Bonding: The Scent Experiment

[BlackRabbits]

So here's the situation. I have three rabbits. Zelda and Stewart are both neutered and are a bonded pair. They live in the living room, in a big CC castle with attached pen. Recently I adopted Saoirse, 5 month old unspayed female Flemish Giant. Right now she's in my closed bedroom in a large pen. Once Saoirse is spayed in October, I'm planning to move her pen to the hallway between the living room and my bedroom so she'll be closer to the "action". She will have the run of the apartment when I'm home and supervising, so she'll have contact with Zelda and Stewart through the bars of their pen. Hopefully there won't be too much friction between them. I don't necessarily expect them to bond but hopefully Saoirse's presence will be accepted or tolerated.

I goofed the other day. I use towels as liners on the shelves in the CC castle. I hook them to the bars with shower curtain hooks so I can take them off and wash them. I took the towels from the cage into my bedroom where I had a hamper of laundry ready. Not thinking, I draped one of the dirty rabbit towels over the side of Saoirse's pen while sorting the laundry. Saoirse immediately grabbed the towel and pulled it into her pen, sniffing it intently. I decided to let her have it. She seemed to like it a lot, even licking it, and pulling it around the pen. Finally she lay down on it and for a couple of days, used it as her bed. She didn't seem the slightest bit upset at the scent of other rabbits, but then again I often wonder if she's lonely in there. When I adopted her she had been living with a young male FG. I do go into the bedroom often to visit with her and make sure she's ok.

Last night I took the towel and was going to wash it. Then I decided to see how Zelda and Stewart would react if they smelled the towel, so I put it in their pen and watched. They did exactly what Saoirse did, both sniffed it intently for a while. Then Zelda decided to take possession of it. She pulled it to one corner and rushed at Stewart when he tried to join her. It was just a little lunge, she didn't growl or chase him or anything. She made a nest of the towel and lay down on it. I couldn't have removed it if I tried. For hours afterwards, Zelda stayed on or near that towel. I'm guessing that she wanted to put her own scent back on it.

This morning Zelda and Stewart were lying together in their "nest" of an old blanket in the back corner of the cage. They showed no signs of any change in their relationship. The towel lay in the same spot as last night. I fed them and later brushed them (both are shedding right now, it's an ongoing battle to keep up). Zelda shoved at my hand when I was grooming Stewart, telling me "don't brush him, brush ME!" but that was it. I took the towel out of their pen, and finally got it into the washer.

So I'm wondering if it was a bad idea to expose them all to each other's scent, or is it something I could do to prepare them to meet each other? I felt encouraged that all of the rabbits seemed to react ok to each other's scents. None of them seemed upset anyway.

I still plan to wait until Saoirse is spayed before letting her loose in the living room, though I'm considering moving her to the hallway sooner because I'm concerned she's lonely in the bedroom. I'm also concerned she'll learn how to climb out of her pen, she's already tried it a couple of times and she still has a lot of growing to do! In the hallway she won't be able to see the other rabbits, but they would be able to smell each other. But, I'd be better able to keep an eye on her, she'd have a lot more company from both me and the cats, and she'd be behind steel gates that have vertical bars she can't climb.

So I'm just wondering what others think - should I stop exposing them to each other's scents and leave Saoirse in the bedroom until she's spayed, or try a few more towel swaps and eventually move her to the hallway early (where they'd be able to smell but not see each other)?

 

[Akzholedent]

I would definitely just leave her separated until she's spayed. I don't know if the presence of her hormones might make Zelda more territorial, or break the bond between Zelda and Stewart. Personally, that's not a risk I'd take until after she's spayed and her hormones phased out.

 

[BlackRabbits]

I would definitely just leave her separated until she's spayed. I don't know if the presence of her hormones might make Zelda more territorial, or break the bond between Zelda and Stewart. Personally, that's not a risk I'd take until after she's spayed and her hormones phased out.

Just to clarify what I wrote earlier, I'm not planning to allow them all to be in the same room (even separated with a puppy pen) or to have any physical contact until after Saoirse has been spayed.

I'm just concerned that Saoirse may figure out how to climb out of her current pen before then. Last night when I entered the bedroom I found she had somehow managed to get a harmless item from outside the pen, into the pen. I don't remember where that item was before I found it in her pen, probably on top of one of the boxes that's near her pen. Clearly she's able to climb up and reach objects that are outside of her pen, because the cats are kept out of the bedroom and wouldn't be able to knock things down into the pen.

In the hallway she would be surrounded by walls on two sides and there wouldn't be anything for her to reach. Also I'd know right away if she escaped. There are no doors between the hallway and the living room, so they'd be able to smell each other. They wouldn't be able to see each other, though.

Which brings me to another question: do rabbits bond when they don't have direct access to each other, like if one lives outside a pen and the other(s) live inside the pen, or they live in separate but adjacent cages? I'm not planning on acquiring a fourth rabbit right now, but I am wondering if Saoirse will need her own bonding partner or will her social needs be met by contact with the other rabbits through the bars of a pen.

Either way, if she really shouldn't be moved to the hallway yet, I could probably buy some more cc cubes and add an extra row to her pen so hopefully she won't be able to climb out.

 

[Akzholedent]

Pippi has a habit of trying to climb out of her pen, and she's a little Holland lop! Definitely scary! We have a canopy that we attached to the top so even if she did climb up there, she wouldn't escape. Maybe you can give that a shot, if Saoirse escaping is a high possibility. Even just a sheet attached with clothes pins would probably be effective.

 

[BlackRabbits]

Pippi has a habit of trying to climb out of her pen, and she's a little Holland lop! Definitely scary! We have a canopy that we attached to the top so even if she did climb up there, she wouldn't escape. Maybe you can give that a shot, if Saoirse escaping is a high possibility. Even just a sheet attached with clothes pins would probably be effective.

Thanks, that's a great idea! I have an old sheet that would probably work.

Still wondering if she will need her own bonding partner eventually. I've been reading up on bonding with multiple rabbits but of course there's nothing about whether rabbits can bond if they're not in physical contact with each other.

 

[Akzholedent]

I would say *most* rabbits are happier with a friend. Pippi is... Different. I think she was taken from her mom too early, and she doesn't know how to socialize with rabbits. She's a super sweetheart though. Just very territorial. If she smells another rabbit on my hand, she bites.. So, she's just gonna be our spoiled princess bunny. Lol. Our other two rabbits are already bonded. Adding Pippi for a bit was a fast-paced nightmare. She tore out their fur and I had to quickly grab her. (The other two are twice her size. She's a scrapper, for sure!)

 

[BlackRabbits]

I think Saoirse would be happier with a friend. Today I went into the bedroom and one of my cats followed me. Saoirse has met her before. When she sees the cat she rushes to the side of the pen and follows the cat around as she (the cat) moves around the pen. They sniff noses all the time, and frequently the cat jumps into the pen. When she does, Saoirse runs over and sniffs and licks her. Cat is used to the living room rabbits and goes into their pen all the time to share their water, hay and pellets. I really get the impression that she's lonely or at least loves company. Flemish Giants do have very loving and affectionate personalities.

I've read about people who keep many rabbits in their home, like a warren. They have several groups of bonded rabbits, all the groups have contact regularly (for example, they may be let out in the back yard together for an hour or two) but they're housed in separate (often adjoining) pens or rooms. In one case, the arrangement lasted for more than 10 years and the existing groups got used to new rabbits coming in when one of them died, and the bonding process was much shorter than before. For such an arrangement to work, all rabbits must be altered. I also read about people keeping some rabbits in a pen, while others have the run of the house. It was interesting to read about and I learned that it's possible for neighbouring bonded groups or pairs to co-exist, the dominant ones in each group engage in territorial behaviour (like scent marking or rushing at outsiders without attacking them).

I have no plans to keep that many rabbits of course. But at least I know now that it's possible to keep more than one group of bonded rabbits in the same household. When I adopted Saoirse I planned for her to be the house rabbit while the other two stay in their pen/cage in the living room. It seems I *could* adopt a second house rabbit if Saoirse needs a bonded partner of her own.