Need help! 4 bunny bonding!

[Mandi]

OK so up until a month ago I’d never had a rabbit in my life. We got two little boy bunnies, a black one named TZ and a brownish grey one named Thumper. We got them at the same time so they have no problem with each other. I don’t know how old they are but I know they were fairly young when we got them because in the month we’ve had them they’ve grown one and half times bigger than they were!

Now I didn’t have a problem with TZ and Thumper, till we went to the pet store and saw the cutest baby dwarf rabbits. They were probably about a month or two younger than TZ and Thumper. Unfortunately the one we fell in love with was a girl and we didn’t want to have to keep her seperated from the boys in a cage all alone so we got her and a little dwarf lop. Problem is I’ve never had to bond two bunnies before let alone four of them. Plus TZ and Thumper are about the size of a football now and Angel(The first one we wanted) and Flora(The lop)  are about both about the size of a baseball  How do you bond two itsy bitsy girl bunnies with two big rough and tumble boy bunnies?

[Deleted User]

Hi, amd welcome to the forum. — I have to say, you have your work cut out for you with this quartett of rabbits you now have. (Do you have photos?)
As your rabbits were babies when you got them, they are obviously not spayed or neutered and once mature will get into fights. You really want to get TZ and Thumper neutered, and when they are old enough the females spayed as well. Then, you can move on to the bonding. You can’t bond them unless they are fixed.

[Mandi]

Thanks for the help. We were planning on getting TZ and Thumper neutered before we even got the girls so plans obviously wont change.

We let the big bunnies sniff at the girls through the cage when they’re out playing and Thumper and Angel have been trying to groom each other through the bars  Yes I do have pictures.

Angel and Thumper first meeting

Flora

Angel (love the heart on her lip )

 

TZ and Thumper

[mrmac]

***SQUEAL*** Thumper looks identical to my Davey when he was a baby! ahhh memories! They are tooo cute!!!!!

[Deleted User]

Mandi, beautiful bunnies… that’s great you are already planning for the neuter! Since your boys are already buddies, and the girls, too, with each other, you are looking at bonding two pairs with one another. I’m sure someone on the forum has experience with this. I haven’t bonded a pair to a pair. It’s good that there is already a positive interaction happening between Angel and Thumper.

mrmac, what is this coloring called?

[mrmac]

I’m not quite sure, but like a cinnamon/tort?

[Deleted User]

hmmm! yummy: Cinnamon Tort!

[Mandi]

I’m hoping some one can help with this, I’m sure I could do it by myself but it would be very nice if some one who had already tried the whole bonding pairs thing could give me some pointers! Flora is the same color as Thumper by the way if it wasn’t for her size and floppy ears I’d say they were twins!

[Deleted User]

Mandi, for sure you can have success bonding two pairs if you bond each individual to each indidual first. I’m doing this right now with a trio.

[Mandi]

I figured thats what I’d have to do. I think I’ll try for Thumper and Angel first (for obvious reasons) then Thumper and Flora. Thumper is the more dominate of the two boys so I figure if he’s ok with the girls TZ will be too.

[Beka27]

I think that sounds like a good plan. You have quite a ways to wait, but it’s good you’re thinking this thru now.
Just a head’s up, many people don’t realize this, but it is possible for a male to impregnate a female thru bars.
So you’ll have to limit any interaction like that very soon. They’ll still be able to be near each other, but you
want to have about 3 inches of space between them. You can accomplish this with a NIC grid wall or an xpen.
Keep us posted on how everything goes when the time comes!

[Furface]

I’ll be watching this thread for tips although since my 4 are older I will probably be ahead of you. LOL

[Mandi]

Well the girls cage is on the other end of the room from the boys so the only time the boys get to interact with them is when they’re out playing and we have to watch them like a hawk anyways Flora and Angel want to go out and play with the big boys sooo bad! When we let the boys out both of the girls will rattle the cage bars in an attempt to get out. They’re settling down nicely though, when we first got them Flora was very skinny (she didn’t look skiny cause her fur was fluffed up and made her look big) and now shes putting on weight and she feels like a normal bunny! She’s geting more active now (Angel has always zipped around like a rocket) and today she was zigzaging around the room it’s the first time she’s ever done that before. We haven’t had any problems with the boys and girls fighting or humping or anything, just grooming through the cage, so I think the bonding process will be surprisingly easy.

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