Four Bunnies: Advice Needed

[Miffy1015]

 I have four bunnies who I absolutely adore (in two separate pairs), but don’t know if keeping them all is the right thing to do…

We initially got three bunnies with the plan to bond them into a trio. They were all desexed (two females and one male), and I followed a gradual process to bond them.. This went really well at first, to the point where we had them all in the same enclosure in the living room. However, after a few weeks Marmie (female) started to be very dominant towards Miffy (other female), which ending up escalating to full on attacks including drawing blood. As a result, they were separated and we moved back in the bonding process. However, Marmie was never able to get over this “grudge”, and would attack Miffy at any opportunity. Marmie has always been a bossy female and I believe this is her personality. This fighting was extremely stressful and nothing seemed to make it better (daily bonding session increasing in time, tried stress bonding, different neutral areas, spraying with water, etc etc).

In the end, we had to separate Miffy from the other two permanently. But I didn’t think I could part with any of them, so I got another male bunny, Max, to be Miffy’s friend. For some time now we have had the four bunnies in two pairs, one pair in each living area of the house.  

In the last couple months we had to move into a smaller house and there aren’t two living areas where I can keep the two pairs separate. My husband is completely against having one pair in a bedroom or something like that, so they have all been put outside. This absolutely breaks my heart as I know it’s not fair on the bunnies, but I am at a loss as to what to do. I am considering rehoming one pair so that we could keep the other pair inside in the living area, but feel so guilty about it. I realise that this guilt is stopping all four bunnies from having better, more enriching lives, so I am hoping I could get some advice and see if you have any ideas or think that rehoming two of the bunnies would be the best option.   Thanks for any advice. 

[DanaNM]

That sounds very stressful.

I don’t think you should feel guilt about rehoming… it is necessary sometimes, and if you take the time to find a good new home (or a good rescue that can help), then I am sure they will be happy, and better than being outside. Especially if you think the smaller place is not very temporary.

I’m guessing there is not a way to divide the living area to allow all 4 to share that space? I know some members here have their homes divided into runs for multiple pairs to share.

. . . 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.  

[Nutmeg]

I don’t have much advice, unless like DanaNM said above, if you could split the one living area you have? Or could you have two smaller separate “living” areas in the main living space and then rotate their free play time? I Know its not as much as they had before, but would still be better than being outside 24/7 ?

But I DID want to give you a big virtual Hug as this must be so hard!!
I’m so sorry you are going through this!

[Deleted User]

Have you ever attempted trying to make them a group. I’m no expert on bonding but I have read that a trio is more difficult to achieve than putting a group of four together. I believe that it’s something to do with each of them having their own partner within the group. I know this is probably hard work, as I know even bonding a pair is stressful and time consuming. But maybe this could be part of the reason one of your females is so territorial? Perhaps she struggles sharing the male with another female. Considering she has bonded with your second male means she is not unbondable and doesn’t have a dislike of all rabbits, so maybe it was just the dynamics of the trio that caused some tension. Also considering you have moved house I presume there is a lot of neutral territory that you could carry out bonding sessions in, which is also useful. Hopefully someone with more bonding advice could step in and add to this. Hope some of this gives you something to consider. Best of luck

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