would be separate the male away from the females completely, preferably in a different room so they can’t smell or see each other. You should get the male neutered when he is old enough (usually 3-5 months) and then begin the bonding process. This will need to be somewhere neutral, that none of the rabbits know, so that nobody can be territorial. There is lots of fab in-depth info on @Blue eyes website but I don’t know the link sorry.

 

[Popsicles]

Oh and also get the females spayed if they aren’t already.

 

[Blue eyes]

If you are intent on making a trio, then I'd strongly suggest keeping your male away from the females until about 6 weeks after he is neutered. Baby bonds never count as true bonds. Bonding attempts should not begin when one of the rabbits is a baby. Even if all 3 were getting along right now (with male as baby), it still would be meaningless because all that changes with the onset of hormones. Allowing them together now only risks ill feelings (or a fight) that could sabotage their future bonding.

The fact that the females are already resisting him -- even with him being a baby -- does not bode well. (I assume your females are spayed?) Usually adults will tolerate a baby (though this is typically temporary until hormones kick in.) Since they are already resisting him, I'd definitely not have them interact yet. Maybe, just maybe, after he's been neutered and healed, they won't see him the same way. Only time will tell.

When the time does come to begin introductions, Popsicles is correct that the intro of a 3rd rabbit to an established bond still risks the breaking of the original bond.

Trios are possible but aren't necessarily recommended. Pairs are ideal. Those trios that do happen to work tend to be ones in which all 3 rabbits are introduced to each other at the same time. Attempting to introduce a 3rd rabbit to an established pair is risky at best. So in the meantime, just be aware of those risks (potential break up of existing bond), keep the baby away until about 6 weeks after his neuter (to allow hormones to fully dissipate) and keep your fingers crossed.

 

[RoseCottageBuns]

I am no expert, but I rehomed 3 individual lady buns from a neighbour who was struggling with looking after them and her young family, and have spent the last year successfully bonding them. it is a long , slow process . Two of them are related ( mother and daughter) and then there is a baby ...unrelated...but all three had lived apart. I started by spaying all three as females are so aggressive entire. I still kept them separate, but let them live in conjoining cages, where two sides of each cage faced into the other two buns, so each bun had another bun on each side. There was scrabbling and fighting through the bars to begin with, but this eventually settled to pooping and glaring....I let them live like this for about 4 months. I then started swapping hay and litter trays so they got more used to each others smell...for about 2 months.... I then swapped each bun in to each other's cages, so they were immersed in two other buns smell and bed etc. Then I put them all together one day in a small carrier and drove them around...some may not approve of this forced bonding, but it really worked...I kept them overnight in a small space so they could not scrap and then slowly enlarged the space and they all live very happily together now. It was a YEAR long process...and I really had to stick at it and not loose heart.
I would really take the all advice from far more experienced owners above and let your baby boy grow a bit stronger and heal from the neutering, and , if you really do want them to all live together, perhaps start by separating your already bonded pair. Be observant at all times, I wish you the best of luck as it is a tricky business.