Posted By Karla on 11/03/2010 07:53 AM
Why not just try it out and see what happens? It would be a 1000 times easier if they were bonded to each other.

I would definitely start bonding them. Start with switching litter boxes so they get used to the scent of each other. Perhaps use a stunt double.

It sounds like Newton and Bandit could be an easy bond, so start with those two.

Ok, I will give it a go. Today I will switch the litterboxes and work on the stunt double. I agree with you about starting with Newton and Bandit. If it was just the 2 of them I would have started bonding a long time ago. It’s the Newton/Smokey part that scares me.

It was like bunny chaos. They were all in a bunch and I tried to get in the middle and separate them but they would jump back together and start boxing. That’s when I just grabbed Newton. Everyone calmed down and went back back to their rooms after that.

I’ll try giving greens at the gate. I think that’s a good idea. Usually there is no through the gate aggression, just lots of curiosity and interest.

Ok, so I switched the litterboxes and the buns seem totally unphased. I guess that’s good although, more probably, it means nothing. As a next step I brought out a stunt-Bandit and started rubbing it on her to get her scent all over it. Once it’s good and Bandit-like I’m going to give it to Newton to snuggle. This went really well. I rubbed stunt-Bandit on Bandit and then placed her down next to Smokey and Bandit. I walked away and came back to Bandit licking stunt-Bandit’s ears. Here’s a picture of Smokey, Bandit & stunt-Bandit together.

Then I tried to bring in a stunt-Smokey and they all hopped away. Oh well. I have a feeling this process is going to be a lot of one step forward, two steps back.

Not much to report because I’m still in the pre-bonding stages, but I do have some photos to share. Sorry about the quality. It’s really dark in my house. No overhead lighting.  I don’t think I will start actual bonding sessions for at least a week. My daughter’s birthday party is on Sunday and I don’t want stressed out buns. Having  strange people in the house will be stressful enough I think.

Bandit has really taken to the stunt-Bandit. Here she is grooming her.

Newton also took right to the stunt-Bandit. Here he is grooming her with Bandit’s scent all over it.

Smokey couldn’t care less about the stunt-Smokey. Here he is tolerating it

Smokey tolerating stunt-Smokey again

The most challenging part of the stunt-Bunny process is thwarting stunt-Bunny theft.

I decided to feed pellets at Newton’s gate last night. Smokey Notices Newton.

Bandit notices Newton. Smokey notices pellet dish.

Newton and Bandit nose-boink. Smokey looks bummed out.

Thank you! I will keep posting. I’m so grateful to have this forum. I don’t think I would attempt bonding a trio without the support of the people here.

Yesterday morning I let Newton eat his greens at Smokey and Bandit’s gate. This was uneventful. Newton and Bandit immediately ran to the gate trying to greet each other. Smokey was more interested in his pellets.

Smokey did eventually come over to see what was going on.

Although Newton went to town grooming the stunt-Bandit, he wanted nothing to do with the stunt-Smokey. Go figure!

Since the gate visits had been so sucessful I thought if I let just Bandit visit Newton’s gate without Smokey it would go even better. Not so much. Bandit hung out in front of her gate at first looking for Smokey, then eventually came over to eat and nose boink Newton, who after a couple of boinks tried to nip her. Way to impress the girl, “Romeo” .  I let her back into the kitchen. Both she and Newton spent the rest of the evening at their gates, staring loningly at each other. But I won’t be doing anymore visits here. I’ll continue to switch the litter and use stunt-bunnies and next week I’ll try some sessions in neutral territory.

I was starting to worry that my incompetence at bonding rabbits would start to have a negative effect on our relationship with them, but something really unexpected has been happening. Ever since I started with the pre-bonding sessions (switching litterboxes, stunt-bunnies etc.) the rabbits have become more active, more playful and friendlier. Very strange but I’m really happy. Here’s Smokey lounging all sprawled out and relaxed. Normally, he’s not much of a lounger, especially out in traffic areas. He prefers to meatloaf in his hidey hole.

Well, I put a hold on the bonding sessions because Smokey seemed stressed after the party. He didn’t appreciate the company. But meanwhile I accidently aquired a new baby bun. So instead of trying to bond Newton to Smokey and Bandit, I’ve got a new plan, Bond Newton to the new bunny once he’s grown. I know it’s going to be harder to bond two males than a male and a female, but I figure it’s got to be easier than bonding 3, right?

Posted By Petzy on 11/14/2010 08:13 AM
Yes, trios can be hard to bond. How did your two react to the presence of a new rabbit?

Smokey (at least I assume it was Smokey) peed on the kitchen floor this morning, which is not like him (or Bandit for that matter.) I figured it was due to the new arrival. But other than that I haven’t noticed any change in their behavior. Desmond (the baby) is living upstairs in my bedroom and all the other buns live downstairs, so they don’t have any contact with each other.

Ok, so I finally tried an actual tub bonding session with Newton and Bandit. I placed a towel on either end of the tub and placed one bun on each towel. At first they wouldn’t approach each other but then Newton built up the courage to hop over to Bandit’s towel. They licked a little bit. Then Newton tried to hump her. I pushed him off. Then Bandit hopped away to the other towel. Newton followed her again. They seems fairly friendly but there was a bit of nipping or swatting. I don’t know, it was so fast it was like lightning and I immediately separated them with the oven mitt. The session ended after about 5 or 10 minutes when Bandit hopped out of the tub.

I took a short video of part of the bonding session, which I still can’t figure out how to post directly, so I’ve included a link. Sorry for the quality and especially PLEASE excuse the hard water stains on this bathtub. Is this a good sign for them being able to bond?

s225.photobucket.com/albums/dd86/runawaybunny2000/

Ok, I’m really feeling positive about the ability to bond these 3. I’ve noticed that since I got the baby, Smokey and Bandit have gone crazy trying to pellet their territory out for him. They keep escaping the kitchen and they run right past Newton, completely ignoring him to go upstairs to the bedroom to leave pellets outside the room Desmond is in.

Today Newton and Smokey got out at the same time in the living room and where last time they fought, today they didn’t even acknowledge each other. I thought this was a good sign and I decided to try a bonding session with Smokey and Newton together. It went really well. Newton was determined to try to hump Smokey so I had to keep my hand on him to stop him, but they both sat next to each other and got pets from me. There was one instance where Newton got tired with the petting and tried to mount Smokey again and Smokey nipped him but it wasn’t like an attack and I was able to easily calm them down and petted them side by side for another 5 minutes or so and then gave them each a little banana. Soon I’m going to try switching their environments. Newton in the kitchen and Smokey & Bandit in the living room. Hoping to blur the territorial line because I don’t have a neutral area to house them all in once their bonded. They will all be free range downstairs.

My original plan was to bond Newton with Smokey and Bandit for a trio. Then I got a fourth bun and I thought it would be easier to make 2 pairs instead of bonding a trio and then a quartet. But then when I saw how Smokey and Bandit have really relaxed around Newton since I got the new bunny last week, I sort of reverted back to my original plan of bonding Newton with Smokey and Bandit.

I can find a temporary place to bond them but the eventual goal is to take the gates down and let them have the run of the downstairs. I thought that the original habitat had to be sanitized as much as possible once the (now bonded) buns were reintroduced so that one bun doesn’t keep think of that at his territory. I could be totally wrong about that. My only bonded pair were already bonded when I got them, so I am totally new to this.

Until today, Newton was the only bun ever in the computer room and he had the run of it. Smokey and Bandit are the only buns ever in the kitchen and have had the run of it for 2 years now. I’m worried that might be a problem when I reintroduce them after they are bonded.

Update on the bonding. It’s going slow but steady. On Monday I took Newton, Smokey and Bandit to my husband’s machine shop and set up an x-pen in the office. It’s about a 15 minute ride and they snuggled like bff’s in the box on the way to and from. If we lived in a Winnebago they’d be bonded already.

At the shop Newton hopped around the pen like he owned the place munching on hay, while Smokey and Bandit huddled in the litterbox looking terrified. They ignored each other for a long time, maybe 20 minutes, then started showing an interest. Sometimes they would touch noses and then turn away. Eventually, they would touch noses and then jump back startled. This would escalate into aggression if I didn’t stop it right there. At that point I would pick Newton up and place him in the litterbox with Smokey and Bandit and pet them in turn. They would stay snuggled this way for several minutes. After about an hour or so, I brought them home.

Tuesday I had another session the same way. The only differences were that they ignored each other longer, maybe 30 minutes, There was no aggression between Newton and Bandit. (They would always just turn away after nose touches) And Smokey and Bandit seemed much more relaxed. After a while they would groom themselves, eat some hay, and hop out of the litter box at points. This session lasted about an hour and a half.

Posted By jerseygirl on 11/24/2010 05:42 AM

I think I’m developing a thing for Smokey….

I don’t blame you. Smokey is a total sweetheart. I could pet those soft little ears all day long.

I’m pausing the bonding session temporarily. I tried something crazy and added Desmond to the bonding session to see if that would diffuse the tension between the other three. And it worked great. It was the best session I’ve had. But I don’t want to bond a quartet and then risk breaking the bond when I get Desmond neutered so I’m going to put the whole deal on hold until Desmond is old enough to get fixed, then bond all four at once.