Bonding a quad

[LauraVeitch]

Hello, 

I’m new here and have 2 pairs of bonded rabbits: Millie (a dwarf lop) & Julian (mini rex) and Bella (lion head) & Charlie (unsure mix). 

All bunnies are neutered and vaccinated and have been living in bonded pairs for a year or so. I got each bunny individual. Millie and Julian are from breeders and Bella and Charlie we rescued from bad homes.

Last night we began trying to bond them into a 4, this is our second attempt. So far it is going well but any help, hints or advice would be great!

Starting in a carrier, we left the buns for 2 hours before progressing to a small pen in our bedroom (neutral territory for the buns and easy for us to sleep next to them!). The boys Julian and Charlie immediately started fighting so we out all bunnies back in the carrier and made the pen half the space. 30 minutes later we put them back in the pen and things have been going well so far. Only a few scuffles we have separated using a pot and a spoon to rattle them. Julian is definitely the problem as the other 3 are absolutely fine together. Julian is nipping quite frequently but not drawing blood and the other seem to just be avoiding him or getting out his way. 

We plan to slowly increase the size of the pen by the end of today. I tried to add photos but couldn’t seem to get the right size or format?

If anyone has any guidance for successfully bonding a group I’d love to hear it!

[Asriel and Bombur]

You seem to be really rushing it if you want to increase by the end of the day. Bonding sessions in the beginning should not be more than 10-15 minutes, and you increase the time based on how well they are doing. A fight that breaks out in the beginning is already a sign to not go further and to continue day by day to work on doing a 10-15 minute session just once in a day until they are comfortable with each other. Even with the frequent nipping.

Did you prebond at all by swaping items between their enclosures to get them all used to each other? If not, go back to that step and do that. Then in another 2-4 weeks when everyone seems more or less comfortable, then you can do short sessions in the neutral territory. If you have been prebonding, stop your session for the day, and really dial it back a lot. Bonding is meant to be slow or it can cause a variety of issues later on. Tomorrow really go slow and do only one session for 10-15 minutes and watch every bunnies’ interactions. Then do it again the next day. You never want to end on negative, only positives and neutrals. If you see more positives, increase the sessions by 10-15 minutes. Also for space, a bigger space might help. Some bunnies need a bigger space to really feel like they have some place to go if they’re being chased.

[LauraVeitch]

I should have said, the carrier was from 5-7pm and then they stayed in the small pen over night and we increased until the next again afternoon. It is now Sunday and they have the full square pen. I won’t be doing sessions of 10 minutes as I don’t want them separated at all. I tried that the first time round and they fought every time because they were continually meeting each other. A group of bunnies is a different bonding method than singles. All the research I’ve done says that with groups you need to put them together and keep them together.

[Asriel and Bombur]

I honestly feel like that’s still very much rushing it. There have been successful groups and trios bonded on this site that have had slower introductions. Especially with one of yours being aggressive, I’d pull back and take it slow.

[Author]

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