Should I bond my two bonded pairs?

[mint]

Hi everyone!  So I have four bunnies right now, I have two pairs.  Moomoo and Lulu are bonded with Moomoo the dominant of the two, and Puni and Bamboo are bonded but they are equally dominant (and hard-headed).  They are doing fine in their pairs though they have their little spats.  They are paired in condos; I give them turns for play time.  They have been bonded in their pairs for about 2 years each or longer. 

 

The pairs each hate the other; they are constantly trying to get to eachother through bars, and peeing at the territory lines and over the others’ pee.  It has been really disgusting and frustrating because now they are having a pee war on the sofa.  I basically had to block off the sofa.  

 

My husband wants me to bond all four to end pee wars and so that they can all come out at once.  I like the idea, but I’m not crazy about how difficult it will be.  I am pretty sure they are all dominant personalities, and that they will fight, and the existing bonds will be broken.  I read that you can try to bond the dominants first, but they all seem really dominant and aggressive in terms of territory.

 

So should I just nix the idea?  I am ok with keeping them in pairs but the pee and poop wars are really bad.  It just seems to be getting worse.  I only have a one bedroom condo so there really is no “neutral” territory, and I wouldn’t even know who to start with???

 

I’m trying to attach pictures of them. 

[RabbitPam]

They are gorgeous!
I am not an expert in bonding, but several of our FLs are, and some have had bonded pairs that became groups. I am going to send my reply as an alert and ask our other FLs to stop by and read your post, to give advice. Guys, if you remember anyone else who’s had successful groups, please send them a PM as well to get their input. Thanks. RP

[tanlover14]

Hey there —

I have just successfully bonded my four bunnies! Although, not in previous pairs. I had a bonded trio and then added a fourth bunny in the mix. Although both (new boy and old boy) have VERY dominant personalities. I have a few ideas from bonding my four that may help you out.

First of all, I would try each separate pair of bunnies together. See how they do in different pairs. After you can get a slight feeling for their dynamic as pairs, I’d try putting all four bunnies together (with another person to help in case a fight breaks out) in a close, VERY NEUTRAL territory and see how their dynamics work together that way. This can help you get a feeling for each bunny and their reactions to who (by themselves and as a group). After trying with a group, I decided to bond completely as a group because the dynamics DRASTICALLY changed when added as a group so doing bonding in pairs seemed almost pointless to me as the one who was bonded the most to my newest bun seemed the most aggressive when put in a group situation and my bun who was the most aggressive to the newest bun in pairs was actually the easiest in a group!

Just some food for thought! I would try it though — it took me about a month to do my quartet but if you have the time and energy I would definitely give it a try. I would expect a few tiffs between the pairs (possibly). I had to spend a few nights sleeping out with my trio in the living room as they had a few scuffles while bonding with the new bunny. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask! I will help with any ideas I can possibly through in through experience or research! Also, GORGEOUS bunnies!

[mint]

Thank you RabbitPam! They are really cute. I appreciate your help.

Thank you tanlover14! I like that idea. I tried them separately, like Lulu with Puni then Lulu with Bamboo. It didn’t work, Lulu was really mad and aggressive toward them. I would never have thought of putting the four together. I will definitely try that with my hub to help out in case of fights. That might totally help since Moomoo is the boss of Lulu and probably wouldn’t let her be aggressive.

Thanks for saying they’re gorgeous, they are really cute. It is kind of hard seeing them fight since they’re otherwise so adorable and peaceful, I almost feel bad putting them through it. Would be nice if it works out though!

[tanlover14]

Don’t feel bad or guilty! My four were really difficult at first and I felt TERRIBLE because the new bunny would always be so upset and flustered afterwards. BUT now he is the happiest and the most active I’ve seen him since we got him. Just remember, it’s difficult because they have to learn to trust each other. And that’s what creates such a strong bond between bunnies. You didn’t become best friends with your best bud overnight so don’t expect them too!

I also had never thought of putting them all together but then read it on a few random posts and decided it couldn’t hurt since they were all over the place when I did them in pairs anyways! I’ll warn you, we did A LOT of squirting with the water bottle and I kept a vacuum cleaner next to where I was bonding them to turn on and stress them out if I noticed anyone trying to start fights.

Let me know how it goes if you try! I’m excited to hear about them.

[mint]

Thanks for sharing! You’re right, it takes a lot to build those lovely bonds they have.

My hub will be really excited to try to put them all together, he’s been trying to get me to try it but I keep telling him they will all kill each other. I feel better knowing somebody else tried it and it worked. I will definitely have my squirt bottle handy, haha it really works!

I will keep you updated, thanks for sharing again!

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