Bonding a Trio

[Bunnylover]

Hi everyone! 

We have 3 bunnies, 2 girls – Thumper & Lola and 1 boy – Lucky. Thumper and Lola used to be very happy living together (Thumper was pregnant when we got her and Lola was her baby) however we have recently had them both spayed and afterwards when they were recovered and reintroduced there was a bit of a skirmish so we have all 3 bunnies in separate living areas. Lola’s surgery was only 2 weeks ago so we have to wait another couple of weeks for her hormones to go before we can start bonding with her but I’m not sure the best way to go about this. Is it best to start bonding Lucky and Thumper first? Or would it be best to wait until Lola is ready? Also if we do that would we put all 3 in the bonding area together or rotate in pairs?  I have been doing a bit of prebonding by switching litter boxes and toys. We are also going to start rotating their living areas too. We have a pretty open plan apartment and it has a large living area that is basically divided into 3 at the moment! They can all see/smell one another through the gates dividing them

Just hoping for some advice on the best way to go about this! Thank you 

[Mikey]

It is best to wait until two months as females can take two to six months to drain hormones after being spayed

In the meantime, I suggest some prebonding. Swap all of their items (used litter box, food and water dishes, toys, etc) once a day. This allows them to swap smells and get used to sharing territory, which makes bonding go smoother Youll want to prebond for atleast one month before attempting to bond, and since youre on a two month wait for spay recovery, it is the perfect time to add in some prebonding.

[Bianca]

With all the pre bonding you are doing you are already on the right track.

It’s definitely worth waiting a bit longer for Lola to recover as you said before you try too much.

With trios and larger groups of rabbits it might be worth just trying a few different bonding options to see what works for them. You can try play dates with pairs, or all three. I personally did pair play dates a couple of times to see what each rabbit would be like with the other, and then focused on the pair I thought would be the trickiest before doing all three. You will also find out soon enough whether stress bonding will help you or make things worse – I know a lot of people who find it helps, but I have a rabbit who gets aggressive when stressed, and even neutral territory stresses him, so I actually have to bond him in his own territory – then weirdly enough he is fine and super friendly. He is now in a group of 4.

[Bunnylover]

Thank you both so much for your advice!
We’ve started switching them around as part of the prebonding. I think Thumper and Lucky may be the toughest pair as when Lucky has his time out in the biggest space (they’ll go back to being properly free roam when they are bonded but for now we have the room divided) Thumper was not too happy and was watching him like a hawk. she isn’t like that with Lola. Could possibly be because she has been around Lola for 8 months (and gave birth to her!) and Lucky is fairly new to household.

Im so nervous about the process, just want it to be as smooth and stress free for the bunnies as possible. So I will continue with the prebonding for another 5 weeks or so and then try out the options you suggested Bianca.

Really appreciate the advice from you both ?

[Bunnylover]

Hello again!
We have recently changed the layout of our apartment and there is a small area in the middle of the room where all 3 bunnies can see each other. Lola is in the middle and shares a perimeter with Thumper and one with Lucky. She has been getting on great with both. There is a very small part that Lucky and Thumper can see each other and Thumper is often getting aggressive with Lucky. She is absolutely fine with Lola but with Lucky she will sometimes nip and try to box him and growl.

I’m just wondering if I should block that area for Lucky? Or would it be best to let them get familiar with each other?
We are still prebonding with litter box switches etc

[Author]

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