3rd bunny bonding

[samara0709]

Hello,

i recently just got a gorgeous lil bunny called maple. She is so sweet & chilled & loves cuddles which we love.

i have 2 other rabbits who are bonded and are about 1.5 and have been together for almost that amount of time.

the first night we put maple in a play pen in my other bunnies area and they were not happy. They were chewing on the cage, getting aggressive. (This went on all afternoon, night & until mid morning) So we moved her to the lounge and they haven’t been in contact with each other since.

after we moved her, the other two started to get a bit aggressive with each other at times and I was scared it was going to break their bond.

my other two bunnies are scared bunnies & quite skittish, one more than the other. So now it’s been 2 days without seeing her & they’re still a bit distant and can smell her on me when I pat them & get funny.

my question is, does anyone have any tips for trying to bond a 3rd bunny? Does this sound like it’s worth it or is it best to keep them apart and Unbonded?
If so, if you have two unbonded bunnies. How do you find it?

thank you so much!

 

[MooseMouse]

Lots of patience.
I started with 2 bunnies that were bonded and introduced a 3rd when they were about 2years old (and a 4th later on)
It is possible to have Maple join your other 2 but it takes a lot of time, supervision, and patience. Your other two will start to behave a bit differently for a while because they need to decide on a new hierarchy who is boss bun between the 3.
There is a lot of information out there for bonding methods so I will just share some tips that helped my situation.
1. When I introduced the 3 together I brought all of them to a neutral area that didnt smell like anyone else (in my case the bathroom)
2. I dabbed a little bit of vanilla extract on each of their heads this helps make them smell like each other
3. Over time I would move my 3rd outsider bunny closer to where the others spent most of their time. So first Cricket spent his time in an xpen in the liviing room, then i moved his pen outside the door to where my other two stay, then i moved his xpen into the room they shared and made sure there was a gap no one could nip through the bars and so on.

I think it took about 2-3 months of slow introductions and supervision for everyone to be completely relaxed with each other.
The 4th bunny was a different story.. she jumped over her 4 foot xpen and decided to do self bonding sessions! I was very lucky that the fluffle accepted her immediately hah.

Its a lot like humans getting to know each other most people dont want to just be crammed in a room of strangers things get tense!

 

[JBun]

Bonding a trio can be tricky, and may not be adviseable. There is always the risk it can break up the already bonded pair when trying to bond in a third. I can't really say if it's a good idea or not for your particular rabbits, because all rabbits are different. Some will bond in fine, some it can be a complete disaster.

I would say, don't rush into the decision. First I would suggest doing a lot of reading up on bonding and bonding groups/trios, and get the new bun desexed if that hasn't already been done. Then start gradually with just letting them get used to the new rabbits scent on you. Once they no longer react to that, swap items in that has the other rabbits scent on it. Once that doesn't cause any negative reactions, maybe start moving towards having their pens next to each other. And go from there.

If all you ever get is a negative reaction no matter what you try, I would not move forward with trying to bond the new rabbit with them.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-bunnies.html
http://cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/bonding-bunnies/
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bonding_rabbits_together