Thank you for the response. 🙂 I just let them all out yesterday evening to see if they would still be mean to Smokey, and they actually got along decently. They flopped, and they groomed, so now I’m not sure about where to take them. If only they weren’t so black and white! (and grey 😛 )

Good point. They haven’t been in this room before, so it is all new to them. I minimized their space a bit more, and so far so good. 🙂 Will keep you posted!

Update: Still Semi-neutral due to hoomin’s stubborn pride and false notoriety that she can do this. So, they have still been really on and off. One moment they can all be flopped next to each other, the next Silver bites one of their butts, and well, they ignore each other. Smokey is not a problem, they just chase her away, and she is the KINDEST one of them all. OB and Silver sometimes get along, sometimes they don’t. They get along better than they get along with Smokey though.

Dominance is not the issue. Well, sort of not the issue. They all have it figured out, Silver is the top, if she asks for grooms, you give them to her, or get your butt nipped. OB can bite Smokey,  and Smokey can not do anything to the other two. I have seen all of them groom each other, flop next to each other, and I have seen them nip each other. *Sigh* they can never make up their mind to be bonded or not. *Holding head in hands, quietly weeping*…

Thank you in advance!

Hazel: LOL! 😆 I was bound to be caught by my lack of pictures sometime, and it has been haunting me! 😆 I can never get a good one though! (Well of all three of them, Smokey has been a good poser lately…) Smokey isn’t catty! Silver, definitely, OB, sometimes, but Smokey’s a total sweetheart! (Maybe she is behind my back and I just haven’t seen it. LOL) It’s hard to imagine her as a little stinker though. 😉

Could be them figuring out their place in the pack, they seem to be pretty settled and content with their places though. It is encouraging that around 1/2 of the time they are okay with each other. I will keep you all posted, and fingers crossed for a trio soon!

Update: So… their bonding is going… what words do I use… down the drain a bit. When I took them into semi-neutral, Silver and OB both chased Smokey around the room. I ended it there, but, oh, poor Smokey. Today wasn’t as bad, but they still chased her. *Sigh* Then to make things even more confusing for me, OB flopped next to her, and they groomed each other a little bit. ( 😀 )So now I am very confused about where we are at. I really don’t want to take them back to neutral, for not many places in the house are neutral, haha, so I had to use a couch. Semi-neutral was going to be the whole house, so then I decided to move them into a room that has slippery floors, (I put mats down, haha) and moved their x-pens in there. What should I do to make them stop chasing poor Smokey? They did this even in neutral! 🙄

Any advice is appreciated, and thank you in advance!

Good idea, I’ll try that and let you know how it goes. 🙂 Thank you!

I tried it, and it worked! 🙂 Although, I just petted them right next to each other until the flopped. With OB, it was harder, she’s an escape artist, haha. Kept running away. *Sigh* I got them to groom Smokey though, ears were up! I Will continue to do this and let you know how it goes. Thank you for the idea. 🙂 Smokey is getting tired of this pesky hoomin trying to be her friend LOL. 😆 They have the biggest little personalities. 🙂

That idea has really turned things in a positive direction! They are all getting along great with Smokey! Maybe I’m speaking too soon, haha. Will keep you posted. 🙂

Here we go! We are on a roll, our good first picture! 🙂 OB, Pose better and you’ll be in the next one, LOL! 😆 Smokey looks a little grumpy, but I managed to snag one with both of them in the litter box, LOL, silly buns. Can’t wait for their turn. 😆

I didn’t realize I’d posted three of the same picture, LOL. 😆 Spoke too soon, Smokey just got chased away by OB. 🙄 I’m thinking of doing the stress bonding with them, then letting them all out together since it worked great yesterday. 🙂 Thank you again!

Woo-hoo! We are getting there! OB, the one who is the most difficult with Smokey – was snuggling with Smokey for 1 hour now! We got grooms, flops, and lots of snuggles! YAY! 😀 😀 Thank you all for your help, I don’t know where we’d be without you!

Thank you, everyone! 🙂

How can I officially have them bonded? Should I do a marathon, then put them all together? Thing is, when I’m not in there, because of all the mats, they chew… haha, I do not count on these mats staying in one piece for another year. 🙁

The room they are in right now for semi-neutral has mats on the floors, and I moved their x-pens in there. If I didn’t, haha, they’d have the whole house. When I take them in there for dates though, they’ve chewed the mats so much! 😥 How can I make it so they don’t chew? The neural space – I was in a rush to figure out neutral areas, so it is the couch, where they also chew. 🙁 I can never win them.

Should I put them in Silver’s x-pen? I’m thinking Silver’s, for she is the most cage aggressive, and if she could live with them in there then I think that would make it official. Smokey doesn’t care, she hides from them when they come near it, OB’s fine with Silver, Smokey gets a sharp nip on the butt. I’m not saying that I put the actual rabbit in there and closed the door to figure this out, I just left the door open and watched what happened. I had gloves on the ready. Probably wasn’t the smartest thing I could do, but I was in a desperate delusional state of mind, that maybe they were bonded. Haha, I need to give up on that wishful thinking. 😥 I don’t think that they are bonded yet, I just want to have a plan ready for when they bond. 🙂

Thank you both for your responses. 🙂 I’ll definitely wash out their x-pens before putting them in. *Sigh* if only all buns bonded as quickly as Louie and Lola did. 😉

That could work. 😀 Good idea! How soon should I do a marathon? They still nip Smokey, but just now they were snuggling with her! 🙂 Thank you for your response.

Haha, I haven’t been doing that long of sessions. Well, the longest I think I’ve done straight was 3-4 hours. I do multiple sessions a day though, that usually adds up to 3-4 hours though. When I do the marathon, how big should space be? Thank you for the response, all of the replies I get are really helping to make the bags that have formed under my eyes feel less heavy. 😉

Okay, thank you. 🙂 I could do that, for the actual marathon though, should I have them in a 4×4 area though? I don’t want to give them too much space out of worry that they would not focus on each other. 🙄 Silver who I have nicknamed Gaston, for she “shoots from behind” and in a small territory I think it could help with that, for then they tend to snuggle, and she’s happy when she’s groomed. 😆 They have character don’t they?

I managed to catch one of them snuggling! Sorry, it’s a little blurry!

My current bonding space is around 10 by 10 ft. In the morning sessions, there are tons of binkies, and they pretty much ignore each other. The rest of the day though, they mostly flop, Silver, and OB are always together, and now they don’t mind it when Smokey joins them! 😀 Although, haha, if she does anything they don’t like she gets a nip on the butt. 🙁 Still working through some of the rough edges.

Should I have them have the whole area though? Or should I do it in a corner about 5×5 small? How would I block them off to the rest though? Do you think they’ll be ready by next weekend for a marathon? My only set-back is how much Silver and OB like to show Smokey whos boss. (I kind of actually want Smokey to retaliate, haha) Overall though she seems pretty happy with them. *Sigh* If only rabbits could talk… 😉

Thank you for your response. 🙂 I could make that work. On the night of the marathon, I sleep in there to make sure everything goes okay? Just wondering, how much sleep have you or other’s gotten on that night? It’s a little daunting to think about, LOL. 😆

I’m worried about them bullying Smokey. 🙁 Even now they’ll chase her around the room. 😥 Poor Smokey. I haven’t been as good about stress bonding them as I should be, for they seem to be treating her decently, although, they still will chase her sometimes. I don’t know why though! She’s kind to them, doesn’t care about the hierarchy, and isn’t catty! 😉 Well, they don’t do it often, so that’s good. 🙂 Silver definitally resembles Gaston in every way, although she is sadly lacking that double-chin. Other than that, she’s definitely got an aloof expression and very good self-esteem of herself. 😆 OB is most definitely Lefou, she worships Silver. 🙄 They give me a good laugh. 😀

Thank you for your response! 🙂

LOL! 😆 If that’s the case, then I’ll tell them, the real way to win Smokey’s heart, is to rescue her from that pesty hoomin who keeps trying to get a snuggle out of her! 😆

I managed another picture! 😀 Same spot seems to be a favorite of theirs. For some reason, they like to kick the mats away from this area too. The ground cooler? 🙂

Here are Lofou and Gaston competing for the hand of Belle. 😆

Sorry, I’m probably posting too many pics, buuut, here are a few more… 😀

Thank you! 😀 I was seeing earlier if I could make it my profile pic, alas, it was too big…will have to look into framing it though! 😉 Do you think in one week they’ll be ready to do a marathon in one of their x-pens? Should I do it in an x-pen, or should I do it in semi-neutral? OB and Silver did chase Smokey briefly today, so should I wait a while? Right now they are in their sleepy time of day, should I wait and observe their behavior in the mornings and evenings when they are active? Thank you in advance. 🙂

So I just tried them now, and at first, they were very active. OB and Silver nipped Smokey once or twice, but other than that they were pretty good. Silver and OB are bonded, they are always fine with each other, and chose to flop next to the other bun. Right now, though, they are all flopped together. ( 😀 )

What my issue really is, is that, if I had just two of them, they’d be bonded. Smokey and Silver, or OB and Smokey, they’d have a good relationship. They are great when I stress bond them too (haha, I need to be better at doing that…) it’s just when I put them all together, they just chose sides, if you know what I am saying.

Aaaaand, Smokey just got kicked out of their circle… 😥

I can’t do 5 nights. Two in neutral, two in semi-neutral, and one in the territory. I have a job, so I was hoping to get this all established by next weekend. 🙂

Now OB just went over and flopped next to Smokey… 😀

Thank you all for your help, this has really helped me keep my sanity through all of this. 🙂 (at least I think I haven’t lost it yet… 😆 ) Should I do some stress-bonding this week, then next week evaluate where we are at, and decide about doing a marathon? When I do do a marathon, should I do one night in Semi-neutral, and one night in the territory?

Again, I thank you all so much for the help! 😀

Today I had to play Litter Box monitor! 😆 Poor Smokey had to go bad, and they kept kicking her out. 🙄 Tomorrow I plan on doing a lot of stress bonding with them. 😉 I’m hoping that with 1 week of stress-bonding, and 1 week of seeing how it all turned out, that I’ll be able to do a marathon on that weekend. 🙂 If anyone has any other tips they would be greatly appreciated! 😀

Update: Stress-bonding. Silver and Smokey at first were very active. Aaaaaaaand, bouncing all over the place. 🙁 I finally got them calmed down and they flopped. 🙂 Made some progress. Right now I’m doing 30-minute sessions with them. We definitely have a lot more of this ahead of us, the sessions did not go as smoothly as I hoped. 😐 I think my mistake here, is that I am doing it in the room where they do actual sessions. I should probably take this to the bathtub. Will keep you all posted. 🙂 Thank you for the responses!

Stress bonding in the tub: day 1. Right now I am sitting in the bathroom with Smokey and OB in the bathtub. They are doing…not as well as I’d like them too. 😐 In the beginning, they both were exploring, OB thumped and started nipping poor Smokey. 😥 Right now though, they are both flopped. OB gave Smokey some grooms, though it’d be nice if there was more… 🙄 Will let you all know how Silver and Smokey go! 🙂

In the tub, they all seemed pretty stressed out, although, you are right, probably will need a new location soon. 🙁 Since OB and Smokey were doing pretty good towards the end, I added in Silver and extended it 40 minutes. 🙂 All three flopped, there were some grooms too. 😀 So, should I do 1 stress bonding session a day for the next week? In their active hours, should I put them together and see how much the stress bonding paid off? Thank you for your response. 🙂

Here we go! Litter box friends! 😆

😆 Nice ones!

*Sigh* I need to work on stress bonding them! I’ve only done a few sessions. 🙁 Work’s just been so busy! 😥 Maybe I’ll postpone when I want to do the marathon… 😆 At least I’ll have all weekend to give them. 🙂

Well, I stress bonded them today! 😀 Aaaand, they were definitely stressed. 🙁 I put them all in a laundry basket, so there were some forced cuddles. Although, I had to end it after 35 minutes because Smokey peed. 🙄 *Sigh* Should I put them back in their pens afterwards to de-stress? Or should I take them to Semi-neutral? Thank you all in advance. 🙂

Yes, they aren’t too stressed that they aren’t peeing or pooping! 😆

Thank you! 🙂 Last time I took them back to their x-pens to de-stress. (and so I could clean up Smokey’s mess 😆 )

This time, if nobody pees before it’s done, I plan on doing a 45-60 minutes stress bond session, then putting them all in semi-neutral.

Will keep you posted!

Well, I just finished stress bonding them, and they are now in semi-neutral.

I did a 30 minutes stress-bond session. It went okay, a little better than the last. This time I put them all in a box, where Silver stayed hunched up in a corner, OB chewed the wood, and Smokey escaped three times. 😯 So, I finally got them to settle down, and they flopped for a decent amount of time. Right now they are in Semi-neutral, all flopped, with no complaints of who’s next to who! 😀 We are improving! 🙂

Well, it just gets better and better! 😀 Lately they have all been pretty good with each other! Silver still nips them, but they all flop in the end, with no help from me! 😀 Will keep you posted!

Things have been going a little iffy lately. 😐

They have gone back to acting bonded half the time. I don’t know, Silver’s been acting the same toward both of them – she now nips OB sometimes! 😮 OB is pretty neutral towards both of them, well, she does chase Smokey sometimes…What I really think the issue is, is curving Silver’s temper, and stopping the chasing. 🙁

(Haha, I just need to get better at stress bonding them…works just been so busy…) Sorry for the rant, and thank you in advance! 😀

“What triggers the chase?”

Haha, Smokey coming remotely near them. 😆 They can be fine with Smokey sometimes and will flop with her and groom her.  Other times, they just chase her away. No, it doesn’t lead to circling, Smokey is a sweet bun, sometimes they will corner her, and she’ll turn around to face them. You can definitely tell though, that when she turns around to face them, she isn’t going to fight. 🙁 More of preparedness to run. I feel so bad for her!  You’re right though, I should let them see that Smokey is sweet…it’s just so hard to see my poor baby being chased! She’s even started warming up to me because they are so mean!

Yes! I need to do stress bonding! 😥 Works just SO BUSY, and the room they are in has bad wifi, so I can’t do my work in there… 😥 Sorry for the rant again!

Thank you for your response! 😀

Well, now Silver is just mean to both of them. 😥 How can I make them bond when I don’t have much time! 😥

Thank you all so much in advance!

Well, we haven’t been doing half bad! 😀 They’ve been snuggling A LOT! 😀 There’s still some nipping, but a lot less! 😀

Thank you Dana for that thread, I’ve been reading through it! I love threads like that, built on humor, yet informational! 😆

( We’ve been doing so good, that I’ve started thinking about doing a marathon…again…is this just my hopeless dream? 😆 )

Well, there still are a few times where Silver, ahem, chases Smokey around the room. 🙁 Not too happy about that. Although they still get along pretty well on other occasions, so I’m torn about trying a marathon…eh, I should just do it and get it over with, right? 😆

Here’s a picture of them snuggling!

They haven’t really improved or changed at all. *Sigh* This is not fair! These three found each other through speed dating, just like MoonLightBunny and Louiethebunny! How come we haven’t bonded already? 😆 I hear you on that though, sometimes they are great friends, other times they can barely tolerate each other! 😥 So this is the best they’re gonna get? 🙁 Is there a way to cement things? 😀

Also, I’ve been playing with this little thought of switching their pens for a little while too, (haha, I heard about pre-bonding a month into their bonding sessions, and, I didn’t know about the post-spay craze either, so, that might’ve set back their bonding… 😥 ) Would it be too late to start pen swaps? LOL! 😆

Yay! 😀 Okay then! I’ll start the pen swapping! 😀

Also, for cementing the bond, would it help any to do the bulk of the sessions during their lazy hours so that they are snuggling a lot? Didn’t know if it was just my wishful thinking that it could be that easy, LOL! 😆

I’ll check out that thread! Love the title! 😆 Thank you so much!

😆 They have character!

Things have been going pretty well! I’ve been feeding everyone dinner together, where I’ll just scatter it outside and they get to find it. Sometimes I’ll do breakfast too! 😀 I heard that was a trick to strengthen bonds, hopefully, it helps! 🙂

This weird thing happened today, I left the room briefly while they were all bonding, then I came back in and Smokey and OB were just following each other around the room. At first, I thought OB was chasing Smokey, but I don’t think so. They only did it for a few minutes then broke off to go do something else. 😆

Aren’t they always? 😆

Things have been going alright here!! 🙂 They’ve all been building a bit of tolerance with each other. The truly miraculous thing that happened recently, was during their lazy hours, when I was taking them all out, and Smokey and OB hopped in Silver’s X-pen, while Silver was in it, and there were grooms and snuggles! 😀 I, uh, definitely took them all out immediately when I noticed Silver getting a little frisky, but, hey, maybe it isn’t too optimistic of me to say that Silver was one of those groomers!! 😉

Sadly I haven’t really been working with them much, but they still see each other every day, so hopefully, just doing that they will eventually bond. 🙂 A girl can hope, right? 😆

Thank you for checking up on us, I really appreciate it!! 🙂

The ladies have been doing well.

I think that we are almost bonded, just not sure. Today I have had them in some neutral space together to see how they go (I’m thinking of marathoning them tonight in a different neutral space) Only, OB has been chasing Smokey, and Silver is a bit bossy. I’m debating about whether this is because they aren’t ready, or if it’s just the pecking order and their personalities. Do you all think that they’re bonded?

Thank you in advance!

The chasing isn’t really caused by anything. It is mostly OB now who is chasing Smokey. 🙁 When she does, sometimes she’ll have her ears down, but then shortly after, they’re friends again. Other than that though, they’re all great together. Silver can also sometimes get a bit cranky, and nip the other two. I don’t know…. they’re very wishywashy. For, they do cuddle a lot. Fingers crossed that this marathon works!!

Do you think that trying it in this new space will help them bond better?

Thank you for your response!! 😀

Yeah, I’ll keep an eye on those two. Hopefully the marathoning helps!!

Here are some pics from today:

Will keep you posted!! 😉