Adding a Third Rabbit? Help!

[OskarAnnie]

Oksar and Annabelle are pretty much inseperable (they are a male/female bonded pair and are both neutered) and I’ve been reading a lot into getting a third bunny to add to the mix. I haven’t looked at any rabbits because I just don’t know how to go about the situation–would adding another girl or a boy rabbit be better? How can I tell if both rabbits will accept a new friend? Should I even get another rabbit? Please Help!

[Helenor]

I’m not so sure if it’s a good idea to attempt adding a third bunny. I’ve heard that trios can be difficult and there’s a good chance that one bunny will end up alone. If you’re willing to take that chance, then maybe but this could disturb Oskar and Annabelle’s bond as well.

[Cheddar33]

I had a bonded pair, Cheddar (buck) and Poopy (doe). I then got Meatball (another buck). Trios are difficult, especially if the pair is already bonded. It’s a weird dynamic. Meatball is isolated most times, but he flops with the other two at other times. They just have to work their hierarchy out, and I found it a bit hard and they are still working through it. 

I choose to get another buck because Poopy is so dominant. I think getting another girl would’ve really pissed her off.

[osprey]

I also have a trio, two females and one male.  Bonding them took several weeks of working with them every day, luckily I had a week off from work for one of the weeks so I could do several short sessions a few hours apart.

Our first bun was the male, DJ.  About a month after we adopted him, we adopted Curly Sue.  They took about 10 days to bond, and their bond was very strong from early on.  About 3 months later, we were emergency fostering a small female named Deanna and my wife fell in love with her.  We decided we wanted to keep her, but I didn’t want to have a bun that lived alone, so we could only keep her if she could live with the existing pair.

I made some mistakes initially.  I trieed introducing all 3 at the same time, that was a big mistake.  The male DJ went nuts, trying to chase and hump both females.  Curly Sue was terrified of Deanna, it took her a while to get used to another bun in the picture.  After the initial failures, I did introductions in pairs – first DJ and Deanna and then Curly Sue and Deanna.  DJ liked Deanna right away, Curly Sue was afraid of her for quite a while.  After there was no chasing in the pairs, I tried the three of them in neutral space with me in the same area.  We used a bathroom, the shower stall, any place that the pair had not been.  I also housed Deanna right next to the pair so they would get used to her smelll and not think of her as an invader.  Eventually they came to an understanding:  Deanna humps DJ, DJ chases Curly Sue, and Curly Sue chases Deanna.  They all groom each other.

Curly Sue had a bad bout of stasis and I had to separate her from the other two so I could watch her poop production and give her special food. When she was better she and Deanna began to fight.  I had to split them up for about a week, keeping DJ and Curly Sue in one part of their condo and Deanna in the other part.  Eventually they got over it and have been together again since.

Adopting a third to match your pair will be difficult.  They react very differently at home than they do outside, and the pair may try to defend their home against the newcomer.  Be prepared for it to take a while.  That said, I like the dynamic of the trio.  Most of the time they are all together, Deanna has her special spots she goes to when she wants to be alone and so does DJ.  It adds a fun set of interactions to have 3 of them.

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