Bonding a pair and two singles?

[Meghan]

Hello! I have now setup my 4 bunnies in my finished basement and am starting to get an idea of how dynamics may work. I haven’t put all 4 in a neutral area together yet, but they can see one another from their x-pens bars. My newest bun of the group, Snowdrop is a spayed female and honestly is very passive and sweet; she does seem mildly interested in the other bunnies, but tends to freeze up or get nervous. Then there is Kermit, who has the opposite personality, and is a neutered male (got the chop the 22nd of January, so a little over a month ago); he has the personality of every mini rex I’ve ever met, which is dumb and happily oblivious. I’ve seen him walk up to the bars of the x-pen to look at his neighbors and if one tries to try and lunge at him, he just looks confused and eventually walks away to stare at a wall or something 😅 (I love that little himbo). In the last x-pens is Bonnie and Clyde, who may be related, but the shelter wasn’t sure. Both are fixed and have been for at least a year or more. I was surprised to see that it was Clyde that started to act super territorial after seeing new bunnies, since from all previous interactions, I had assumed that Bonnie was the dominant one. He doesn’t always get all crazy, but I have seen him run at the bars when Snow or Kermit are near them, and try and shove his little face at them (I believe trying to bite them). I’ve also witnessed him raising his tail and following along the bars to watch the other bunnies. He has also snapped at Bonnie, nothing that seems to be causing stress in the bond, just the occasional spat with some chasing/humping and once one clump of hair pulling.

Does this sound like a group I can work with? Or should I not even attempt to do a quad bond? They have had about a week to look at one another, so I don’t know if I should let them just see each other until they stop being so interested in one another? Or would you recommend trying to get them all in the car together to have a stress bonding sesh? Any tips or thoughts would be lovely!

[DanaNM]

Until you do a few dates you can’t really predict how it will go! Most buns will act aggressive towards each other at first when they are living side by side as they are defending their territory, so I don’t think that’s an indication it won’t work (especially at this early stage). If they were still acting that way after months of living as neighbors I’d be more concerned.

You could try doing some side swaps as well to see if that calms things down before starting, sometimes it takes a few weeks.

Car rides are good (be sure to have a helper drive so you can supervise). For tricky bonds I would often do a short car ride before each normal session in the very beginning. Definitely be mindful of your more nervous bun, you don’t want her to be so scared she freezes and gets overly stressed.  You could also work with Clyde and Snow or Kermit in pairs just to get a sense of how that will go (so you don’t end up with a crazy 4 bunny tornado right off the bat). It’s really based on your comfort level with bonding, the space/time you have available, and how the buns react, so trying different strategies is totally fine. The only real rule is if something goes well, repeat that strategy a few times.

. . . 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.  

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