Three rabbits?

[Rayen]

So, I pretty much hate myself for thinking about it, but here goes anyway. How hard is it to bond three rabbits together? Is it better to just leave it in even numbers? Is there a serious risk of ruining the current bond and making it so that all three rabbits hate each other?

I looked around and all of the information I saw was pretty disheartening. Things about how it fails more often than not, and how hard it is, and how it breaks the current bond.

If I did get a third, it would be a female, is it better to do two females and a male?

I've sadly been infected with the terrible disease of feeling horribly sorry for a pet store rabbit. She's thin, she had a baby in the store and they don't keep her cage clean and it just smells awful, they sold her baby (it's like three weeks old I think?) and the person who bought it parades it around the store all of the time. They keep bringing baby rabbits and she's been there for months. I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to get her or not, I'm hoping maybe I'll see the madness I'm getting myself into before long. Obviously I couldn't take her now anyway, as the baby has been sold and it still needs to nurse. She doesn't look sickly, but I'd end up keeping her separate from Briar and Quinn anyway for a few weeks to keep an eye on her. I'm so tired of seeing her without food and telling them to feed her just to hear some wisecrack about how she's just going to tip the food over anyway.

Anyway, just looking for some information on it.

 

[murph72]

Three bunnies can be difficult if you didn't start them out together. How long have your two buns been together? How old are they? What are their personalities? It's different from rabbit to rabbit, but the personality of the buns is really important.

Obviously this little girl isn't spayed either. Before bonding her you'd want to not only get her healthy, but have her spayed to decrease the likelihood that hormones will get in the way.

How did you go about bonding your first buns? There are some techniques you could try. Most likely the two will decide whether they like her or not...I haven't seen to many that turn on each other, usually just the newest bunny. I think you'd have to realize that there's a possibility it wouldn't work. Would you be OK keeping her in her own separate cage if that happens?

 

[Boz]

I bonded three bunnies together, they did no grow up together, their ages var, and they actually bonded fairly easily.

First, I had Domino (4 years old). When I adopted Dolla (just turned a year in May) I bonded the two. They bonded within 2 months. About 5 months later I got Louie (Who is about 2 years now).

Louie and Dolla - it was love at first site. They bonded super fast. Then it was getting Louie and Domino to get along. They did have a couple small scruffles, but nothing big.. After a month and a half of a split cage, they bonded and they've been together now since June. Domino and Louie are often snuggling together.

The reason I believe they bonded so easily and fast is their personalities. From Domino and Dolla's personality, I figured bonding Louie would be fairly easy. Louie's a pretty happy-go-lucky bun as well. It really depends on the buns' personalities.


ETA:
Also some other info about the three:
Domino is a girl and is not spayed
Dolla is a girl and is spayed
Louie is a boy and is neutered

 

[Rayen]

My two have been bonded about a week and a half? They're about 7-8 months old, and had been living in the same room for about 5 months. I only started to try bonding them after Quinn was neutered, and it took all of... maybe a week? I would only be really worried about Briar (my female rabbit) when introducing another one. When I first moved Quinn into her room she bit him through the bars of the cage and would grunt/charge at him while she was out. She didn't really care after a few days though. Quinn is very timid, he's never shown any signs of aggression towards anything and there was basically no question whatsoever who the dominant rabbit was when they were finally allowed out together. I'm not sure if Briar would be more accepting of a new rabbit now after it's been a few months after her spay, not that I see a difference in her behaviour since the spay, but I'm not a totally new rabbit either. She's not overly aggressive or anything, she only bit him the one time and never mounts him anymore and she'll groom him just as much as he grooms her. They share food, they can share treats or other small items that they literally have to rip out of each other's mouths. They haven't fought or grunted or anything at each other since they moved in together.

The rabbit I would be getting would be roughly the same age as them. A bit older than Quinn, by a few weeks I think. Nothing major. Obviously she would have to be spayed, I haven't forgotten about that at all. I'm just worried if there might be something wrong with her after being treated so poorly in a pet store for most of her life. She was living in something roughly the size of an average twenty gallong tank with another (obviously male) rabbit. She would pee/poo in one corner and they wouldn't clean it out so that one 'corner' became the whole thing sooner or later. I just feel so bad for her, especially now that she's had a litter and they're not even caring for her as she has to nurse them. It's surprising to me that even the one they have is still alive. She never seemed overly aggressive when I've gone in there, I've been able to pet her without any major problems. Not that she could really run anywhere. It's hard to judge her temperament from quick pet store visits though.

 

[murph72]

Sometimes rabbits who have been treated that poorly just become timid. It may take her awhile before she warms up to you and shows you her true personality.

What breed(s) are the three bunnies? Sometimes temperament can be seen in breeds.

I would also worry more about your female when bonding them. One tip that can work is to take them on a car ride together. The car ride will be an unpleasant experience for both of them and sometimes it leads to them snuggling together to get past the fear.

I really think you're buck won't be the issue due to his timid nature. The only thing I'd fear is that your doe sees the new one as competition for his attention.

It may work out fine. It may not. If you do decide to get her, definitely give her time to get back to health and have her spayed before the introduction. I'd also wait awhile after the spay so that her hormone level is low when introduced. However, I'd get her with the idea that you WANT to bond them, but that she may not work out. You'd have to be willing to keep her in a separate cage if that happened.

 

[Flashy]

I have had three trios and find them far better than my pairs. All of them I have bonded from scratch, although one trio is made up of siblings (who were separated at 8 weeks and then rebonded back after 6 months) and another trio has a pair of siblings in who have never been separated. I have a mmf trio and also have had two ffm trios.

I personally wouldn't suggest getting a rabbit with the idea of making a trio though because there is so much capacity for it going wrong in terms of breaking bonds, fights, etc. You might find yourself with three individual buns.

If you want to rescue this girl then rescue her with the idea that she will be separate from them and have everything set up and ready that she can stay apart from them for the rest of her life if necessary. Then, maybe with time you could give the bonding a go, but always be prepared for the consequences. If you only get her and will only take her if she can be in a trio with them then you are getting her on a condition that you have no control over.

 

[paul2641]

I had a bonded pair that where together for maybe 3 months and recently I just through in a new female(Intact getting spayed soon). They all get on brilliantly took about five min for them to bond, I guess I'm just lucky.

 

[Dragonrain]

I have a trio too. I'll be honest, it was harder for me than bonding a pair. It took a lot longer (When I bonded my first pair it took like a week, it took me 3 months to bond my trio), but, at least for me, all the time and effort was more than worth it in the end.

 

[Rayen]

Would it be okay if I went into it thinking that they were going to be the two and a single and kept them in the same room still? They'd be roughly five feet apart, and I can keep them completely separated and even separate rooms for running around if necessary. I'd like them to be in this room together for conevience, as I'm here most often (it is my bedroom). The space I was thinking of setting up as her 'cage' was just going to be basically my second closet with the door open and a x-pen. (the space is roughly 4-5 feet long and 2-3 feet wide) I can just close the door to the closet while the other two are out and I can take her upstairs to another bedroom or the living room downstairs for running around.

Would it be okay to keep them so close though? It's not like the room is entirely theirs to begin with, as I have my hamster living on top of them, my cat is almost always in here and the dogs/other cats roam in and out whenever I'm in here. They're used to various other animals in the room. Would they calm down to the scent of another rabbit they don't interact with after awhile?

I have supplies/time enough to care for two separate rabbit cages if necessary, it's really not a big deal. I'd have to draw the line at three rabbits though, so she would technically be 'alone' if I did keep her away from the other two. Would she be okay if I gave her a stuffed animal and spent time with her?

 

[Flashy]

It would be fine to have them together in the same room, however, given where she has come from I would suggest a quarantine period where she is kept in a completely different place, just to avoid her potentially handing anything to your pair. Better to be safe than sorry I always think. eventually they should be able to live in the same room and you never know where things will progress to from there

 

[Rayen]

I figured I'd have to keep her in a different area at first, after all the stuff I mentioned about her.

How far away should she be though? I have a small bathroom that's across the hall from my room that would work temporarily. (I'm the only one that uses it) But would that be far enough away? I have the living room in the basement, and a few other bedrooms on the top floor as well I could keep her, but those are all used by the cats/dogs during the day so I'm sure there'd be some clawing or whining at the doors.

 

[Flashy]

You want the place with least potential for contamination, so in that sense the bathroom makes sense because you can make sure you take the necessary precautions when going in there whereas your dogs and cats won't understand.

 

[murph72]

The bathroom sounds like a great quarantine area for her. If you do find out that she has any illnesses, it would be easy to sterilize if necessary. Taking precautions to keep your other two buns well is the best way to go. Having one potentially ill bunny is far less stressful than three.

I think as long as you go into this with the idea that she may never bond to them, then you have the right mindset. The bonding might be easy, difficult, or even impossible. You don't know until you try it.

By the way, kuddos for wanting to save the poor girl from a obviously incompetent pet store. Most people would only want to save her babies. You're doing a great thing.:biggrin2:

 

[bunniekrissy]

I am not sure how trios normally work, but I added a bonded pair (two spayed females) to my neutered male bunny and I can say the bonding was MUCH easier than when I bonded my first fixed male/female pair. At the time we adopted to two females, my boy had just lost his mate so he was lonely and receptive to meeting other bunnies. He hadn't yet gotten used to being an only bun again with his own territory, so that probably helped things.

 

[Rayen]

Now that I've got my hopes up, I'm going back on Saturday to see if they'll let me buy her and keep her there (ugh) until she's done nursing the baby. Knowing my luck she'll have already been sold, but I can still go and see. It will get rid of the guilt of having done nothing either way! She's been there for months so you'd think she would've sold already if at all. (it's the only store in town that has rabbits, it's not like there's a lot of other options)

I'm now going to fight the urge to go pick names, because once something is named it's like a billion times worse when you find out they're no longer available. It's just exciting to know for certain what the sex is going to be before I get a rabbit and no months worth of questioning it with my unisex names. I can pick a pretty girly name! Must resist...

Thanks for all of the help, I'll keep you posted whether or not I get her. Maybe even take a picture if they don't chase me out of the store.

 

[murph72]

You'd think they'd sell her at a discount. She produced babies that they're now going to sell (hopefully at eight weeks and not too early that it's unsafe for the babies). Obviously she's an older bun and they're less likely to be sold. How old are the babies? You'd want to leave her with them to their sixth week before they're weaned.

I once saved a bun like this, but I also took her babies. I got the girl for free by offering to sell the babies and give them the money for them. I felt better knowing she was out of that stressful environment to take care of her babies properly. In the end I was able to rehome all of them to families that I was sure were safe. I also found her a loving home with a family that wanted an older bun as a pet. She and the babies are much better off now.

 

[Rayen]

The problem is, the single baby that she had has already been sold. I would've been willing to take the baby too and give them the money/the baby back once it was old enough, but I think the owner of the baby actually works there. Or else, she's there quite often and knows all of the workers well. You'd think she'd want to keep the area clean seeing as it is her rabbit that's at risk with the terrible environment. I don't even know if they separated her in time to avoid a second pregnancy, which could be another problem that's coming. She looked very thin the last time I saw her though, so I don't think she has another set coming and the baby was a few weeks old at the very least when I was there last.

I live about twenty minutes outside of town too, so it's not like it's easy for them to stop by or for me to just go out there with a baby rabbit.

I doubt she's been sold though, they got her roughly a week or two after I got Briar, so she's been there since late January/early February. She was housed with a sexually mature male that was mounting her quite often and chasing her, they told me many, many times that she was male and I told them that two males would fight so they should separate them. Obviously they ignored me, and kept them together for a long time while getting more baby rabbits that they didn't need. Then I saw her separated one day and now I know why they did it. Not to save her from any stress, but to save the babies.

The baby will be lucky to be with the mother for 6 weeks. That's the age they get all of theirs at, and I'm not sure if they're going to use the logic I see many people use of 'it was eating hard food, so clearly it's time to separate them!'. I don't know how many times I've seen that even for cats/dogs, and I've raised many many young dogs/cats and know that them eating harder food means nothing.

It's such a shame though, she's a beautiful bunny. She's all white with short black-ish ears, a small little dot on her mouth of black and the black rings around the eyes. If I had known she was pregnant I would've tried to take her earlier. The stress of the whole thing couldn't have helped her lifespan any. Not to mention the idiots caring for her, I don't even want to think of what might have happened to the other babies. I know that first-time mothers tend not to be the best, but I'm sure the tight space and poor cleaning/housing didn't help any.

I really need to stop going to that pet store. I go there every two-three weeks for crickets/small emergency things. It's one of the only pet stores in town, and if I can I'll go to the other one that doesn't have animals, but they don't carry a lot of supplies, mostly food. I always get angry going there. Which is a shame really, since I've gone to other stores with the same name and they are all very clean and well kept.

 

[murph72]

It's kind of odd to see a first time mom only have one baby. One baby also tends to get too big sometimes and cause birthing complications (stuck kit), so she's lucky that she made it safely through the whole ordeal. Or, was this not her first pregnancy? If they're just letting her be bred over and over again, that would explain her body condition.

I too would be worried about a second pregnancy. If she's looking thin, this could be very detrimental to her. I wonder if they took the buck out as soon as they saw her make a nest. If not, she's able to get pregnant right after having the baby.

Babies will eat solids as soon as they are able to open their eyes and move around. I've seen babies eating solids on day 10. It's a shame if they're taken from their moms so early, it makes them more likely to develop problems like enteritis and die.

People like that steem me. I hate seeing pet stores that sell bunnies when they don't even know how to sex a bunny. They have no business selling something they don't even know how to properly raise on their own. Where do the new bunny owners get advice from?...unfortunately probably these pet stores that give crappy advice. Ok, I'm off my soap box now...but I'm sure you're feeling the same kind of frustration...and I didn't even SEE the bunny myself.

 

[Rayen]

I believe it was her first pregnancy. I'm not 100% sure, I did go in there at least once a month and this is the first time I ever saw any babies. I wasn't there directly after they were born either, so who knows how many may have died? I don't even think she built a nest, or if she did, they cleaned it out. She was moved into a new cage instead of the male being moved. I just know that she never had food when I went in there, just dust leftover and everytime I told them she was out they just told me 'it wasn't worth it since she would just dump it out'. I'm not sure how often they fed her, if they just fed her the one time a day and let her eat the stuff off the bottom afterwards which would have been covered in urine/feces since her cage was so small. I'm not even sure how much hay she's been eating, since they either never had any, or very, very rarely had any. I'm not looking forward to buying the pellets they feed her either, I hate the Kaytee brand of pellets. Maybe they'd be willing to sell me a small portion to swap her over so I won't have to buy a full bag? I mean, they've gotta have an open bag somewhere to feed all the rabbits, right?

Sigh, I should give them a call today to see if they'd be willing to let me come in and buy her and keep her there until the baby is ready to go. All of this is just assumptions until I get there. If she's there for a few weeks maybe I can just get them to swap her over to my pellets and hay. Not that I'd trust them to do it right.

 

[Rayen]

Well, I'm both relieved and horrified beyond words.

I talked to the man who runs the store and he told me that she had been sold. I wouldn't have minded caring for her as obviously it would've been a better life than being forced to live in a pet store all of her life, but I still didn't really want three rabbits. I love them, don't get me wrong, it's just so much work and I'd always feel bad for her if they never ended up getting along. Having to live alone with two other rabbits literally a few feet away.

However, I was talking to him, and she was gone from the store. Not only that, but he told me that she was most likely pregnant again. Not because they hadn't separated them in time after the first birth, but because they didn't put anything over her cage and she hopped right into the male's enclosure after she gave birth and was in there all night. So that poor disgustingly thin rabbit is most likely going to have horrifying complications. He wasn't even worried about it either, he just laughed it off saying he told the people who took her to just bring the babies in when they were old enough.

Also the baby rabbit that she had had before was maybe, a very strong maybe 4 weeks old and it was separated from its mother already. I know a lot of rabbits can be fine being separated that young, but that's quite a lot of risk they're putting on that poor baby's life.

I just hope the people she's with now are ready to deal with any problems they're going to face if she is actually pregnant. I hope that little baby is alright too. I hope the people who bought her actually know how to care for rabbits and that she's not living in another horribly inadequate space again. If they took any advice from that store, I know she will only suffer because of their ignorance. I'll make sure to keep her in my thoughts, I can only hope she found a good understanding family that won't force her to live in the typical 'dwarf' rabbit cages. (I have a dwarf rabbit cage for their trips to the vet and such, it's so small I wouldn't force my hamster to live in it!)

I bought my rabbits there before I knew how bad they were, and the advice they gave me both times was horrible. They told me to feed them guinea pig food every other day because it was 'basically the same thing' and 'it's good to switch up the nutrition'. Call me crazy, but I figured giving them good quality hay and some vegetables every so often would switch up their nutrition too. Things like how guinea pigs and rabbits should live together because they basically ate and acted the same. Not even about rabbits either, the guy tried to convince me that turtles and frogs should be housed together too. Which, if you've ever owned a turtle, you know is horrifying. Turtles eat frogs. Not in a quiet polite manner either. It is probably the worst death you will ever witness, they rip frogs apart with their claws, the frogs try to fight to survive, turtles have sharp beaks for ripping, ugh.

So yeah, I'm not very impressed with the guy who runs that store and I'm pretty sure if they try to give me advice one more time, I'm going to snap.

Everything's been resolved though! Thanks for all of the help everyone.