New to bunbuns thinking of adding a 3rd

[willa]

Hello. I am new to bunbuns. I have ferrets
( butters, taco and dumpling) that are just off the kitchen they have that room 12-16 hours a day. I have 3 rats (Pipzy, sofie and gabby) in a double unit critter nation they get 2 hours a day in the playpen. I have a toy poodle.

I got 2 baby holland lops (franky and chase) last week I am considering adding a lionhead before they get any older in hops they will bond easier. The buns have their own room and I dont cage them. They are both boys and if I add the lionhead he is also a boy and my vet has already said they will neuter them for me.

I have a couple questions:

If I plan to eventually add a lionhead is it best to do it now while they are all babies?

How much hay do you all go through per rabbit per week?

 

[Preitler]

Welcome

This doesn't sound like a good idea. There is no way to tell if they will get along when they grow up, there are no baby bonds, they easily get along anyway, but when puberty hits males can turn on each other within seconds. And if they ever start fighting it might difficult or impossible to bond them, they may forget why, but they can remember that that one is the foe. You could end up to keep 2 or 3 seperate rabbits.

Here, I would have them neutered before puberty, so they never go macho, easier to bond than grown up neutered males (difficult combination anyway), but it seems that isn't a common practice in the US. At least, I would have them neutered asap.
It really depends on the individual characters, imho having 3 match needs way more luck than two.

 

[zuppa]

Hi, what age they are now? They will get along just fine before they hit puberty, as Preitler said above babies don't bond and they will change a lot during puberty and usually two males would start fighting, it usually happens between 12 and 16 weeks, more or less, it depends on breed and personal development, but in my experience they'd start circling/humping each other for dominance and then start fighting and that can be very bad, fur flying and bloody wounds and they can even kill each other or damage very badly and after that it will be even more difficult to bond them after neutering, they may remember their fights, so boys need to be separated at 10-12 weeks or if you have already experience with young rabbits and can watch them when you notice they start circling/humping that's time to separate them immediately.

Generally, I wouldn't keep two or three male rabbits, males are more difficult to bond (exceptions possible, depending on personalities etc), male and female, both fixed, usually would bond easier (also depends). Three males sound a bit too difficult for me, anyway maybe you are lucky and they will bond, but it won't be as easy as you imagine that they will bond as babies and will stay bonded for life, you will need to separate them before fights start and fix them as soon as possible (usually vets taking for surgery from 4,5 or even 6 months, depending on vets experience and personal development of your rabbits, if testicles fully dropped etc) so you will need to keep them separately between 12-14 weeks and neutering at 4,5-6 months and also 4-8 weeks after neutering because they only calm down after time, not immediately after neutering. You will have to keep them not only in separate cages/playpens but also so they can't see and smell each other, because it will be very stressful for them, they will start marking their territory, spraying walls with urine etc.

So if it is your very first experience and you want 3 rabbits anyway you could get already fixed rabbits from your local rescue and your best combination would be male+female or if trio maybe one male + two females, you can also get already bonded pair or find suitable companion and get advice on bonding at rescue.

With babies you will have more work, it is not impossible but will take time and attention, and be prepared you will have three cages for your three males for a couple months (12 weeks to 6-8 weeks after neutering, so for 2-3 months at least).

Good luck any way and please keep us updated, we also love photo lease share some here so we can be with you

 

[willa]

Hello, thank you both for the replies. They are very young only 9 weeks old. The 2 I have are getting altered in january. all of my babies have been rescues until the buns i live in a rural area and there aren't any rabbit rescues in my area and even the spcas have no bunnies. I suppose that is a good thing if they all have good homes. I do have room and time to dedicate if i needed to have buns separated but until the replies here I hadnt read about them breaking their bond. As soon as it was mentioned I went on a reading frenzy to gather info. If i decide to get a third though I think it will be female and of course be kept separate until after everyone is fixed. the original plan was for angoras because i'm a spinner but i fell in love with these guys.

 

[Blue eyes]

Actually if you do decide to get a 3rd (not recommended as others have implied) getting a female could be an even worse idea. While 3 males would be difficult, a female would almost surely cause the males to fight over the female.

Baby rabbits are all cuddles and are docile-_- nothing like adult rabbits, so I suggest waiting to get to know what rabbits (adult rabbits...6 months) are really like before thinking that you are getting any semblance yet of what rabbits are truly like.

 

[Blue eyes]

Here are a couple rabbit rescues in Virginia (I used to live on east coast)
https://www.google.com/search?q=rab...UTF-8#istate=lrl:iv&rlimm=9430501887784330303

https://www.petfinder.com/search/pets-for-adoption/?shelter_id[0]=VA158&sort[0]=recently_added

 

[willa]

Here are a couple rabbit rescues in Virginia (I used to live on east coast)
https://www.google.com/search?q=rab...UTF-8#istate=lrl:iv&rlimm=9430501887784330303

https://www.petfinder.com/search/pets-for-adoption/?shelter_id[0]=VA158&sort[0]=recently_added

like I said, none near me I looked at those already but I do appreciate the links anyways all of my fur babies have always been rescues, I'm in my 50's now and I generally opt for rescues this is the only instance I've not because they aren't near me.

 

[Blue eyes]

Those 2 aren't the only ones. Guess it depends on what you consider "near." My closest rescue is almost 2 hours away but I don't think that is so far to drive.

This shows some others-- just for future reference. Maybe one of those is a bit closer to you. (or if you're closer to Kentucky or Tennessee or northern NC, those may be places to look too) The east coast seems to have more rescues than other parts of the country.

 

[willa]

And normally I would agree however I have a medical reason that is personal and keeps me within a 30 min perimeter of my home. But again thank you.

As I have already stated I always check rescues first this was not an exception. I am not a person that spontaneously brings furbabies into my home without a lot of thought nor am I a person that only wants cute babies.All of my fuzzies have not only been rescues but have been tough case rescues most needing surgeries or a whole world of patience getting them through socialization due to coming from abusive situations. Any animal that comes into my home gets top notch care and gets their needs more than met physically and emotionally and none of my darlings have ever or will ever be rehomed. If they need their own space they get their own space but they never leave my care because stability is a priority.

When I say there were none near me I'm not just saying it to fill space, I actually looked and not only looked the usual places but contacted vets in the area too. Again, thank you.

 

[zuppa]

I agree with that getting a female wouldn't be a good idea as males would fight over her.
I believe you are very good and have experience with your other pets just you are new to rabbits and they are different and you need to do some research and be prepared. We are happy to help please any question just ask don't feel ashamed we were beginners once and made some mistakes and happy to share our experience with new rabbit people.