Trio bonding advice please!!

[honore]

I need advice about a possible adoption of a six-year old rabbit.

I have two rabbits, a bonded pair: an almost 8 year-old female (I adopted her when she was 2) and an almost 3 year-old male (adopted 1 1/2 years ago).

Both are neutered/spayed and are kept as house rabbits, are healthy, happy, and very social (with humans and with each other).

I just learned about a 6 year old male rabbit, not neutered, who has been kept by himself out on a porch all his life. The current owner told me the rabbit "lacked personality" and didn't "do much of anything but sit in a corner". They are basically just feeding him and waiting for him to live out his life.

It breaks my heart and I am thinking about adopting him and bonding him with my pair. I do understand that it would time and patiences, both of which I am happy to invest.

The questions I have, and that I am hoping somebody could answer, are the following:

-what are the risks of neutering a 6-year-old rabbit?
-is it possible to socialize a rabbit (with people and other rabbits) who has been neglected for so long?
-could this negatively affect my rabbits, especially my older female?

I much appreciate any information you could give me to help me make a decision. I really would like to get this rabbit out of the porch and into a loving home.

 

[Azerane]

I can't answer all your questions, but when adding another rabbit to the mix, there is always the potential of breaking the original bond of the two rabbits.

I personally don't think that 6 years is too old for a neuter, but it really depends on the individual's health as well, something that only a health exam and bloodwork could tell you. You might get him, all prepared to do all that, and something might come up in his bloodwork that prevents you from getting him neutered. Would you be prepared to house him separately from your other two if needed?

 

[Blue eyes]

Oh... this may be very difficult. If it were a female, that would be another story. Usually, multiple bondings consist of all females or only 1 male and several females. Having two males and one female can make the males fight over her -- even if all are spayed and neutered.

I believe there is an RO member who has had success with multiples. I have done several pair bondings. I also tried a trio bonding but it did not work out. I was actually looking for a mate for my spayed female. There was a pair of brothers who got along wonderfully, so the rescue thought they might get along with sapphire since she seemed to like them too.

It took weeks of ever-changing dominance among the three rabbits, but in the end, the two males ended up irreconcilable. They both fought over the girl. I since learned that 2 males with a female isn't likely to work.

I would ask the same question as Azarene : if they don't get along, are you ok with housing the boy separately?

 

[honore]

That's a tough question. My rabbits are not caged, they are litter box trained and have the run of the house and backyard, and "insist" that doors be kept open (or else).
I really don't want to get this rabbit out of one cage to place him in another.