Bonding Three Bunnies.

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This topic has 4sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 5 months ago by Elrohwen.

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- 06/13/2012 at 12:10 PM
  tanlover14
  Participant
  3617 posts
  Two months ago my boyfriend and I purchased a tan buck rabbit. He’s been the perfect addition to our family – so we decided to go back to the same breeder and purchase his sister a month later. Since neither is neutered or spayed, we haven’t bonded them fully. They play together but live in separate cages. They are being neutered and spayed at the end of the month. Sometime within the next few weeks, we are actually going back and finally picking up the last available buck in the litter.
  
  We are worried about bonding them correctly and making sure we take the necessary precautions to ensure good introductions and prevent any hatred from the other two already being possibly “bonded” even if not completely.
- 06/13/2012 at 12:29 PM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  I would recommend that you don’t do any type of bonding at all – even letting them play together at this point, until you get all of them altered.
  
  I’m not sure if your little male’s testicles have descended yet, as it looks like he was born in February but if they have, then he could get the female pregnant. Unfortunately females can get pregnant at a young age.
  
  I would start any kind of bonding once all 3 rabbits have been altered. And you have to keep in mind that bonding needs to be done in a neutral space so hopefully you have a place in your home that is totally neutral.
  
  I would not worry that your 2 will be bonded prior to the arrival of the last sibling. The best thing for bonding a trio is bonding each rabbit separately and not putting all 3 together in one space until you can bond each of the rabbits one on one to each other.
- 06/13/2012 at 12:32 PM
  Elrohwen
  Participant
  7318 posts
  Ditto, Sarita! Definitely don’t let them out together until they have been fixed for at least a month as they can mate in seconds.
  
  Bonding a trio is hard work. Work with one pair at a time. Your first two aren’t bonded – they put up with each other because they are intact and want to mate, and because they’re young – so you won’t have to worry about that once they’re fixed.
- 06/14/2012 at 8:32 AM
  tanlover14
  Participant
  3617 posts
  Thanks for the advice! You’re probably definitely right about the pair and their bonding so far since he seems way more interested in her than the other way around. And we do have a neutral space in our place, we made one for introducing the other two to each other. Would you suggest making another totally neutral space for attempting to bond when the third comes (it would be easy to do so it’s not an issue) or do you think the “neutral space” we’ve used for the other two is okay? We’ve been letting them play in this spot since we got them both together so I wasn’t sure if it would still be considered neutral or if they consider it primarily their territory or not.
  
  Separating them will be essential until they are altered now. We weren’t sure since both the breeder and vet told us it should be okay as long as we get them done as soon as they’re able to be done but the vet also said that sometimes accidents happen so it may be better to keep them separate. That it’s still a toss up either way.
- 06/14/2012 at 8:40 AM
  Elrohwen
  Participant
  7318 posts
  A neutral space should be somewhere that no bunny has gone before, and no bunny will be allowed in solo. It sounds like your current area is the shared play zone, which is fine (though they should only be allowed in the play zone one at a time from now on) but you’ll need another totally neutral area. Bathtubs are really popular for initial bonding because they’re neutral and by taking a shower you’ll be washing away the smell every day so it’ll stay neutral. It’s also small enough that you can easily supervise and the slippery surface unnerves them. The less comfortable they are in a new zone, the more likely they are to want to snuggle with the new rabbit instead of fight.
  
  Males can breed as soon as their testicles are descended, which can be by 8 weeks. Females can get pregnant as soon as they go through puberty which is usually around 5-6 months, but can be earlier and there’s really no way to tell. Like I said, it can literally take them 5 seconds to breed, so definitely safer apart at this point. They’ve been known to breed through cage bars, so make sure their cages are a couple inches apart too.
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