Bonded pair sharing space with a single rabbit

[Elise]

Tips on a female marking a territory? I have a bonded pair (male and female) who had everything to themselves including a big play space/free roam area. Just yesterday I adopted another boy (who stole my heart, he has CHF). I let him free roam that same area. They have separate pens of course.

Then today, I let my bonded pair out to the free roam area. My boy doesn’t care about another rabbit being in that area but my girl has gone crazy. She’s marking everywhere, chinning everything, and being aggressive. She’s attacking her mate and has even bitten me.

What should I do with this area? Should I let the bonded pair and boy use the area and eventually my girl will stop marking and getting upset? Should I let them meet in a neutral territory? Switch their pen litter boxes every couple days?

I do not want to have a triple bond, because the new boy will die within a few years from CHF. ANY advice is so appreciated I feel like I’ve hit a brick wall

[sarahthegemini]

Whenever you bring another bun into the household, if the current pair can see or smell it, there’s a chance it can break their bond. If she’s now attacking her mate, you need to really separate them and/or move the new bun to another room.

What’s CHF? I understand he may not live as long (you expect him to pass in a few years?) but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be bonded. Not saying you have to bond him with your pair if you don’t want too, but I wouldn’t not bond him because he may only live a few more years.

[Elise]

Would it be better for my bonded pair to meet the new boy? They don’t have an issue in the rooms where both pens are, they don’t even know each other are there, it’s just this shared playroom. I will divide it up for the time being!!

CHF is congestive heart failure and high stress can actually kill him, so thats another reason I wasn’t going to bond them.

[sarahthegemini]

Ah okay. Bonding might not be wise then. I had no idea. I don’t think the pair should meet your single bun if they’re not going to be bonded. I suppose you could pre bond tho just to get everyone accustomed to each other’s scent so maybe sharing the playroom won’t be as big a problem for your female.

[Sirius&Luna]

Keep an eye on your pair – I had to split my pair up when I brought a third bunny home as my female just got too aggressive and was bullying her partner. However, we’re now 4 months down the line and I’m almost ready to call them a trio.

I agree with Sarah – try some prebonding, swapping them between spaces and litter trays so they at least get used to the scent of each other. Hopefully your females aggression will calm down. You might find over time that they start lying together through bars etc, which could be a sign that they are open to bonding. Since he has the heart condition maybe it’s not worth going through stressful bonding, but rabbits living nearby may naturally come accustomed to each other, and you may well have an easy bond in a few months time if you wanted it.

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