Perhaps a trio?

[Nelson_is_mine]

Though it is a definite descision, "the girls" (also known as Big One and Little One) might be staying for good. We've had them for nearly a year and since rabbits of their age and a bonded pair are harder to adopt out, and we truely adore them, we've been considering it. I've been wanting to get Nelson a girlfriend almost since I get him a year and a half ago, and my parents agreed that it might be best to have him bonded to someone before I head off to college in the fall. My mom has really been pressing me to consider bonding Nelson with the girls. It seems to make the most sense, instead of having to leave my family with four rabbits to care for while I am away. I've been reading up on the bonding articles provided in the library, expecially the one about trios. And though it's been a help, I still have a lot of unanswered questions.

Is there a chance that the girls could somehow "unbond"? And if the girls take toward him agressively, would they team up on him like dogs would? And in order to progress the bond, I would be moving the girls' x-pen in my room, which Nelson currently has free run of. I would have to put up a fence for Nelson so he couldn't be near the cage until everyone had setteled in. Could he somehow connect them with his lack of freedom and resent them for it? should I gradually wean him off his space so he's used to it when the girls come? I'm just so nervous. Nelson is my soul bunny and I don't want him to be hurt in any way.

 

[MLR-Rabbitry]

I Would Say Try It, Make Sure They Have Places To Hide, So They Dont Feel As Threatned, I Would Definitly Say, Watch Them Almost Constantly Though, I Think Everything Should Go Fine

 

[Nelson_is_mine]

I traded one of Nelson's towels with one of the girls', there wasn't much of a reaction at all. I'm taking this as a good sign. or just that they are used to each other's scent, which is possible from my clothes and such.

 

[tonyshuman]

You know, anything can happen when you try a trio. Several people here have them but several have tried and failed (me included). I don't know the best way to do it as nothing I did seemed to work. However, I hope people with successful trio bonding experiences can help you out. Here's some questions I would have for those who have successfully done it.

-Is it best to have bonding sessions with all 3 together, or the new bunny and each of the bonded pair separately?

-->we did the new one (Benjamin) with each of the bonded pair separately, since Muffin liked Ben just fine, but Ben and Tony did not get along as well so their bond needed some work. All three together was more than we could handle, because sometimes we needed to break up a spat and two people can really only handle two angry bunnies at one time.

-Should you do other things you normally do for pair bonding, like switching litterboxes and things that have the scent of the other(s)?

--> this did not help for us.

-How common is it for a pair to unbond due to the addition of a third? Are there warning signs?

-->I have not heard of it happening, but I assume it could happen. It didn't happen with us.


Good luck to you, I hope you get some answers. If it doesn't work out, remember you can always get a 4th bunny to be Nelson's buddy and have two separate pairs (that's what we did and why we got Frida).