Gender and bonding

[gingerg]

I have an adorable sibling pair, a boy and a girl. I’d like to add a third bun, and was wondering, on the whole, if there is one gender that is better to add to that arrangement?

[Mocha]

I would advise against adding a third bunny. I find it difficult to bond all three of them especially that you already have two bonded and good friends. You may ruin that whole bond if you try to add a third bunny.

Is there a reason you want a third bunny? I personally would only like having two because you can pay more attention to them.

You can go to your local rabbit rescue, and they’ll be happy to help you out.

101 Rabbits (the youtube channel) has three bonded bunnies (2 girls and 1 boy), and she has a few videos up on her channel of her bonding them.

[MoveDiagonally]

I don’t think gender matters very much in bonding as personality has always seemed to be the reigning factor. My most difficult bonds had to do with dominant personality vs dominant personality (happened with a male/female and male/male in my group).

My original pair had been bonded for over a year before I added the third (and then 4th and 5th later). As Mocha said there is a chance of breaking an existing bond but in my experience that is fairly rare and there are precautions you can take. It will definitely change their bond because the group vs pair dynamic is different. If you’re interested in adding a third I would suggest finding somewhere that allows you to foster to adopt. That way you can foster a new bunny and try to bond. If it works out you can finalize the adoption and if it doesn’t you haven’t committed to being a forever home.

This is the thread I kept up when I bonded my trio if you want to check it out:
https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/125145/Default.aspx

[LBJ10]

Adding a 3rd bun could go either way, depending on the bunnies involved. Your two may be accepting of the new bun and everyone will get along nicely. Or your buns may not be accepting of the new bun and it could even disrupt the bond they already have. Sometimes someone ends up getting left out too, becoming a third wheel. I have heard stories of it going either way.

[gingerg]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. MD, your bonding blog is fantastic, I love the videos. Mocha, I’ve seen a few of 101 Rabbits vids, but didn’t realize she had experience bonding three; I’ll check that out.

[Author]

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