Advice about bonding our three bunnies

[Malonebunnies]

Hi.
I’m the first to say the I’m one of those people that got the bunnies expecting it to be a lot easier than it is. I got the bunnies first and did the research after, by now I feel like I have read 1/2 the internet and there’s so much conflicting information. A little back ground on how we got to where we are. My daughter 17 year old asked to get a bunny that she was going to share with a friend (one week on, one week off) I was very skeptical about this concept but I was pretty sure the bunny was going to end up at one of the houses within a short time. And basically her friend has not been here to pick it up so it’s going to be live here. My daughters bunny’s name is Beau, he is a 9 week old Himalayan dwarf and his cage is in her room. A week later I decided to add two more bunnies to our family to care for (primarily myself with some help from 14, 9, and 7 year old children). Sofia an 11 week old female holland lop and clover a 13 week old male holland lop. Sofia and Clover lived in a cage together downstairs the last two weeks. And we have an ex-pen set up where they all would hangout. Generally they all got along ok but Clover has always tired to dominate beau, therefore we have kept beau and clover separate and not in ex-pen together. Last night Sofia and Clover started fighting in the ex-pen and in their cage, so I took out another cage for clover. Now they all have separate cages and take turns in the ex-pen. Clover did not have any problem with each other until the incident last night. Could it be that beau is invading their space? Or is clover’s hormones just going nuts. The place I’m going to neuter him will not do it for another 3 weeks. Do I have to keep them separate until all three are spayed and neutered. Sofia and clover came from the same breeder and grew up in the same hutch so I thought I would not have any bonding “problems” with them. However, now I’m getting concerned. Any advice is welcome. Much appreciated.

[Beka27]

I’m glad Beau is in the house permanently… The previous arrangement sounds like it would have been really stressful on everyone involved!

You are correct that they won’t be able to be bonded until everyone is spay/neutered and allowed to heal for 1 month… So you’re looking at housing them all separately until the girl is 7 months (assuming she is spayed at 6 months). The boys could potentially be bonded sooner since they can be neutered sooner, but what is the long-term plan for Beau seeing as he is your older daughter’s bunny? Will she be taking him with her when she moves out? Once bonded, bunnies are partners for life (10+ years) and it would be cruel to pull Beau away from his mates. So he either needs to stay separate or stay with the other two forever. This is something to discuss with your daughter before attempting bonding.

[MoveDiagonally]

Welcome to BB MaloneBunnies!

They all should be separated until they are spayed/neutered + 4-6 weeks for hormones to dissipate/level out. After that you can start the bonding process in a neutral area to all of them. BB has a great bonding article here that outlines the basic process really well:
https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/9/PID/940/Default.aspx

Some other things to keep in mind is that rabbits can breed through cages and males are still fertile for 4 weeks after their neuter. It’s very important that different genders be kept separately. A single female can give birth to very large litter and be re-impregnanted as soon as they give bith. Your 3 bunnies could become 9-15 bunnies fairly easily (it takes literally one second for them to breed) so I can’t stress gender interaction caution enough. Males can be neutered as soon as their testicles descend (usually at 3-4 months) and females can be spayed as early as a vet is comfortable, sometimes as early as 4 months, but usually waiting until 6 months is recommended. Estrogen helps with bone growth and development.

Once everyone is desexed bonding will be a lot safer and more feasible. This forum is GREAT for bonding support (I have 5 rabbits all bonded to each other) so I would definitely suggest creating a thread when you’re ready to bond them so people can give you advice or support as you go. I’m glad that one of you is keeping the first bunny full time. Going back and forth would be very stressful for a bunny as they thrive on routine.

I’m glad you found your way to us! Please keep us posted.

[Malonebunnies]

Thank you so much for your replies! I’m so great Gil to have found this support system. I’m sure there will be questions along the way! As if right now, I have ex-pen set up between Sofia’s and clovers cage with room in between. Should I not have beau in there either? Should I get a separate ex-pen for him in a different room? Or is it ok for them all to take turn in there during the day? My thank you in advance.

[Malonebunnies]

I do have one more question. When will Sofia (my female holland lop) be sexually mature. I have heard they mature later then males. Sofia is 11 1/2 weeks now. I just want to make sure Clover (13 1/2 weeks) didn’t impregnable her a few days ago when they were fighting.

[MoveDiagonally]

I would probably keep all 3 separate until after they are spayed/neutered just to be on the safe side. Sometimes younger rabbits are hard to tell the gender of and a lot of people end up with boys that are really girls or girls that are really boys. At least until you can get their gender confirmed by a rabbit savvy vet.

[MoveDiagonally]

Females usually sexually mature later 5-6 months BUT they can and do go through puberty as early as males 3-4 months. 3 months would be really early though so I think it’s unlikely that she’s been impregnated as young as she is so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Hope that helps!  

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