Bonding a Trio

[Nicole]

Hi all, I’m fairly new to bunnies and wanted to get some advice on when I should start to bond a trio of bunnies. The bunnies are as follows:

Bunny number 1 – one year old spayed female mini lop, she is my first bunny and I’ve had her about 3 months, and was fixed when I got her from the rescue. She is the one I am most worried about bonding, as she was housed with her female litter mate but had to be separated because she started bullying her sister.

Bunny number 2 – young male holland lop, not sure if exact age but shelter estimated him to be less than 1 year old. He was neutered in early December 2017. I’ve only had him since  last weekend but he seems to be pretty laid back and is very friendly.

Bunny number 3 – 12 week old male holland lop, he still a month or so away from being neutered.

Right now bunny 1 & 2 are housed in downs in the same room, separated by about two feet, so they can see but not touch. Bunny 3 is in a separate room. 

I know I cannot bond bunny 3 with either until a month or so after he is fixed, but should I put him in the same room as the other two?

Also, should I start trying to bond 1& 2, or wait and try to bond all three at the same time?

I have the space too keep them all separate permenantly, but really want to bond at least two of them. 

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Sirius&Luna]

Hi!

I wouldn’t worry about bunny no 1 too much – she probably bullied her sister because neither were spayed, so its hopefully not a reflection on how she’ll behave later. Females do tend to be the dominant buns in pairs and groups though, so she likely will still be boss!

I’m also currently trying to bond a 2 male, 1 female trio. My female is the one being difficult, but that’s her personality, and I knew that would likely be the case going into it!

There’s no harm in putting them all in the same room. I wouldn’t bother bonding 1&2 first, personally, as you’ll need to do a month of prebonding, and probably a month of bonding, by which point bunny 3 will be ready anyway. Then you can try the trio, and if it doesn’t work, you can hopefully see who might work as a pair.

My suggestion would be move them all into the same room, and rotate them between hutches every day from now. Make sure they can’t reach each other when getting free time outside their hutches (depends on your set up, but extra pen walls or cardboard work well at blocking off other cages). Give bunny 3 a month to recover after his neuter, then try some neutral space bonding!

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