New rabbit

[auntie]

I’m thinking about getting a 3rd bunny. The breed is an American Chinchilla rabbit.

it would be a baby. My other 2 are 2 year old males. They are only in their cages when we go to bed.
I know I’ll need a neutral space to introduce the baby bunny with the other 2. I’m going to use my bathroom. I am going to fix the new bunny but until that happens I’m not sure how this will work. Any suggestions?

With having 2. male’s already which would be better a female or another male?

[Em]

Gender honesty does not matter. It is all entirely dependent on the personality of your rabbits & the new rabbit as to whether or not they get along. You won’t know that they’re a good match usually until around 5-6 months old.

rabbits are also very active at night, so even though your buns are only caged at night, they still need tons of room so still check that it is ample big enough to house 3 rabbits. Chinchilla rabbits are also large rabbits, so you have to consider this space wise too. I don’t have any other suggestions I don’t know what your set up is like, so can’t really suggest how you’d go about housing them until bonding can start. It would be a good idea to house them near each other or side by side if possible, to get them as familiar with each other as possible in the “pre-bonding” stages.

[DanaNM]

You should not do any introductions until your new bunny is spayed and hormones have settled.

Trios are hard. It really depends on personalities. I’ve tried twice to bond a trio and once to bond a quad and have failed all three times because in each case one of the pairings just would not get along. Since you already have two males (I’m assuming they are bonded and neutered?) it would be better to introduce a female. Keep in mind that baby rabbits are very often mis-sexed.

You will need space to house all of them separately in case the bond breaks between the males while working on bonding. Also keep in mind that occasionally the original bond breaks permanently so you really need to be prepared for that possibility.

I know it’s tempting to get more rabbits (I have 4 myself), but a trio is not guaranteed to work so you need to be prepared for that possibility and be sure you are getting the bun for the right reason.

. . . 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.  

[auntie]

Thank you for the information.

my males are neutered and bonded accept they have separate cages side by side because they get aggressive with each other if locked in 1 cage. The weird part of that is they will hang out together and cuddle etc in 1 cage during the day but the cage door is open so they can come and go as they please.

the bunny I’m hoping to get is more of a docile breed and I’ve read and been told they are really good with children.

I wanted to originally get a holland lop but they have lots of medical problems whereas the chinchilla breeds do not.

I’ll try to get a picture of my set up now

[DanaNM]

If your buns are unable to be in a cage together overnight I would be very concerned about adding a new rabbit in the mix. Also how big is the cage? 2 rabbits need more space than 1 rabbit.

The way a rabbit is around humans does not predict how easy they will be to bond, unfortunately. The best option is go through a rescue that allows speed-dating so you can adopt an adult rabbit that is more likely to work for bonding.

. . . 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.  

[auntie]

I have 2 large dog crates.

I can’t tell if they were fighting or playing when I did it. They were fine from 8pm-10pm then I could hear them running around and when I came down to check it appeared that they were chasing each other.

do you know why they are fine together during the day in 1 cage?

i found a cage for hopefully the new bunny that has an attached playpen.

 

[Em]

I’d honestly hold off on adding another rabbit IMO. Rabbits need a lot of space at night, at all hours of the day honestly (3m x 2m access 24/7 is the recommended bare minimum by Rabbit Welfare UK). So I think based on your current situation, also given that your two rabbits don’t get along perfectly as is (adding a third rabbit could make your rabbits 10 times worse) it would be best to hold off. Dog crates aren’t big enough unfortunately, and while it’ll have to do for your current two if that’s all you can provide, it would not be a good idea to bring another rabbit home with no space for one. Larger breeds also need more space than your average rabbit.

as mentioned, just because a rabbit is chill with people or a docile breed, it doesn’t mean they will be chill with other rabbits. also as mentioned it is not guaranteed they will get along at all – so you need a plan should that happen, if you go ahead with getting a third rabbit (personally I don’t think it’s a good idea at all, it’s not fun to have rabbits who don’t get along – it’s super stressful).

[auntie]

Okay thank you 😊

[DanaNM]

I agree, a large dog crate isn’t big enough for one rabbit, let alone a pair. They are likely fine during the day because they are sleepy and are more active at night. There is some info here on house rabbit housing: https://binkybunny.com/infocategory/house-rabbit-habitats/

Simply adding an x-pen to your dog crate would make it a lot more suitable for a pair, or you could use NIC-cube grids to make a custom pen or condo.

 

. . . 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.  

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