pics of my bunnies…took me long enough!

[annette Sibert]

These are old pictures of my children, lol.  Peanut (white bunny) just got spayed so they will all be friends soon!  yay!

 

 

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[Beka27]

how adorable!

[Sarita]

They are so cute!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

They are soo cute! What are their names? Glad Peanut’s spay went well!

[Scarlet_Rose]

Too cute! Thank you so much for sharing them with us! Are you nervous about bonding them?

[annette Sibert]

I am extremley nervous about bonding them because they have lived together but seperated for about a year. I don’t know if that was the right thing to do. The big bunnies HATE Peanut. They fight whenever they are not separated by thier cages. Sometimes they will eat breakfast together for like, 4 minutes before Nibbles (brown bunny) gets agitated. I can tell when she is going to attack Peanut because she puts her head near Peanuts hind legs and gets real still……then she lets a deep growl….lunges, and fur flies. Poor little Peanut, they don’t get to play that often, lol. On the other hand if Peanut is sitting with the big bunnies and all seems to be going well for around 7 minutes while I pet them all equally, then she gets hormonal and tries to mount the other two, which always results in more fur flying. It has been such a problem, so they rarely get to have playtime.
But now I need to figure out how to bond them. The first two bunnies were like mortal enemies at first as well, I had to “stress” them continually with a vacuum to get them to finally bond, but now they are completely in love.
My plan is to take them to a neutral hallway, place the vacuum in the middle, *wear gloves* (lesson learned, lol), have my bf bring in the big bunnies while I place peanut down at the same time, and then wait a few moments. I’m not sure when to turn the vacuum on, but I think I will when one starts showing signs of aggression. Hopefully the fear of the scary monster vacuum will override thier dislike of Peanut, and they will all huddle together for comfort. Enough of these sessions should work I hope, and once they are ok with each other, we can have bonding sessions that are actually pleasant, with treats communal grooming, lol.

What do you think of my plan? Any other ideas or improvements would be much appreciated.

Should I keep Peanut in a seperate room while the weeks or months of bonding are taking place?
Don’t worry, I’m not going to attempt any bonding for at least a month, to give Peanut time to heal.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I always feel the need to put in a disclaimer before I advise on topics like these…So here goes-i have only been a bunny mom for just over a year now and am no serious expert…But
I think waiitng a month is a good idea as it takes weeks for the hormones to go down after a spay or neuter; I’ve read they are even fertile for up to a month after spay/neuter.
Also I am not entirely sure if this would work but it might be good to bond peanut with each rabbit seperately ? You could try…It might eliminate the two from ‘ganging up”on peanut…But my bond was instant so I haven’t done that much research…Here is a thread about bonding a trio!

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=86928&highlight=bond

[Scarlet_Rose]

Kokanee gave you some great ideas with trying to bond Peanut to one instead of a ganging up happening. I hadn’t heard of using a vacuum but that’s a great idea for a stress test, as opposed to driving them around in a car. I think that keeping Peanut in the same room with the others woudl be best, that way they’ll have to get used to each other and might even warm up to each other a little before the actual bonding happens.  Definately wait a month while the hormones die down and Peanut can adjust his personality with the hormone change.  Poor guy.  I hope all is well!

[Gravehearted]

yes, I’d echo the above advice! waiting the month like you’re planning is a good idea 🙂
since bunny relationship dynamics are often about figuring out who’s the boss – it’s a great idea to try bonding Peanut with both bunnies separately. I’d start with whichever of the pair is more mellow or will be more likely to be accepting.

I don’t think you need to keep Peanut in a different room – sometimes putting the pens side by side can help during bonding. you just want to make sure they’re far enough apart to not nip at each other. You can also try things like swapping litterboxes and even pens. I’d recommend some of the stress types of bonding – like car rides for sure.

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