Bonding 4 bunnies – not ending well

[Shayne]

Okay, so let me start at the very beginning. I first started off with two female bunnies Eevee and Beanie (both desexed). Both bonded easily and were fine for half a year. I then decided to take in two more bunnies (baby brothers), Alfie and Ollie. After a rough start I managed to get all four bunnies bonded together. Everything was perfect for about 3 months until the boys began to reach sexual maturity. I had wanted to try and get them desexed as early as possible as I knew once their hormones kicked in, that would be the end of the four happy buns. Anyway, their testes didn’t drop till they were almost 6 – 7 months old. Now they are desexed. 

After bringing them home from the vets, I had them separated from the two girls and each other for a few days. I then reunited them to both girls at different times. Everything seemed great. A few days later, one of my females Eevee just decided she didn’t like Alfie no more and their bond broke.

I tried fixing it and it seemed to be working as they were grooming each other and sleeping next to one another, but one morning they had a large fight and poor Alfie was so stressed he went into gut stasis. After paying almost $1200 for treatment, we brought Alfie home and kept him separated from his brother Ollie and Eevee. Ollie and Eevee also have seemed to become a couple as they just adore each other and are always together. I felt bad that Alfie was alone though, so I removed Beanie from Ollie and Eevee and put her with Alfie. Beanie is really good as she is pretty much bonded with everyone. 

After about a week and a half I tried to bond the two boys. I put them in a large pen along with Beanie (hoping she might calm them both down), and they seemed to getting along well. They were getting along so well that I decided to see if they could spend the night together. Woke up to chasing and immediately separated them in fear that Alfie would stress out again and get gut stasis. Next morning noticed Alfie was not eating and now his at the vets being treated for gut stasis once again. 

The vet said it may be something medically wrong or maybe that the stress of bonding is too much for Alfie and to find a new home for him. I really don’t want to get rid of Alfie, but I just don’t have the room to keep them always separated. If anyone has some amazing bonding tips on how to bond all together again and keep Alfie’s stress levels down, I would greatly appreciate it! Extremely desperate here!

Thanks in advance,

Shayne

[Bianca]

Don’t stress that you can never make this work yet.. what I’m going to say may sound blunt but I promise I don’t intend to sound mean.

1) Bunnies can’t be properly bonded until they are neutered or spayed. Your babies were friends, not bonded. So they haven’t actually lost a bond.

2) It takes 4-6 weeks minimum for the hormones to die down in a neutered male. And they often go through a post neuter stage that makes them a bit crazy. So for this time they must be kept alone.

3) Now that you have had fights your buns may hold grudges. You might be able to bond them together one day, but it will be slow. To start with, any buns that have been fought must be kept in separate locations for at least 1 month (good time for the boys to finish healing) so that they can forget each other’s sight AND smell. Once you have kept them separate for at least a month, you can pre-bond for a month. That’s when you do stuff like switch either their bedding and toys, or to make things simpler, switch the buns into each others enclosures – and also keep their cages where they can see but not bite each other. When they are all calm with pre-bonding, then you can try bonding again. It really can’t be rushed and your buns clearly aren’t ready for it yet.

While you go through this, perhaps take the time to read up on bonding tricks especially for groups so that when your buns are ready to try again in a few months, you will be a lot more prepared. Of course feel free to ask more specific bonding questions too if you have any!

P.S. Alfie may need way longer than the others due to how stressed he has become. Could you consider keeping two pairs eventually, rather than a group of 4?

[Bianca]

I am currently bonding rabbit number 4 into my trio, and I have been recording it here if you want to have a read:

https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/162388/Default.aspx

I spent a long time letting hormones die down, and lots of pre bonding, and I have only just started some one on one bonding sessions this week. I would have done more, but I have been quite sick.

[Shayne]

Hi Bianca, 

Firstly, thanks for the reply! 

Just to clarify a little, the boys have been desexed for almost 6 weeks now which is why I decided to try and bond the brothers yesterday. And yes, the grudges thing makes sense as Alfie is very nervous of Ollie and Eevee and runs away even if they don’t act aggressive.

 I would love to keep them fully separated for a month however, I share the house I live in with people who do not like rabbits. This has caused a major issue with the bonding process as well as I can only bond them in other rooms for short periods of time and never can I move a bunny to a different room for an extended time. Do you think if I moved the buns cages on seperate ends of the room would work? And then after 1 month I’d put them back next to each other with a space between to start the pre-bonding? 

My vet knows of my living situations which is why they recommended I find a new home for him. But I want to make it work as best as I can, so I will literally try anything right now. 

And I am hoping to move out by the end of the year to early next year but by the rate I am going with these vet bills, that is not gonna happen anytime soon. So no, I cannot keep them as seperate pairs anytime soon unfortunately.

Thanks again for your help though!

[Shayne]

And awesome. I just read your forum on bonding Greebo to your other three. So far it sounds like everything is working out for you. Anyway I will continue to follow the forum to see how you bond all four. Good luck!

P.S. Just followed you on Instagram 

[sarahthegemini]

The problem with keeping them all in the same room is that they won’t have the opportunity to forget one another. Not only will they not forget each other, being so close after fighting could cause a lot of pent up aggression, not to mention stress.

[Shayne]

That makes sense. But like I said, I just can’t keep them seperate from each other in another room for a month. I was planning on splitting the room entirely in half and have the cages on opposite ends so they cannot get close to the cage at all. I was also going to cover the cage with a sheet so they cannot see each other. But if you don’t think It will work, I guess I will have to try something else.

Thanks for the advice though!

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Shayne on 9/02/2017 5:04 AM

That makes sense. But like I said, I just can’t keep them seperate from each other in another room for a month. I was planning on splitting the room entirely in half and have the cages on opposite ends so they cannot get close to the cage at all. I was also going to cover the cage with a sheet so they cannot see each other. But if you don’t think It will work, I guess I will have to try something else.

Thanks for the advice though!

No that sounds like a good idea! If you could disguise their scent in some way, that might help too.

[Bianca]

That should work, that’s pretty much what I did at first. I agree about keeping scents to a minimum though, due to the fighting.

[Shayne]

Okay awesome, thats what I will do then. As yes I’m sure I can find some way to mask their scents from one another. Plus we also have a dog who lives in the same room with us as well, so his scent could also mask the other bunnies hopefully. Thanks again for the help!

[Shayne]

Posted By Bianca on 9/02/2017 5:22 AM

That should work, that’s pretty much what I did at first. I agree about keeping scents to a minimum though, due to the fighting.

Is there a way you kept the scents hidden between your four when you had them separated for a month? 

[Shayne]

Also just quickly, as I said earlier, Beanie is pretty much bonded to everyone. When I have them separated, should I just keep Beanie with Ollie and Eevee, or should I put her with Alfie so that he also has a friend. But if I do that, will it be harder to bond two pairs rather than as a single and trio??

[Bianca]

I didn’t worry about scent masking because they were all super relaxed and have never fought. Just now was the first sort of fight the two boys have ever had and I separated that pretty quick. I’m not really sure how you could do it to be honest, but I expect there are ways to keep it to a minimum.

[Tony's Mum]

Try finding a local shelter or rabbit savvy vet that might help you with bonding. Some of them will take in buns for a few days and bond them for you on neutral territory. It’s not super cheap but a lot cheaper than stasis bills ? but you do have to be super vigilant about scent masking before they come home. Vinegar everywhere, everything washed, new litter trays and everything.

[Author]

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