bonding 3 rabbits

[aspynandblair]

I have three bunnies all around 3 years old. Two of them are sisters from the same litter that I have had since they were around 2 months old and the other is a female I got after she was about a year and a half. They have all been spayed for quite a while now. After having the two sisters for about 1.5 years they began to fight all the time. Ever since then they have lived separately with attempts to bond them every few months with no success. When I got the third bunny (rescued her from a family that didn’t want her) I tried bonding her with my other two separately but both of them would bite her and I can tell that she is very scared of them. I have had all three for almost 2 years and I try every few months to bond them but nothing seems to keep them from fighting. They all have to take turns to play outside their cages and i would really like them all to be free roam but I can’t until they get along. Is there any hope of bonding them? What should I do?

[Sirius&Luna]

Honestly, if you’ve had them this long and attempted bonding so many times, I think it’s unlikely. Female pairs are meant to be hardest to bond, so I assume a female trio is even harder!

That said, if you want to give it one last go, I suggest you keep them totally separate for 2-3 months so they forget each other and their fear of each other. Then move them into one room (with double bars between them all so they can never reach each other or fight, and rotate their cages daily so they all get used to smelling each other and lose a sense of territory. Do this for at least a month, and do it even longer if you still see aggressive signs between them.

After that, you can try introducing them in a totally neutral territory for one minute. They don’t even have to interact at first, and you can keep your hands between them if you’re worried about aggression. The next day, do 2 one minute sessions, then 2 two minute sessions etc. Gradually increase the time they’re spending together and gradually intervene less when you’re confident they won’t fight.

I did this with my trio, (2 boys and a girl) and they are all very happy now. I wish you the best of luck!

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