Oh Portia, I cannot believe this

Were you able to see who started the scuffle at home between At and Luna? My only thought is maybe Luna started acting out because of Atlas’ medicinal smell, maybe she thought he was still poorly and wanted to distance herself? Idk. Maybe she then lunged for Nim because she was worked up? It doesn’t really add up tho if At is the one that started the scuffle with Luna. I’m so sad to hear this and I cannot think why At would have started fighting at the vets. Hmm, maybe he smelt other rabbits?

I can really understand your worry about the risk of them fighting when one gets poorly. I don’t think you should feel bad about stressing Nim and Luna tho. If you hadn’t taken them all, they might have fought a lot worse on reintroduction.

I hope Dana chimes in. I consider her THE expert ?

I would assume it’s probably either to do with overnighting it there with other animals and their smells. So odd that Atlas started the issues, he’s so chill! That’s a bummer they could all be sick too!

I wished I could offer advice, but sadly only support. Hang in there friend! Like Sarah, Dana is THE expert on bonding. I defer all to her in that area xD

I’m so sorry, this must be so frustrating!

I’m guessing it was a combo of being in a weird place (with lots of weird new smells, maybe even other bunnies around), combined with Atlas being sick, and maybe even him smelling weird from his medicine. Hard to know what goes on in those tiny bunny brains…. any one of those things could trigger some bond upset. I don’t have any experience with trios, but my sense is that they are slightly more prone to upsets if one anything changes with one bun. Illness in general can disrupt bonds, so I’m guessing that’s why Atlas was the instigator. I think given that Luna and Atlas’s bond broke when Nimbus was brought home means that they are just a bit more sensitive to smells, etc.

I’ll chat with my local rescue contacts and see if they have any words of wisdom. They tend to not be too fussed about separating bunnies when one is ill or one needs to go to the vet, and said usually when there is a hiccup upon reuniting them it gets resolved pretty quickly, so hopefully with some sessions your three can sort out their issues.

In this case, I think I wait till Atlas is 100% back to normal and off his medications, and then try re-marathoning them when you have time. I’m wondering if a slightly different strategy might help their bond be more resilient in the future. I think in the past you mostly bonded them in one or two locations? If I remember correctly? I’m wondering if you could build a more resilient bond by holding sessions in multiple neutral locations, possibly with some distractions and other smells? I’m going out on a limb here, I am not sure if this makes a difference at all, but I do think bonds can be made to exist in one place, or they can be made to exist regardless of place. Due to my lack of space, I’ve always ended up using shelter pens, friend’s houses, my office, etc, for bonding, and it seems like my two seem closer whenever we go to a new location. I think that may be because their bond was forged in lots of strange places. Do you have any alternative areas you could experiment with to see how they are in different spaces? Again, this is going out on a limb here…

I see that you mentioned they have stayed in different places together, but I’m guessing the vet was just extra confusing. Atlas probably reacted because maybe he was being treated differently by the others? Hard to say since you didn’t see the initial scuffle.

Like others have said, hang in there. Thankfully no bun got hurt, so hopefully they will be reunited again soon!

Ah yes maybe the move shook things up a bit too – when I moved, after about two weeks I think? Peanut and Buttercup had a bit of a scuffle. I woke up to some chasing and Peanut trying to hump Buttercup. A bit of grunting from her as she was angry! The only trigger I could think of was the new environment. So it wouldn’t be crazy to think the move may have played a part. It’s probably lots of things that have contributed rather than one solid event – the move, At being poorly, the vets, Luna being scared, At smelling different etc.

From my experience, buns (even bond mates) will often pick on a bun who is or has been poorly. So that, in conjunction with the foreign scents at the vet’s, probably triggered the scuffles and animosity.

Take a look at the puffitails Insta account – they’ve just gone through the same thing and were posting steps they’ve taken. xo

My pair is bonded but the female always nips at the males butt. Otherwise she is nice to him. He is neutered she is not as vet wont do till she is 6 mo old

Chany on Insta was notorious for love bites of her husbun’s bum (Tiffo). But there’re nips, and nips…

Definitely not starting from zero, S&L, and definitely wise to wait until you have time. Especially since buns can read us, and our being relaxed during the process is a huge positive contributing factor.