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Nicolette730

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Mar 4, 2015
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Location
Massachusetts
Hi Everyone! So here is the deal I started with one Luna (5 years old) then two years later got a second Lucy (3 years old) This Sunday Luna , Lucy and I adopted a bonded pair Lola & Lucas (1 year old) I had set up a pen for Lola and Lucas since they would need to share space my pen is 26 inches by 7 feet and there is so much room for them to run around and play with their toys , While Luna and Lucy both have their own large cages 3 feet I started to feel guilty about their lack of space to play. They spend pretty much all day on weekends when I am home out in my kitchen and they get about 3 hours on weekdays. I took Lucy with me on Sunday to meet Lola and Lucas to make sure their was no fighting before bringing them home and other then some mounting from Lucas their first date went pretty smoothly her and Lucas seemed to bond real quick and she allowed him to groom her and everything and they laid down together. They all spent most of the day Sunday together with no altercations. They where out Monday and Tuesday for 3 hours no problems they all ate carrots together and everything was going smoothly , I even got up in the middle of the night last night and found Lucas and Lucy grooming each other through their pen & cage. Tonight Lola seems to be showing some Jealousy and has kind of been on Lucy's case ( the good news here is normally when she is feeling stressed by noise or something she would come to me today she ran over to Luna and laid with her until i came over and then she came and sat with me)

I had hoped that they would all get along and I could triple the size of my Pen and house them all together, does anyone have any experience with housing 4 rabbits together? is it possible? how long should they date before trying it? or should I just try and bond Lucy and Luna and get them the same pen?

All suggestions and advice welcomed Thank You in advance,
Nicolette
 
I didn't trust them all together while I showered so I brought Lucy & Luna in the bathroom with me this is what they look like

image.jpg
 
Bonding 4 is possible, but can be complicated to do. And there is always the possibility your pairs bond could be broken. I have a bonded group of 6, though they are related and weren't a difficult bond. I have a pair that I want to bond two singles into, and that bond is much more difficult. Both singles get along with the pair relatively well, but the single buns really dislike each other. So I have struggled with bonding that group.

I would suggest looking at these bonding sites, as they may have some info that will help you with your bonding.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/the-r...63430373700695
http://www.wheekwheekthump.com/2013/...ing-need-know/
http://cottontails-rescue.org.uk/inf...nding-bunnies/
http://flashsplace.webs.com/bondingbunnies.htm

This is also a very helpful bonding video that another member filmed.
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/showthread.php?t=83842
 
There's also another member on here who successfully bonded 5 rabbits together, a thread was made about it so it might be worth searching for that too. It's certainly not impossible, but it probably won't be easy and could have unexpected results.
 
Thank you both for your responses and advice I was getting stressed out when no one was answering , Luna and Lucy seem to be actually bonding , I've been letting them out in the bathroom (smaller space) & Lola and Lucas out in the kitchen and every time I shower I bring Luna and Lucy into the bathroom ( I think they both find the sound of the water to be stressful ) and every time I find them cuddled in the litter box together when I shut it off. The only problem is that Luna keeps mounting Lucy ( they are both spayed) Lyncy doesn't seem to do anything about it she just sits there so I let it go about 20 seconds and then bang my hand on the wall and she gets off so she knows that she is the dominant bun, Lucy seems to be enjoying sticking her head under Luna's body when they are laying together maybe for protection maybe because she wants Luna to groom her?
 
Sorry your question took a while to get answered. There are only a few people on here right now, that are able to answer these types of questions, so sometimes these questions get missed.

It sounds like those two are well on their way to bonding. Humping is normal to sort out dominance, but it's good not to let it go on too long and irritate the other bun, but eventually they will need to sort 'top bun' all out. The head under the other bun can be a grooming request or it can be the other bun being nervous and hiding under the other bun. You have to look at the buns other body language to know which it was. If it was hiding, that is actually a good sign that both buns are learning to trust each other.

You may notice a resurgence of dominance behavior at the start of a new bonding session. It's because after being separated it restarts things to some extent. So you have to determine when bunny dates are setting them back more than helping. At that point you may need to move on from bunny dates, to finishing the bonding with a marathon bond over 1-3 days, where you need to be on hand to supervise. When to do this is just something you have to gauge by how your buns are doing. The bonding process is different with every match because of the personalities of the buns, so there is no one way to do it.

Hope it all continues to go well and you end up with a happy couple, and a happy quad if you decide to continue that route. Best of luck.
 

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