I’m so excited all four bunnies are fixed and are well on their way to recovery.  We got some happy jumps in the air and both are  moving without much difficult.  They seem to know their limits and are resting when they need to and aren’t completely as active as they have been.  Appetite is coming back too!  So now that that’s all taken care of and we’re all recovering nicely,  I’m starting to think about bonding.  I know I shouldn’t start the bonding now right now and i’m going to wait another month or so but now I’m trying to just research and gain ideas and tips for bonding.  Sorry so long by the way!!!!!!

I guess my ideal/dream situation is that I would have 4 free and very happy bunnies running around my apartment and playing, full of happy jumps, and follow the leader and anything else that makes them happy.  Realistically I know this very possibly will not happen but I’m still hopeful.  I’m trying to figure out if i should bond each into pairs and then try and combine the pairs or if that could create a jealousy issue.  Also, right now their pens are all next to each other in one big square and each occupy a corner of the square.  Now, all current neighbors get along, groom each other through the cages and lay fully extended (lazy lay as we call it) and just lay back to back.  It goes from top left-Smokey (female), top right-Rupert(male), bottom right-Flo(female), bottom left-Benny(male), in a clockwise poisition.  They all get along with their neighbors but Smokey and Flo (who are catty cornered from each other and both female) don’t get along.  Now this was before Smokey was fixed and she was the instigator of the confrontations.  Nothing too violent, maybe a tuff or fur pulled out but never blood or anything longer than 5-10seconds.  They only were ”given” the opportunity because my husband or I forgot to put the cage piece up the blocks their access but that’s only happened a handful of times in the past 6 months.  Flo doesn’t seem to mind Smokey but i’m not sure how they will react without boundaries like pen walls. 

I’m fully prepared to just pair them off but would really like trying all 4 together.  Has anyone had any luck with this or even heard of it?  We did at one point before Smokey was fixed put her and our fixed male, Rupert together in the bathtub and things went pretty well.  She wanted to hump him and he was happy for the attention but only wanted to be groomed.  A little nipping but nothing that wasn’t stopped when the other looked uncomfortable and we corrected the nip offender.  I’m confident that we could bond Rupert and Smokey together and Flo and Benny together.

I know that rabbit personalities can play a part in bonding so let me give you a breif description of each bunny:

Rupert- 3 1/2 year old fixed male who was a rescue from a house over run with over 100 rabbits.  He is a 3lb Dutch bunny.  He was an only bunny for about 2 yrs of his life after he was rescued at 4 mo old.  He was attempted to bond with 3 other rabbits, the first female, they got into a really bad fight because he jumped into her cage and they fought she was re homed.  Another rabbit just had no interest in him as she was already bonded before and was torn away from her mate because the family didn’t want to “deal” with a pregnant rabbit and just let her free outside.  We did have good luck bonding him with a fixed male, but unfortunatley Malcolm passed away when an abcess in his jaw went septic.  We unfortunatley noticed too late, Sunday morning we made the vet appt for the Monday morning, but he past away a few hours later Sunday afternoon.  Rupert was pretty lost for a few weeks.  He is kinda skittish and doesn’t love human attention but he is a sucker for nose pets.  Lately, he has also enjoyed when my husband or I sit in his pen and rip phone book paper.  That is his favorite pastime and if he hears paper rip he twitches and pops where he’s standing.  All he wants to do it get nose pets or groomed by another bunny but he is selfish and does not think he should have to groom them.  He also often “digs” at the pen wall that divides him and Smokey, does that mean he wants to he with her?  I hope so!

Smokey-2year old recently fixed female who was bought from a petstore (don’t worry, would never go through that again!) She is a jersey wooley/rex mix.  She is our princess and she knows it!  She is the most expressive rabbit we have.  She is VERY much a mommy’s girl (sometimes a daddy’s girl) and looks forward to be picked up, pet and cuddled by me and loves getting her nose, eyes and cheeks rubbed.  She also feels the need to follow me everywhere while she’s out. I cannot use the restroom without her!  She is also already “bonded” with Fishy…a stuffed fish she decided to adopt.  She is a wonderful caretaker and not only is Fishy the cleanest fish in our apartment he is also well fed, taken to the litter box and leaned up against the water bottle when he is thirsty…tail first…we think that she thinks it’s his head…fishy is also loaned out (just his tail) to any rabbit who is sick or scared or if she thinks they need a pick me up. Fishy’s tail is  pushed through the bars into their pens.  Fishy went to the vet too and she cuddles with him at night.

Benny-2 year old recently fixed male who is albino (just like Jack!)  He was a problem as a teenager and was really a handful!  Almost to the point where we considered rehoming him.  We didn’t, and he has really mellowed out.  He loves his Daddy but loves all the other bunnies just as much!  We call him our “bunny of love”  He gets along with everyone and makes a point to visit everyone as soon as he is out of his pen.  He often enjoys getting groomed from all the bunnnies, even Rupert!  He is a very smart boy who is very clownish.  He is well behaved now and loves to play “Get your butt!”  He hops up to me or my husband and we tap his butt and say “Get your butt” and he happy jumps away only to come back a few minutes later and “slowly wander close by” only for us to  get his butt again.  Sometimes we don’t even have to touch him or be close by, just saying “get your butt” is enough for him and he spazzes away happily.

Flo-fixed female who we fostered for 4 months and have owned her for another 4.  She is unknown in age, probably a few years old, and she was also rescued from a man who had 20 or so rabbits in his backyard in a bunny “wonderland”.   They had a fiberboard wood overhang for housing and a rusty swingset to play on.  Cleveland Ohio winters can get bitter and they lived out their together, multiplying for a few winters.  We also think she may be wild.  She is colored wild and is extremely skittish.  She does not like to be touched but does like to be near us and will now accept treats by hand.  She is the smartest dumb bunny you will ever meet.  We could be completely wrong but we didn’t know if it was possible for a baby rabbit to integrate into a family of all dutch bunnies or if genetics could give one wild looking rabbit with no traces of dutch. 

Again, sorry it’s so long but as we’ve seen above I’ve never successfully bonded a pair and now i’m undertaking a HUGE bonding experience trying for all 4.  Any tips about bonding pairs is also welcome as I feel this is the most likely route.   I’m most interested in advice on Smokey and Flo as they have the “worst issue” with each other and the two males have no problems with any other the others.  I’d at least like them to stop fighting through the bars.  Another weird question, does anyone this Fishy will cause any issues of jealousy if he is in a shared pen with another bunny?  She share him but it’s on her terms.  I would hate to take Fishy away!!!  Thanks for your attention and your advice!  I hope to start adding remarks to others as I gain more knowledge about bonding and any other information I can share.  Thanks!

Katie