Trio Bonding..

[Wtfalcons111]

I currently have a bonded pair of mini lops. They have been bonded for over 6 months now and do great together. I was wondering if it was possible to add another rabbit to the pair to make it a trio. The two rabbits I have now are fixed and the third would be also. Has anyone ever tried this? Could it mess up the bond between the two I have together now? Would I bond them just like I did with my pair? The last thing I would want is my already bonded pair to get mess up. If anyone has any advice that would be great!

Thanks

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Some here have trios and quads. It can be accomplished with the right buns.

 

[Wtfalcons111]

Well thats a positive. I guess the thing i'm trying to figure out is can the trio be made after 2 are already together or do all three have to form a bond at the same time?

 

[MiniLopHop]

I would highly suggest taking them on a date. Take both of your buns to a shelter or rescue group where they can interact with other, already fixed buns. They can pick out who they like

I have two pair that play together on a regular basis. The girls just squabble over food so they can't live together all the time. That is how we grew the family from 1 to 4, dating each step of the way.

Rabbits are individuals. Particularly when you are adding to an established pair you have to take both of their reactions into consideration. We tried several guys before Houdini came home because one or the other girls didn't like the boy we tried.

Jersy is a bit of a drive, but there is a local rescue to me (eastern pa) called Luv-n-bunns that does dates if you can't find anything closer.

 

[Wtfalcons111]

Thank you, That was helpful....When you take them to a rescue do you just observe and see if there is no over aggressive behavior?

 

[MiniLopHop]

Yes, we put them in a large xpen and sat in there with them. Then we observed reactions. If there's signs of aggression we tried another bun. When we put Houdini in they all sniffed eachother and there was some general hopping around, but no real chasing. After a while they ended up laying together in a big bun pile for a few minutes, then wandered around again. It's really reading their reactions to each other.

 

[Wtfalcons111]

That sounds like a good idea...After you found a good match like that did you just gradually let them spend more and more time with each other?

 

[MiniLopHop]

I know it goes against what everyone says, but I just brought them home all three in the same carrier and then put them into their room. It was the same space the girls had been sharing. I think it's a lot less dangerous to set them free in a room together than lock them in a cage, there's many more options to get away from each other if necessary. I watched for a while and there were no hostilities so he spent the night with them. There have never been any fights.

Cindi and Becky did eventually have to be seperated because Cindi would hog the food and Becky got too skinny. When I took Becky out she seemed lonely so that is why I ended up with a fourth. There was a special situation that I wanted a particular bun and luckily Becky accepted him right away. He was blind and deaf so there was no fight for dominance. She helped him settle into the house. After he passed she was so depressed that she loved on Gary as soon as he came into the house.

Now all four play together in neutral space on the weekends. I wouldn't call them bonded, but they aren't strangers either. Gary will even groom Houdini. The girls will get in a tiff, little nipping, once in a while so we just call it a day at that point.

We also have cats, turtles, gerbils, and birds so it is a big happy family

 

[jujub793]

I have a trio. I had Willow and then got Walter, and I kept them in separate cages side by side for awhile. After Wally got fixed (Willow was already fixed) I let them hang out together, supervised of course, and they did fine. They are a bonded pair. Then Jasper came along and I kept her in a separate cage from the other two but right next to their NIC cage. After a relatively short time ( like a week) I let them all three hang out together, again, supervised. There was some chasing and a little bit of hair pulling, but no fighting, luckily Jasper is a fast little bugger and Willow is a fatty and Wally is just too cool to be bothered much.... They now get along just fine, I even see them grooming each other. Still a little bit of chasing but no more hair pulling, usually just Willow being bossy. I do feed Jasper in her own cage ( so Fatty doesn't eat it all). And I didn't mention that they were all free roaming. It's been months now and we are all happy. Now if I can only litterbox train Jasper so they quit their pooping everywhere........ It can be done, time and patience.....


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