Fluffle.

[cloverfields.forever]

Does anyone have experience introducing two pairs of bunnies? Asking for a friend. (Just kidding. It’s definitely for me.)

[DanaNM]

hah!

I have experience, but I can’t say that I was successful with a fluffle. My boys just were not getting a long and it wasn’t worth the effort to keep pushing them. So I settled for 2 pairs.

Do you have someone to help you? Have you bonded rabbits before? Asking because I think the approach that may work best will differ depending on your experience level.

. . . 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.  

[cloverfields.forever]

I have bonded bunnies before. Long story short, I started with a brother and sister, and a friend to be introduced at a later date. Separated them to have them spayed and neutered. Reintroduced brother and sister but their happily ever after unfortunately didn’t last long because sister died. Introduced my boy to the other girl and they’ve really grown to love each other, but she had been alone all her life and it shows a little bit. I rescued two bunnies from my local shelter, a male and a female, knowing it’s not the easiest introducing two males, but he’s literally an angel. I was told they were bonded but had just been spayed and neutered so I waited a few weeks to introduce them. They get along great. They’ve been home five months now and I don’t know why I’m dragging my feet, I guess I’m nervous it’s not going to go well. I’d like them to all be together but am prepared to keep them separate.

[DanaNM]

Gotcha! That’s helpful! It sounds like you didn’t have too hard of a time bonding your pairs, so that’s encouraging. I think if a particular pair was really hard to bond, it probably wouldn’t be a great candidate to add to a quad. There’s also the risk of the current bonds breaking, so keep that in mind.

When I was working with mine I first started with all four together. When it became clear that the two boys were going to be the issue, I worked on just the two of them for a while, but then decided to stop. One of my boys is a senior who had been rebonded twice due to being widowed, so I just didn’t want to put him through anymore stress. Plus they were really trying to hurt each other, not just fur pulling, so I didn’t want to risk injury.

Working with all four at the same time can be overwhelming if you don’t have an assistant at first, especially if you aren’t sure how things will go, so lots of people like to do some dates among the various pairings to see if a particular pair will be more trouble. Then when you feel like they are getting a long pretty well (maybe not bonded but tolerant of each other), you can start working with all of them together.

I have always had the best luck with very large spaces. Margo DiMello of the San Diego House Rabbit Society also recommends very large spaces when bonding groups.

There are lots of examples of m-m pairs, and F-F pairs, I think my two boys were just not compatible, their personalities were too similar!

. . . 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.  

[Author]

Messages