I have a trio that I have bonded Darla, a larger lionhead mix, Bonnie, a Dutch mix, and Oliver a Netherlands dwarf. They have been together for about 3 months now. They’re all spayed and neutered. And get along well for the most part. Darla is definitely most dominant. They all get along decently well, but Bonnie is quite timid and therefore Darla picks on her from time to time. Some days worse than others. But usually at some point they still cuddle up and flop with one another.

About a week and a half ago I noticed Bonnie was missing quite a bit of fur on her forehead. It doesn’t seem overly irritated or inflamed. After noticing this, I then witnessed Darla pulling out Bonnie’s fur. Bonnie seemed to tolerate it for awhile but eventually would run away. I didn’t think much of it due to them still sorting out their differences a bit still. But now Darla has also started to pull out Oliver’s fur (whom neither girls have ever had a problem with) even worse! He’s completely bald on most of his forehead within a couple days! I’ve heard that this overgrooming can be symptom of quite a few things such as boredom and stress. However, they have a very spacious cage (homemade 5 ft L x 3 ft W x 3.5 ft H with 3 levels) full with toys, chews, hideouts, and fleece. They also get 24/7 hay (lots of it – their literbox is a large storage bin with a door cut out and always has lots of hay in it – they’re big hay eaters). So I have no idea what could be causing this! They also get daily playtime out of the cage when I’m home.

I will add that Darla also has a lot of very annoying behaviors. She CONSTANTLY digs at the ground for no reason, tries to rip up carpet, chew floor boards, chew anything she can really get her teeth on. She also, as previously mentioned, will chase Bonnie around periodically. Now we’ve come to ripping out fur on the other two buns. I can put up with all her other antics but now that’s she’s pulling out their fur so bad I’m concerned that maybe their bond isn’t working out all that great. As we speak Bonnie and Darla are laying next to each other cuddle up but it’s like a light switch! One moment they’re cuddling and the next Darla hops around and bites her on the butt and chases her away!

What should I do? Are they not going to work out? Are these signs of a stressful bond, and possibly not long term successful? I’m concerned for the poor other two who get along and behave perfectly.

Thank you in advance.