is three a crowd?

[sarah bowden]

Hi all, I’m new to binkybunny and a new bunny mommy.

I adopted a young boy bunny a few weeks ago, he is adjusting quite nicely to my house. Is almost totally litterbox trained and is even getting along great with my dog! I love having a house rabbit, I got my fist bunny kiss on the nose yesterday and watching him binkie just kills me.

So, here’s the problem. I am away 8 hrs a day. I can tell he really needs a companion. His attempts at getting my very old, very lazy dog to interact with him are not working out. I took him on a few dates and found one rabbit that seemed like a good fit. I plan to take him back to meet her again this weekend. But then a friend of  mine told me that she needs to give up her female, whom I love. She is really friendly and sweet. My guy has not yet met her so I don’t know that they will get along. But here’s my question is it impossible to bond all three?  Since they are not already paired up, would it work to start out bonding all three?

I would really like to give it a try, but since I’m new to the game unsure that it will work.

Thanks for any input you may have!!

[Sarita]

Welcome and congratulations on your new bunny.

Yes, this is possible – I’ve never bonded 3 rabbits before (at least not yet) but I did recently try – one of the females I wanted to bond was unhappy about it even though her mother whom she was bonded too had recently passed away. From what I understand it is best to try and bond them as “pairs” probably put the male with one female and then the other to bond them and then put them together. I would certainly try to see how receptive your friends bunny is to your bunny too (I know it would be great if you could take her too and the other rabbit that he seemed receptive to.)

I had initially had the same thoughts as you to through them together “in the mix” to see how they would interact but Mocha was unreceptive to both the male and female that I tried her with although I did get the other two bonded in no time at all.

There was also some links that BinkyBunny posted about multiple bondings – I will see if I can find those as well and post them for you.

[Sarita]

Here is the link to the post:

https://www.binkybunny.com/Default.aspx

 

[MooBunnay]

Hello!

I do think that in most cases a bond of 3 is much tougher than a bond of 2 – however, I have not heard that bonding 3 is impossible. Especially when there are two females and one male. Osprey on this site has two females and one male all bonded together. I think that introducing them as pairs is the best way to start. I do know that with my one bonded pair, if a single bunny gets too close to them they will start fighting, so introducing one bunny to the pair all at once will probably start a fight. Once they have been intorduced in various pairings, then you could also take them all on a car ride together in one carrier to help them bond together.

Good luck, and let us know how things go!

[sarah bowden]

Thanks for all the advice.

I brought Isabella home yesterday, things were’nt quite how I expected them to be. You see Isabella was bonded with a boy, her owner moved away a week ago and took the boy but not Isabella. She left Isabella with her mother. Isabella is a flemish mix and was left in a cage much much to small for her and not given very much run time. So she has been through  a lot.

Apon first meeting she and Gus got along fine. When in a small space she is very eager to cuddle with him. But when I gave them a little more space she nipped at him, he’s fine, but no it seems as though he’s playing hard to get.

He has free run of the house. I put her in a pen and I chave caught him visiting with her a few times. So I know he likes her. Tonight i’m going to try setting up a pen for him reight next to her’s and see if that helps. I also thought about swapping out their blankets and litter boxes. Any other suggestions.

I would love to bring the other bunny home too, but I can tell my boyfriend is already a little overwhelmed by the bonding process. So I have decieded to hold off for the time being.

I’ll fill you in on Gus and Isabella’s bonding and post some pictures too.

[Gravehearted]

poor Isabella, she must have been totally broken hearted. Thank goodness you took her in, since I am sure she was feeling very upset and depressed.
My guess is she’ll be pretty receptive to bonding with Gus, which is good.

I think the idea of swapping blankies and boxes is good, you might also try swapping pens in a few days too. It sounds like there’s been some nipping, but not a big ol brawl, which is a good sign. Nipping is a form of communication and not true aggression. You might try feeding them their veggies together during bonding. Car rides can also be helpful and so can cross petting (you swap pettings, so that you are scenting them with the other rabbit’s scent)

let us know how it’s going, sending good bonding wishes your way

[sarah bowden]

Poor Isabella, I think she is still mourning the loss of her former boyfriend. She is not in the least bit interested in bonding with Gus (at least not right now). Unfortunate for Gus cause he wants to be friends in the worst way. So all this has made me feel even better about bringing home a third. That way Gus can get the companionship he needs, Isabella can get the time she needs and then once everyone is happy I will try to bond all three. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!

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