Bonding a third bun

[Willow Lien]

MODS: Can you please move this to the correct forum? I thought I chose that one but I guess I did something wrong. 

So we rescued a third rabbit a month+ ago. She was deathly sick and is all better now and so very happy. Since getting a clean bill of health, I am slowly introducing her to the bonded pair I have.

History: I had my boy bunny (English Spot, the one in my avatar pic) for a couple years before we rescued a very young baby, my first girl (mixed breed meat rabbit). We successfully (despite being told it could not be done) bonded the baby with our older boy. We are very patient and went very slowly with it all. Since my boy was neutered, we bonded the baby girl before she was spayed. They were separated but next to each other (divided room) for two weeks after her spay while she healed. It has been a year now for my bonded pair. The boy is 6.5lbs and the girl 7lbs.

Our new baby is living in a different room (my buns are not caged). I will eventually do the divided room with the pair on one side and the baby on the other. She is not spayed and it may be a long time before she is as the vet says she needs to be 4 pounds. She is a mini-Rex and may not even get to 4 pounds fully grown. She is just at two pounds at four months old (side note: I think she is younger than what we were told by a month maybe, due to the fact I have seen no signs of puberty yet). I am not sure the two females will ever get along if she is not spayed. So far, meetings with the boy and the baby are going well. Meetings with the girl and the baby are going LESS well lol. They do get better each time. It is in a neutral area, of course.

Right now I am allowing them to see each other through a gate for a while each day and get used to scents. The sniff through the gate and no one gets mad but they do mark their areas on either side of the gate with poo and the baby will pee also. I will begin exchanging litter soon. The baby is so elated when she gets to be with one of my other buns. She binkies and dances all around. 

I was wondering if anyone has some successful female-female bonding stories or adding a third bun to a bonded pair. Thanks!

[Willow Lien]

No one has any experience with this?

[Mikey]

I had a trio for a year, had to separate due to health problems with the third. I might be able to help

First, its a bit concerning that your vet will only spay rabbits above 4lbs. Are you sure this vet is trained to work on rabbits? Rabbit trained vets will even spay dwarves, which are no more than 2.5lbs without a problem. I would look into getting a new vet, first.

Second, hormonal (unspayed, unneutered) rabbits cannot bond. Babies cant bond, either. Babies can make friendships, but those friendships break when hormones enter the picture. Spayed/Neutered rabbits will often act hormonally when a hormonal rabbit is around them; they do this because they can smell the hormones, and in a sense, ‘feed’ off of that energy. If you put the baby around your pair too soon, your pair might break due to the hormonal bun in their area. Itll start with territory marking and escalate as the hormones of the baby escalate.

What youre doing now, allowing them to see one another through the gate, is called prebonding. Its what you will do for atleast a month after your baby is spayed to help everyone get used to one another. After she is spayed and after they stop marking the gate area, you can begin actual bonding sessions

[Willow Lien]

Hmm. Well I will have to disagree about the baby bonding as I have done it. My boy rabbit is quite a gentle guy and seems to get along with anyone or any rabbit. I have plenty of photos and videos of them snuggling, grooming, etc. before the spay same as after. I don’t wish to argue so we will let it alone.

I do plan to keep them all separated until after the baby is spayed and probably a while after that as I expect bonding to take quite a while for all three. I have the space to keep them separated forever if it comes to that.

I did research before selecting my vet, they are by no means the closest one and certainly not cheap. The clinic I go to is an exotic vet clinic and they have at least three rabbit vets. I will ask them further about the four pound rule because that was my thought exactly…what about dwarf rabbits?

I think I am starting to see signs of puberty now in the baby, nothing drastic yet though. I am still having light bonding sessions (bunny dates). We have good ones and not-so-good ones. Always try to end on a positive note. No one hurts anyone. We keep our dates nice and short, no more than fifteen minutes MAX. Usually more like 5-10.

Thanks for warning about disturbing the bond between the older rabbits, that is something I will definitely ward against and look into.

I have never had all three together at once and do not plan to for many months yet. Thanks for the reply! I am keeping a good log of everything and hopefully in time can write a bonding experience entry, whether successful or not. IN the mean time, our new little girl is just so sweet and seems to have bonded well with me. She definitely prefers me over the other family members and will run to me, jump in my lap and snuggle down for 20-30 minutes.

Our older female, before she was spayed, she was much friendlier. After puberty she became very elusive and generally did not want anything to do with us, only her bondmate. I have recently begun to work with her (before the new baby which was not planned) and my work has paid off so far. Now she will come lay next to me an dlet me pet her for a good ten minutes. One day maybe i can have all three buns in my lap for a good snuggle! I can dream anyway LOL!

[Author]

Messages