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Forum BONDING Bonding a group of four

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    • RowlyAndRalphie
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      26 posts Send Private Message

        Hi everyone 🙂

        So I was looking for some advice/guidance/general support while I bond my rabbits!

        I started with two boys – Rolland and Ralphie. Rolland was the dominant male and Ralphie was often seeking attention off Rolland but generally got shooed away instead. So I thought he may benefit from some extra friends to get attention and to help him give Rolland all the attention he needs!

        I decided to go with a pair of bonded girls I adopted from a rescue centre 🙂 they are absolute sweethearts called Poppy and Daisy. Poppy is the dominant girl! I picked them up last week (so we are still very early days!)

        So the first couple of bonding dates with the four buns couldn’t have gone better. There was snuggling and grooming and Ralphie was over the moon to have some extra friends. However the last couple of days Rolland and Daisy have been scrapping on and off. I’ve tried some bonding sessions with just the two of them including a drive in the car but they just don’t seem to like each other. It’s not constant fighting, it seems to just happen when Rolland is most active. Rolland is the one who starts the biting and fur pulling and Daisy just tries to run away from it.

        Does anyone have any experience with group bonding where two of them don’t seem to want to get along? I think this could work in the long run but don’t want Rolland to keep pulling at Daisy’s fur!!

        Also I work Monday to Wednesday and was wondering what people do with their bonding bunnies when they’re working?

        Thanks! Look forward for the advice 🙂

        Kate xxx


      • Serenity
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        173 posts Send Private Message

          Hello Kate! I have four rabbits and had the same problem but slightly different. I had two bonded males, then a few months later got a female then another female. My boys, Fred and George, LOVED her at first sight. They were grooming and cuddling and were totally fine with her being there. But Ginny, the other female HATED her. She didn’t want her to be there at all and any time she saw her she would growl, bite, pull fur, lunge, everything to scare and hurt her. I started only one on one bonding sessions with those two and whenever Ginny started lunging at the new female (Hermione) I would gently hold her back until she stopped squirming, give both of them a little treat and go again and again until Ginny realized she only got the treat when she was calm and nice. Of course, this only worked while I was with them so I put peanut butter on top of Hermione’s head because Ginny loves it and finally got her to start grooming her like that.
          I think what really did it was moving cages. I got a new giant cage from a friend that would fit all four and put Hermione in there first. She stayed in there for about a day until the whole thing smelled completely like her (she likes to chin things). I let the boys in next and they were totally fine with the place belonging to her. They settled right in, no litter box accidents or anything. THEN I let Ginny in. She only smell she didn’t smell there was her own so she knew it wasn’t only her territory, it was Hermione’s and she had to share it with her. After that there were hardly any problems bonding and now they’re besties, inseparable.
          So maybe a cage switch would work? I know it’s rpetty expensive so maybe instead of buying a totally new cage you could wash the one you have really well until there are no rabbit smells there at all and do what I did. Or move the location of the cage?
          Hope this helps!


        • RowlyAndRalphie
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            Hello!

            Thank you so much for your message! That’s very helpful and promising 🙂

            The boys normally roam free in the kitchen but I keep a big cage from when I was bonding the boys. So I have that in the kitchen and I’m rotating the boys and girls between the cage and outside the cage when I’m not doing bonding dates with them.

            Tonight the girls will be out in the kitchen and the boys are in the cage so hopefully they’ll mark their territory everywhere! This is their first time in the kitchen as they’ve been in the cage for the last few nights since they arrived (so hopefully the boys know that’s their territory too!).

            How long did it take for you to be able to leave all four buns alone together?


          • Bianca
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            375 posts Send Private Message

              Hi, if you only picked them up last week it is too early to start bonding. Your new girls need at least a week to settle in, then 4 weeks of pre bonding. That’s when you do things like switch their litter trays and toys, or switch their cages. This way they can get used to each others scents without physical contact. Once you have done pre bonding for 4 or more weeks then it’s actual bonding time. bonding should be done in neutral territory, just starting with short sessions.

              I recently bonded four bunnies. My journal is called “what do you call four bonded bunnies?” If you want to check it out. However my bonding was a bit odd. One of my boys gets aggressive when nervous so I actually had to do the bond in the room they were to live in because he knew that room and felt safe. Even though that room was anything but neutral territory!

              Are all your buns spayed/neutered?


            • Bianca
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                Oh, and until they are fully bonded don’t let them be able to reach each other at night. They can night each others faces through play pen bars. I would perhaps set up an additional barrier to prevent any physical biting opportunities


              • Serenity
                Participant
                173 posts Send Private Message

                  Really? A week? I didn’t do that at all! :/ Hermione was NEVER really injured (the most she got was a cuff to the ear or maybe a growl from Ginny) and she got to see them every day from literally the day I got her. I find this has usually been better rather than them getting used to the idea that they will be alone at the house and then as soon as they’re settled they’re thrown into meeting new rabbits.
                  I forget how long it took for them to be fully bonded and ready to move in together but it was something like two to three weeks, maybe a month. Ginny took a little longer, I kept her away from Hermione and the boys, switching them between cages until she was fully okay with her, that was maybe a month and a week or so. I have never seen rabbits with a stronger bond than mine (not to brag or anything, it’s just true). Ginny is with Hermione wherever she goes in the house, following her and running toward her when she gets scared because Hermione is bigger than her now. I haven’t had a SINGLE problem between them since they all moved in together and they don’t bite, chase, growl or lunge, ever.
                  I guess all rabbits are different and the bonding process takes longer but it’s never taken more than a few weeks for me.

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              Forum BONDING Bonding a group of four