Trio bonding questions

[allenstacy74]

Hi once again, thought I’d come on and give an update:

Milton is officially neutered and is healing amazingly! He has been done for about a week now!

Gave Eugene and Cora a “dinner date” just so I could see where we was at in regards to Eugenes temper, he seems to have forgiven Cora and is trying to love on her but.. Cora is now the “aggressor” they ate their dinner side by side whilst I sat with them, and there was no problems until the food was gone and then she literally jumped on his head.. twice.. and no not as in a “Binky” jump, it was like a pounce, and her tail was raised so clearly she wasn’t happy. Eugene retaliated by thumping at her after I had separated them with a dustpan lol. I put them back in their separate areas, side by side but with enough space so they can’t bite through the gate.

I’m wondering what my next step is, as essentially when it comes to the bonding, I will be bonding 3 single bunnies, so I assume that’s gonna make it abit trickier..?

I read some other discussions that were had on here with other people, and to make it easier for you, rather than having to question; I have 3 bunnies with 3 different personalities but they “fall together” in their own ways:

Eugene: is my oldest bun (age 3, will be 4 in December) he is a cuddly, playful boy, he loves attention and is very energetic, he has dominant traits but USED (before the bond broke) to be submissive to Cora.

Cora: my middle (age 2, will be 3 in April) she is very serious, not aggressive but she does not like to be messed with, she isn’t very playful, nor energetic and is very dominant.

Milton: my youngest (around 5/6 months) he is so mischievous and playful, he loves to adventure and take risks, he is very energetic, not sure if he is dominant or not

From those traits in my mind (which I know might not be the EXACT case) seems like it could work out, as: Cora being the dominant falling in with Eugene and Milton both being submissive. Eugene and Milton (potentially) getting along due to their shared playful, energetic personalities??

The only thing that I did wonder was, as Eugene and Cora bond has broken it is safer to treat them as “strangers”, which is fine. But should I attempt to fix the bond between Eugene and Cora first or just restart the entire bond and do the bond from the point of them all being “new” rabbits to eachother bonding into a trio as I’ll still need to wait a few more weeks before Miltons hormones have died down from his neutering? (I hope that makes sense)

 

[allenstacy74]

Hi once again, thought I’d come on and give an update:

Milton is officially neutered and is healing amazingly! He has been done for about a week now!

Gave Eugene and Cora a “dinner date” just so I could see where we was at in regards to Eugenes temper, he seems to have forgiven Cora and is trying to love on her but.. Cora is now the “aggressor” they ate their dinner side by side whilst I sat with them, and there was no problems until the food was gone and then she literally jumped on his head.. twice.. and no not as in a “Binky” jump, it was like a pounce, and her tail was raised so clearly she wasn’t happy. Eugene retaliated by thumping at her after I had separated them with a dustpan lol. I put them back in their separate areas, side by side but with enough space so they can’t bite through the gate.

I’m wondering what my next step is, as essentially when it comes to the bonding, I will be bonding 3 single bunnies, so I assume that’s gonna make it abit trickier..?

I read some other discussions that were had on here with other people, and to make it easier for you, rather than having to question; I have 3 bunnies with 3 different personalities but they “fall together” in their own ways:

Eugene: is my oldest bun (age 3, will be 4 in December) he is a cuddly, playful boy, he loves attention and is very energetic, he has dominant traits but USED (before the bond broke) to be submissive to Cora.

Cora: my middle (age 2, will be 3 in April) she is very serious, not aggressive but she does not like to be messed with, she isn’t very playful, nor energetic and is very dominant.

Milton: my youngest (around 5/6 months) he is so mischievous and playful, he loves to adventure and take risks, he is very energetic, not sure if he is dominant or not

From those traits in my mind (which I know might not be the EXACT case) seems like it could work out, as: Cora being the dominant falling in with Eugene and Milton both being submissive. Eugene and Milton (potentially) getting along due to their shared playful, energetic personalities??

The only thing that I did wonder was, as Eugene and Cora bond has broken it is safer to treat them as “strangers”, which is fine. But should I attempt to fix the bond between Eugene and Cora first or just restart the entire bond and do the bond from the point of them all being “new” rabbits to eachother bonding into a trio as I’ll still need to wait a few more weeks before Miltons hormones have died down from his neutering? (I hope that makes sense)

I’d also like to add that I have been recommended a few times to get a second female and do a quad instead of a trio because I know that trios can be a risky game. Should I attempt a trio or go for a quad? Because in my circumstance I can afford and have the space for another rabbit, although it’d be a bit before I got another female as some of you know I’ve just paid hundreds of pounds in vet bills getting Milton ready to join the family. But once I’m paid at the end of this month I will be back on track with the funding area. I don’t want to jump the gun and assume that the trio won’t work but if we’re talking BEST case/option in my situation, do you think it’s best to try a trio or quad?

 

[Blue eyes]

Typically, for attempting a trio, it's best to have all three be introduced at one time. Introducing a 3rd to an existing pair can be more difficult.

The more concerning aspect that I see is that you have 2 males to 1 female. Groupings that seem to work are either all male, or all female, or 1 male to multiple females. Two males are quite likely to vie for the female. They aren't likely to get along.

Your best bet may be to have 2 individual pairs rather than either a trio or a quad. Rabbits do best in pairs, so perhaps that is something to consider.

 

[allenstacy74]

Typically, for attempting a trio, it's best to have all three be introduced at one time. Introducing a 3rd to an existing pair can be more difficult.

The more concerning aspect that I see is that you have 2 males to 1 female. Groupings that seem to work are either all male, or all female, or 1 male to multiple females. Two males are quite likely to vie for the female. They aren't likely to get along.

Your best bet may be to have 2 individual pairs rather than either a trio or a quad. Rabbits do best in pairs, so perhaps that is something to consider.

Yes I get that, although, honestly, my main worry is actually my doe Cora, she is pretty feisty

 

[Blue eyes]

Yes I get that, although, honestly, my main worry is actually my doe Cora, she is pretty feisty

Yeah. I had a very feisty female rabbit years ago. Against standard recommendations, we tried bonding her with 2 mellow males who were not bonded but were brothers and seemed to get along easily enough. The rescue suggested we try bonding her with both boys.

After several weeks and ever-changing heirarchy, the two males ended up irreconcilable. As males will do, they both wanted the female to themselves. We ended up having to choose one of them to keep with her and the rescue took the other boy back.

On a side note, we had previously tried bonding her first with one male rabbit from the rescue which did not work. Then we tried with another, also to no avail. She was the most picky rabbit I ever had to bond.