Female rabbit hates new girl.

[Shelberto23]

Peanut was our first rabbit and is 3 years old, we got her spayed. Since we got peanut she has been nervous/stand offish (her former owners were not the nicest.) We were patient and loving and she has gotten to where she is used to us lol. Well we thought she was still sad so we wanted to get her a friend, that’s when we got Hazel at 2 months old. We made the mistake of prebonding/bonding the two before Hazel got spayed, thinking the hormones wouldn’t come in affect. Well Hazel was very submissive and would just lay down when we would, and Peanut would nip her and just did not like her. We took a break to get Hazel spayed and have been waiting for her hormones to settle. It’s been 2 months since Hazel has been spayed. They have both gotten out and have gotten into a little fight before. Now whenever they get close to each other, peanut gets mad and wants to just fight her. I am scared to start bonding again. I feel like they will fight regardless. I want them to be friends. ( I recently got a boy bun to try and bond with each of them to break the ice. Peanut doesn’t seem to hate him as much as Hazel.)

[Asriel and Bombur]

First, how recently did you get the new boy? Is he neutered? Have you done any prebonding with the girls? Are you trying to bond in neutral territory?

You need to let the new boy settle in before you can begin bonding. Give him at least one month to settle into his new home before stressing him out with bonding. If he is neutered you can move on to prebonding them, if not get him neutered and wait 2 weeks then prebond.

Thing with bonding the boy with each of them means that all three would be bonded because he can’t go between each of them. Bonding a trio takes a lot of time and patience and you need to be prepared to have a contingency plan if things do not work out. You may end up with three single bunnies, a trio, or a pair and a single. You really can’t tell. But what helps is proper bonding and preparation.

Prebond for 1-2 months (at least till you see no aggression when you switch them between enclosures)
Bonding sessions: after prebonding for a while move on to short 5-10 minute sessions in neutral territory and gradually increase the better they do.

Take a look at member Sirius&Luna’s bonding journal for her trio.

In general bonding females is usually the most difficult because they are extremely territorial and can be aggressive. So two females is sometimes (not always) a recipe for disaster. I think Peanut’s prior situation might play into this as well if she was abused or neglected or left to fight with other bunnies. It could make her very uneasy around other bunnies, and she may just be meant to be a single bun.

The most important thing I can say is simply have patience, go through the process and know that setbacks are okay.

[Shelberto23]

Yes we have had the male bunny for about 3 months and have gotten him neutered. We have done prebonding with him and Hazel and also a couple bonding sessions and they are fine (just lots of humping) We haven’t done any prebonding or bonding sessions with the boy and Peanut. But when he is free roam, he can go by Peanuts pen and she just sniffs and seems okay. But when Hazel goes near her, she freaks. But the lady we got Peanut from said she had a boy friend before so thats what I thought she may like another. But yes, I don’t know the half of what she dealt with but when we went to buy her, the lady grabbed her out of her cage by the back of the neck and that’s all I needed to see honestly. But I am going to retry prebonding!

[Asriel and Bombur]

Well we know bunnies can’t be bonded until they’re fixed so odds are they were fighting and the male was probably excessively humpy. So she’s probably distrusting of buns in general, but maybe more so of Hazel due to getting out and them getting into a fight. When she’s aggressive what type of behavior are you noticing? If it’s just nipping, that’s fine. Nipping is how bunnies communicate. It’s the full on fur pulling, lunging, and chasing/circling that is negative.

If she’s flat out aggressive, it could be worth it to halt prebonding with them and move them to separate rooms for at least 2 months. Just so they forget each other and their scents and they can have a fresh start.

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