Bonding two pairs of rabbits

[TwixandRocket]

Hello everyone! I would appreciate some advice on bonding two pairs of buns with each other.

There’s Twix and Rocket, they are Lionhead / Belgian Hare crosses. They are almost 1 year old and were spayed in August. The other pair are Astrid and Libby, two Netherland Dwarfs. We adopted them in September, when they were around 4 months old. They are not yet spayed but will be at the start of the new year.

At the moment, we have them in two separate playpens in the living room, but usually Twix and Rocket are free-roam within the living room with Astrid and Libby in their playpen because they are not yet all bonded to each other. They say hello to each other through the bars and flop against the barrier, but the free-roam buns seem to regress in their litter habits and poop along the barriers of the playpen in an attempt to mark their territory. They also have two litter boxes in the living room, and only poop along the play pen but use their litter boxes for everything else. 

There have been two instances where either Libby or Astrid got too close to Twix and Rocket while they were enclosed and Astrid and Libby were roaming, which resulted in them having a fight, with Rocket mounting Twix but her not accepting that. The mounting resulted in fighting with fur flying and a hurt ear one time. After having them separate for a while, Twix and Rocket were absolutely fine with each other again. 

I am now wondering if it is likely that all 4 will bond. With them being around each other I have been hoping that they will get along fine, but Twix and Rocket struggle so much with their hierarchy when the others are involved. I would properly begin bonding once everybody has healed from their spay surgery. 

 At this point I am not sure if they will bond at all or if it would be kinder to Astrid and Libby to rehome them to a family that can offer them as much space as possible sooner than once everybody here could be bonded. 

[DanaNM]

It’s hard to say at this point.

It’s very common for the presence of unspayed/neutered buns in the area to upset existing bonds. The new buns are still young, so I would be concerned about them upsetting the other girls bond again once they hit puberty.

When you bond a group, the original hierarchy of the pairs goes out the window, as they will reestablish their dominance within the group. I actually think the fact that they were able to go back together after their fight is pretty hopeful.

An all female group is also not common, but since you already have a female female pair, your two might be fine with more females.

I wouldn’t gauge the success of the group based off what you’ve seen so far, because it’s very common for pairs to be upset by new buns in the house. If you think that once they are bonded they would have a good life together, I don’t think it’s cruel to try. But, it might be good to have a back up plan for if they don’t bond.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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