Bonding trio

[BunnyLugs]

Bum! Disasterous first bonding session with the two males. Two seconds in, the one goes straight for the others face. Had to pull them apart. No injurys but back they went into their carry cases and back in their cages and I scuttled away with my tail between my legs. Will I ever be successful? Immediate violence. Wonderful

[JK]

I’m sorry! It must be quite difficult. Markusdark here on this site took months to bond his 2 and finally has a successful story! It can take a long time. And 2 males probably is more difficult than a male and female. I did have to laugh envisioning this!

[MarkBun]

Are both buns neutered?
Did you hold the session on neutral ground?
Did you take them for a car ride or put them on the dryer first?
(all answers should be ‘yes’)

Two males will be a bit more difficult to bond than a male and female, but it can work. If you watch some of my earlier videos, you’ll see that Maryann went right for Dono’s face the moment I stopped petting her – and sometimes even when I was.

If there happens to be anyone with bonding experience in your area, you could bring the buns there. They’ll have a car ride first then be on neutral ground.

[BunnyLugs]

I tend to play it by the book and am not often ‘creative’ when it comes to bonding rabbits! My first two bonded a dream. Two days to be specific. Of course I thought that was down to my natural charm, wit and enthusiasm. Throwing a third into the mix is a wee bit more tricky. They are all fixed, it took place in the bathroom, but no car ride, was that nieve? Next time I’ll try that first. I guess I thought it would be more sniffing and humping like last time then physical attacks, wishful thinking? Lucky no one got hurt.

[MarkBun]

It is rare that buns can do serious injury to one another while you are watching over them like a hawk. More likely you’ll get injured before them since you don’t have a defensive layer of fur. And there’s nothing wrong with wishful thinking.

I found that my two stopped fighting the moment they were put into the pet carrier together. If they started up, I just shook the carrier a bit and they calmed down. Of course your results may vary. Fear does bring buns together.

Another option would be to also allow the buns some time to run free from their cages to work off any pent up energy. This should take place before the car ride though.

[BunnyLugs]

Thanks Markusdark, you are the expert after all! I do live in hope. You’ve hit the nail on the head there. They could rip both my arms off as long as they don’t so much as scratch each other. I don’t want to hurt them.

[kimberleyanddarren]

it will happen bunnylugs just be patient!

[Gravehearted]

I have to respectful disagree – as we once had to rush in for emergency stitches once with THREE rabbit experts watching the bonding session. So, it is good to be prepared whenever working on bonding. A splatter guard (for cooking) can work well to separate fighting bunnies – since you can get between them without potentially having your hand bit.

I would try the car ride to see how it goes, since the stress bonding methods often get good results. bonding two males can be very difficult. I would also swap litter boxes and then houses as well to help with cross scenting.

have you tried working with the boy-girl bond first, since it often is less stressful!

[Author]

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