New Trio Bonding – Food Aggression!

[caseyp1213]

Hi all! I’m new here so here’s some background on my little bun army.

I adopted Wilson about 3.5 years ago. He lived with me as a solo bunny up until this past month. He is a 4.5 lb mini lop who was owner surrendered after he broke his femur. My understanding is that he was purchased to be a show rabbit, but lost his value after the break occurred. He was taken in by a local vet who worked on him, and was then put up for adoption. He’s the funniest little guy, likes his humans and head rubs, as well as any kind of produce. He was fixed before I adopted him.

For the last several months, my boyfriend and I had been toying with the idea of getting a mate for Wilson. We both wanted another bun, and thought it would make Wilson happy and less bored to have a partner. We took him to a local rescue for some bunny speed dating, and ended up with not one but TWO bun partners: 

Diane is a 1-2 y/o 3.5 lb American Fuzzy Lop. She was taken from a hoarding/abuse situation. Her ears are all torn up, likely from a previous mate. She was not bonded to anyone at the rescue and housed alone. She is rather skittish and isn’t a fan of being pet on her back or sides. She was fixed earlier this month.

Poe is a 1 y/o 3.5 lb blue mini Rex. He was owner surrendered due to landlord issues. He’s a little troublemaker, but likes cuddles and exploring. He was also housed alone and not bonded to anyone. He was fixed a few months ago.

The trio dynamic seemed to work well! We left all three with the rescue, they keep the rabbits for a week-long “bunnymoon” so they can bond in neutral territory. The volunteer kept us updated on their progress and let us know how things were going. She suggested an extra week of supervised bonding since Poe was still doing a lot of chasing and mounting. We discussed the possibility of removing Poe and only adopting Diane with Wilson. By the end of the second week though, there was no chasing and minimal mounting. The volunteer told us to take all three and give them a few weeks to settle in to their new home.

We are going on day three at home. Things have been doing very well! My main concern is that all of the buns become a bit aggressive when their food shows up. They do not fight over hay and will all happily munch together. When pellets and fresh greens show up, there’s circling, mounting, and a little chaos. It settles down quickly but still has me worried.

Also, Diane seems to get mad if we pet the other rabbits. I do my best to pet all three at once or in turns, and often Diane does not want to be pet. She will run away or grunt at us. But if we pet the others next, she lunges and grunts at us all the same. I figure she is still figuring out how to act after being in an abusive home. I would live any suggestions or insight anyone can offer!

[Sirius&Luna]

A trio! Lucky you. I’m still working on my trio. I would love to see photos! Photos of happy trios give me hope haha.

For food, the best thing to do to prevent aggression is to scatter it rather than serve it in a bowl. This way they all have to forage for it, and they’re not irritating each other by shoving noses out the way.

As for Diane and petting, I’m not sure what to suggest other than spending time on the floor with all of them. Hopefully it will calm down over time when she realises shes in a more secure environment.

[caseyp1213]

Thanks for the advice! I’ll try scattering the pellets tomorrow and see if that helps. I’d love to upload some photos but can’t for the life of me figure out how to do that. I’ve tried adding them to the attachments section but nothing happens. And when I drag and drop it just pulls the photo up in a separate screen. Guess I’ll have to do some more experimenting. 

[Sirius&Luna]

For photos, you have to choose attachment, upload, and then once it’s uploaded, there’s a little button for insert into post. It’s a bit of a faff!

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