Play date for newly bonded bunnies?

[Irina]

A bit of background: Tofu and Butterscotch are newly bonded 41/2 month old boys. Both neutered 4 weeks ago. They have been sharing a pen for 5 days now without incident. They seem to be happily eating/playing etc. Their pen adjoins Shadow’s pen. She is waiting to be spayed in one month, and them hopefully all three can be bonded. All three bunnies lived in the same pen together since I got them when they were three weeks old. Tofu was separated a few weeks before the neuter as he was mounting/upsetting Butterscotch. At that time, I thought Tofu was the only boy- And Butterscotch and Shadow were girls. (Oops!) Butterscotch lived with Shadow right up until his surgery and they got along great. Shadow has never had any problems with either of the boys. She and Tofu often lie together, on either side of their pen grate. She grooms him Sometimes too.

My question: can the boys have play time outside of their cage with Shadow? If so, when can I start that? I don’t want to do anything that will interfere with the boys bond- as it is going well. At the same time, having to have separate playtimes cuts down their playtime by half. I would like to know if having play dates with Shadow can hurt what we have accomplished so far? Would it be better to wait a little longer before Shadow plays with the boys? Thanks in advance!

[MoveDiagonally]

I wouldn’t re-introduce Shadow until you’re bonding her with the boys. Even with Butterscotch and Tofy doing so well they have not been together that long. Adding Shadow into the mix could upset their newly forming bond so I wouldn’t risk it. I would just let them have this time as a honeymoon period and give them a chance to strengthen their bond before trio bonding.

Shadow’s spay isn’t that far off and there’s really no rush. What’s 1-2 more months when they’re going to be together for their entire lives?

[Irina]

That is what I thought- was worth asking in case it was ok- more playtime for all! Thank you!

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