Bond keeps breaking after grooming

[khushi2020]

I have 2 males one is 1 year 10 months (English Angora) the other 2 years 4 months (Lionhead). They were neutered on October 10th 2020 and November 19th 2020. I started bonding them  on December 24th 2020 using the 24/7 bonding method.

I have a few questions.

1. If I have two males that unbond after one of them gets sheared, is it that they weren’t bonded together in the first place? Or they were actually not well suited personality wise? Or they weren’t fully bonded?
2. Is there such a thing as 2 unbondable rabbits?
3. Is bonding trios EXTREMELY difficult and most of the times unsuccessful?
4. Would getting a female be “dangerous” to their “unstable bond and cause the males to stop getting along for good?

[DanaNM]

Hmmm, this is interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this happening specifically! When they get groomed, do they go to a groomers, or do you do it yourself? I have heard of bond’s breaking after vet visits, so wondering if it’s something similar.

When they “unbond”, what happens? Is it just some bickering or all out fighting? How hard is it to rebond them?

There are rabbits that just seem to be bad matches.

I wouldn’t say most trios are unsuccessful, but they are more difficult than pairs for sure, and the failure rate is higher. The personalities of the bunnies is important. If you have two buns that were hard to bond, you would want the third bun to be very easy to bond to hopefully unite the group.

Adding a third bun can definitely upset the current bond. Since their current bond is a bit tenuous, I would be concerned about that. There are basically 4 options when you try to bond a third bun into a current pair:

1. all three bond into a trio
2. the current pair doesn’t split but doesn’t accept the new bun
3. the current pair splits and one bonds with the new bun, leaving the other bun solo
4. the current pair splits and none of them bond, so you end up with 3 singles

So you kind of have to be ready for any of those options when you attempt a trio.

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[khushi2020]

When they get groomed it is a groomer. However she comes to my house. I thought that would’ve solved their unbonding issue but didn’t. When she grooms them she takes turns doing them one at a time on my dining room table. My bunnies usually free roam my house. Usually bonding them back together takes 2-3 days using the 24/7 method. But since the last grooming session it hasn’t worked. They are fine in the xpen but sometime after they start free roaming again some sort of tiff breaks out. Usually it is the Angora chasing my Lionhead. However the most recent tiff was a full on boxing match over a treat…. which I’ve never seen them do before.

I am hoping for a 3rd bond to keep the peace between these two…. but I don’t have the space in the event the trio bonding isn’t a success. But I am very exhausted from constantly rebonding my boys and just want them to get along and willing to try making them into a trio.

[Wick & Fable]

1. Depends — if one went to the groomers and the other didn’t, then that can definitely break a bond, similar to one rabbit going to the vet and not the other. In that case, they could have been bonded but it broke due to a ‘valid’ reason (i.e., scent change). If this is occurring as a result of at-home grooming and that stressor is tensing the bond, for me that indicates that, at the minimum, they have a relatively weak bond.
2. Yes — not all bonds work. Rabbit personality compatibility is key, similar to the fact that not every 2 humans can be friends and live together 24/7.
3. Bonding trios can be more difficult than pairs since it’s more of an art than a step-by-step process with 2 rabbits. Statistically, unsure of the numbers, but essentially you are hoping the dynamics between 3 rabbits are all compatible, which objectively has more chance of variability than the dynamics between just 2 rabbits.
4. It is not something that can be predicted — for some pairs, the addition of a third in interaction with all their personalities helps create a stable social structure, and also yes, at times the introduction of a third will break a bond and also leave an owner with 3 single rabbits.

Agreed with Dana that I have curiosity around what grooming entails and also what you are actually observing of their relationship when “bonded” vs “unbonded”.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[khushi2020]

Both rabbits get groomed in my house, but get turns getting groomed on my dining table. The bonding breaking due to the stress of grooming makes sense that they have a weak bond. When they are bonded my Angora flops and cuddles into my Lionhead. My lionhead follows the Angora around. I see them cuddling and being near each other. They don’t groom each other all that often, but does happen occasionally. It’s just after grooming that all hell breaks loose between them 0_o

[DanaNM]

Hmm, that is unusual, and it does sound like they are maybe friends but not super tightly bonded.

One trick people will do to help with possible issues after a vet visit is to rub a towel on both rabbits to swap their scents around. I wonder if you could try something like this? And maybe put them in a neutral area together for a little while after a grooming to let them get re-acquainted?

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[khushi2020]

Yea, I’ll try that after the next grooming coming up. I’m just so scared to free roam them again after their last tiff… I don’t like keeping them in the pen with their beady eyes peering out 🙁

[Wick & Fable]

Perhaps you can put one in the carrier on the dining room table while you’re grooming the other so they stay as close to each other and those experiences as possible?

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[khushi2020]

Yea that’s an idea thank you 🙂

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