Three’s A Crowd?- VIDS/PICS

[OhMommaButterGrits]

Okay so in the next week or two I want to start bonding my 3 unbonded bunnies. They are all altered and by that time they would have been for a month or a little more.  (Oh and all vet checked and healthy!)

Ummm…so I need advice?!?!

I know it’s a week away that I’m going to start, but I really want to be prepared!

I have two males and a female and one of the males (Mugs) and my girly (BunBuns) seem to have taken to eachother already. I’ve seen a couple times Muglsy licking BunBuns through her cage. Honey Bunny my other male is a little more shy and he might end up being a loner??? I really think that with the time and effort I’ll be able to make them a happy family though so any help would be appreciated since I can’t seem to find much on bonding three unbonded rabbits?????

Thank you guys!

 

[Beka27]

Aside from reading some past bonding threads, the best article I’ve ever seen on bonding is by HRN…

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/bond.shtml

All pairs and trios are different so once you start bonding we should be able to have more feedback…

[OhMommaButterGrits]

I know I said I was going to wait another week, but I’ve been seeing so much licking through the cages that I figured, “Hey why not start now?”

Okay well on a previous post I made somebody told me to start out with only two and rotate it so that all three bunnies were put together at some point. So this is what happened:

1st pair- Mugsly (My male mini rex) and BunBuns (Female):

The bonding took place in my bathtub and had a towel on the bottom for traction and hay on one corner of the tub. My Fatty McFat Bunny, BunBuns, first headed straight to the food and could care less that there was another animal in the tub with her…or that she was even in a tub. Muglsy on the other hand just kind of looked up at me and was like, “Mom what the heck am I doing in here?” Finally BunBuns noticed that there was another rabbit with her and just sort of layed next to him. Mugsly then lazy got on top of her and proceeded to hump her she just kind of took it and didn’t seem to really care. Basically it was a lot of Mugs getting on top of her (which I have to say was hilarious since he is so small) and Buns like, “Um are you done yet?” coupled with a bunch of them laying next to each other in between humping sessions. The only things that I’m a little confused about is Mugs was always grooming BunBuns, but she would not groom him at all and she like seemed to voluntarily dive under him before he was going to hump her…like it was like she like him laying on top of her? So anyway it ended after about 30 mins with Mugs licking BunBuns and them laying next eachother. BunBuns seemed a little stressed out, she was breathing kind of fast so I took her out and left Mugs in the tub while I went to get Honey Bunny.

2nd Pair- Honey Bunny(Lop) and Mugsly (Both Male):

So Mugs was already in the tub and I put HunBun in. At first they both just layed next to each other but opposite…Ones head facing one way and the other facing the opposite. And then Mugs mounted Honey…and he just didn’t seem to care. I think he might of been stressed and kind of wasn’t sure what was going on, because the next time that Mugs tried to get on top of him he wasn’t having it. They chased each other around and then Honey got on top of mugs who just layed there as he really violently humped him. (Okay it really wasn’t violent per say but he was much quicker and faster than Mugs lazy style lol) He got off of Mugs and then it played out again the chasing and the mounting but then this time it was Mugs who mounted Honey. They kind of just kept taking turns it seemed actually. There was no biting only a few tuffs of hair, but the whole thing was much more active then Buns and Mugs meeting. Eventually it seemed like Honey sort of gave up and just kind of layed there while Mugs humped him a couple of times while grooming him. Actually Mugs groomed him several times, but just like before Mugs got no grooming of any kind. It ended with Mugs grooming HunBun.

3rd Pair- BunBuns and Honey Bunny

I brought back Buns and introduced her to Honey. At first Buns tried doing the thing that she did with Mugs. She tried to like dive under him and just let him lay on top of her. Then when he actually started to get on top of her and hump her she tried running away. That’s how most of this session went. A lot of chasing and then humping with the other Bunny trying to run away. Eventually Buns mounted Honey without him trying to escape several times (He just layed there) and she even like kind of groomed him when she was on top. HunBun would not groom Buns and other than the time when she was on top she would not groom him except when I put a little Banana on his head. Even with banana Honey would not lick Buns though. It ended with BunBuns just sort of looking up at me like, “Are we done here?” and Honey just laying down next to her. He still seems pretty stressed by the whole thing so I hope he calms down soon.

Okay all the sessions lasted about 30 minutes and I’m sure they could of gone longer, but I thought for the first time it was a good length to end it at. Also there were no bites just a couple of hair tufts from trying to hold on while mounting. Anything I should try different or do I just keep doing it like this?
Thanks everyone!

[Monkeybun]

Sounds like it is going fine. Keep it going Do sessions every day.

[OhMommaButterGrits]

Day Two- All three at once
So today I tried stressing them all three by taking them in the car..um so I’m not a fan of stressing my rabbits. I had all three of them in the tub today before I did that ( I saw a thread on here where they put all three together?) and it really wasn’t too chaotic. BunBuns was trying to be much more dominant than last time and demanded that both male bunnies would groom her and then would kind of nip them if they refused. Mugs was happy go lucky and just kind of groomed everyone. He didn’t mount BunBuns since she wasn’t having any of that today (well he tried lol), but he did get on top of Honey Bunny. I actually felt sort of bad for him because everyone got on top of him today. They were a couple of chases but all in all it really was almost easier with all three of them together it seemed.

And then I had the idea of stressing them because I read it somewhere and honestly I don’t know what I was thinking…like why would I want to stress my bunnys?!!? I feel like such a bad freaking bunny mom =( I mean if they were really like tearing in to each other I can see where that would be beneficial, but I think that in my case I was just like, “Oh they kind of like each other now if put them in a stressful situation they will LOVE eachother”. Not so much. I mean it worked like they were all huddled up and licking each other, but they were also freaked out by being in the car….so not really worth it to me.

After the car they went back into the tub and they all stayed pretty huddled up…but it seemed to be that Mugs would float between Honey and Buns and take turns snuggling with each. Honey and Buns seemed to kind of keep it so that Mugs was always between the two of them.

Okay so…Should I keep doing it with all three of them or do the rotation thing?

Oh and there was no blood or cuts or anything just hair… always lots of hair.

[LoveChaCha]

Stressing is a good thing – it causes them to huddle together in times of stress. it makes them become used to each other. I find that is it worth it, when they are bonded, there won’t be much stress.

[OhMommaButterGrits]

Well I thought it was too…but like I don’t know it really pained me to seem them so stressed out. Like Mugs wasn’t really all that bad, but BunBuns was like FREAKING out like I don’t think I’ve ever seen her breath so fast in her entire life! Luckily though I can always calm her down with the presence of some greens. Oh she is such a fat fat bunny.

[OhMommaButterGrits]

Honey was stressed too, but no where near Buns stress level.

[OhMommaButterGrits]

Okay so I guess there was a bite. When I was cuddling with Buns I noticed a cut above her eye. (It would be like our eyebrow) It seemed like it was kind of healed but it felt sort of like a bump? I’m worried of the possibility of an abscess??? The bump is smaller then a pea and then there is like a scab forming next to it. I didn’t notice it earlier today, is it just healing? I washed it and put a little neosporin on it. It kind of seems like it has a head on it, like a pimple or it will develop one? But then again I am prone to freaking out and I could be seeing things that aren’t there. Do you think I should call the vet to make an appointment or just wait and see?

Buns doesn’t mind me touching it and she seems to not notice it at all…no difference in her attitude or eating.

[OhMommaButterGrits]

Day Three and Four

These days both seem pretty similar. All three bunnies went into the tub and just sort of layed together for about 10 minutes. Then BunBuns started going after Honey. It doesn’t seem like a full bite almost like very agressive grooming/chewing of his hair. It’s usually on the butt or around the face. Like it looks like she will groom him and then it looks kind of rough and he gets upset and either thumps or moves away. I’m not really sure how to describe it, but it isn’t like an all out bite, just sort of like really rough. No blood or skin broken and a lot of times there isn’t even fur pulled out. There isn’t any humping for today or yesterday only the wierd butt bites?

Mugs still pretty much stays between them and just kind of licks them both and snuggles. Actually even Honey and BunBuns will snuggle and then out of no where she’ll do that weird bite groom thing. I’m not sure if all this is normal though?

Any suggestions?

Oh and BunBuns’s bite is healing fine I guess it was just a strange type of scab or something? I’m going to still keep an eye on it and continue to put neosporin on it, but its not really much of a bump anymore.

[mint]

Sounds pretty normal to me. Moomoo still gives Lulu those kind of hard nips now and again to remind her who is boss. Keep up the good work!

[TriBun]

Lol, I wanna see some pics, they all sound so cute. It really seems like your bunnies are getting along quite well. If they are all OK with the hump and run sounds like you’ve got some bunnies that’ll be friends. I would start giving them some more space and see what they do when they’re not stuck together.

[OhMommaButterGrits]

Okay so I actually did move out to a bigger space then my bathtub because Buns just kept nipping Honey and once the hair in the spot was all gone she actually broke the skin a tiny bit.(There is a lot less aggression in the bigger space) It really looks terrible in all the videos, but I swear it’s just a bunch of hair loss and then there is actually a small scab (it scabbed overnight it was so tiny of a skin break).  Um so basically I’ve come to find that my BunBuns who is such a sweet heart to me actually is kind of a bully. =/ I feel pretty bad for Honey because she takes it out the most on him (Probably because he won’t groom her even when she throws her head under him.) Honey looks pretty miserable in all these videos and I’m not sure if this is just part of the process or what? He keeps to himself and always seems pretty defensive…his one loppy ear actually is pretty much held up all the time. Mugs goes between the two of them and grooms them both and will actually try and get between the if Buns starts chasing Honey…he is my little sweety peace maker. =)

So anyway on to the videos…Im kind of afraid to put these up because I’m sure I’m doing a bad job, but hey that’s what these forums are for right? To learn and connect with all you bunny folks! Oh and sorry it sounds like I’m in a crazy gusty storm or something…it was hot out and I had the fan blowing on them oh and a frozen dinner on the ground (they’ll sometimes lay next to it). Oh and it stormed last night so thats why there was so much sand everywhere…it all got blown up onto my patio…bleh gotta love florida!

 

Buns and Honey face off- Nip and Thump

Original Video – More videos at TinyPic

 

Buns demanding grooming and Mugs keeping the Peace

Original Video – More videos at TinyPic

 

Buns being a big bully 

Original Video – More videos at TinyPic

 

BunBros- Chillaxin Butt to Butt

Original Video – More videos at TinyPic

 

Buns “Hard Groom” Honey

Original Video – More videos at TinyPic

 

Mugs grooming Honey and Buns-Long but gives you a pretty good overview of their relationship. Excuse my “talking to bunnies”voice!

Original Video – More videos at TinyPic

 

My three bunnies- HAHA I swear Mugs is there. He just kind of disappears against the black 

Original Video – More videos at TinyPic

[OhMommaButterGrits]

I forgot to thank everyone for their help so far!!! This forum is keeping me sane through it all =D
Thanks everyone!

[OhMommaButterGrits]

Bonding day 7

We went outside again today. This is the third day we’ve gone bonding outside on the patio and so far I like it much better…well except for the heat. Since I do live in Florida and it is ungodly hot here I decide to start the process at 7am aka bunny breakfast time at my house. It actually went really well there were a couple times that Buns went up to Honey and sniffed and didn’t do any hard grooming or nipping. yay! =)

But all good things must come to an end I suppose and she eventually did hard groom and nip and Honey thumped at her…He seems to really hate her and hate the whole bonding process in general. Like he likes when Mugs will come and groom him , but he basically finds a corner and stays there. And won’t move until nipped at.

Does he just not want to bond? Or is it like he is just stressed?

Oh and we had a small episode of humping from Mugs to Honey. Mugs would groom Honey and then get on top of him and hump him…he did it like twice and Honey didn’t do anything or react at all.

So….that’s where we are. =)

[OhMommaButterGrits]

Bonding day 7 take two!

Okay so I’m not really sure if this still counts as “Bonding”, but not too much longer after our session today my A/C decided to quit working! So it was like 85 by the time that the maintenance guy came to fix it and I had to leave to walk two dogs that I was pet sitting. Well I went grocery shopping afterward and got home (my boyfriend had stayed there before he had to go to work to make sure that the air got fixed) and it was still 85!!! I was livid! Anyway I called the boyfriend and asked him what happened and he said that the guy said he had fixed it and it should cool down blah blah blah.

I went down to the office to complain and I just feel terrible that they were in that heat for so long! I keep my house around 74/75 so I can’t even imagine. Luckily I have an awesome boyfriend (when he wants to be) that made sure we had fans going on them and each of them had frozen water bottle wrapped up in their cage.

I tacked up some blankets over the windows to keep the sun out and am still waiting an hour later….bleh

Anywho this is where the possible bonding thing comes in (sorry I always end up explaining the background to stories lol)

So I felt really bad that they were in their cages in this heat and I figured they might want to lay on tile in the kitchen or something like that so I let out Mugs and Buns…in very unneutral territory our living room. Well the first thing they did was Mugs groomed Buns and then when Mugs went to the bunny castle Buns sort of chased him a bit and then that was it…they’ve been ignoring each other on seperate sides of the living room ever since. So I think that is a pretty good thing!

I left Honey in his cage since he seems pretty stressed by the heat thing and i didn’t want to stress him even more if Buns decided she wanted to nip and chase.

Hmm so at least I know I can let two out at a time =) Yayness!

Now if only it wasn’t a bunny inferno in here! ARGGGGG

[OhMommaButterGrits]

Bonding Day 8

This is like the best day so far! All three bunnies went outside and each had their breakfast layed out for them. Everyone was eating and Mugs didn’t actually touch his food he just went back and forth eating both Honey and Buns food. So eating went well and what not, but here is the remarkable part…

THERE WAS NO NIPS! NOT EVEN ONE!!!

Now I’m not going to say that everyone was all lovey dovey since you know I’m not that lucky, but everyone seemed to tolerate everyone else.

We were out there for two hours and Honey probably only was bunched up in his little corner thing for like 10 minutes. I don’t think I have ever seen him so inquisitive and brave! He would go up to Buns and sort of sniff her and then she would turn at him like she was going to nip and he’d just hop off and bunch up for a minute and then it was like he got over it and would start exploring again and go up to Buns again and this repeated several times.

The only thing that was a little surprising was that one time when Mugs tried to groom him he thumped at him and ran off. I mean Mugs did groom him a bunch but this one time he got like really mad at him or something? Oh well I’m not complaining.

It all ended with them flopped not next to each other but near one another and I ended it there.

The best part though is that Honey seemed energized by the encounter and I haven’t seen him so happy and hoppy around my house ever!!! (He is generally pretty shy and skittish and we have only had him for about a month now)

Oh I am so happy!!! Hope it continues to go well =)

[SugarbearNPepper]

Congrats OhMommaButterGrits! Sounds like they’re doing great!

[OhMommaButterGrits]

 Bonding day 9

 

So today was basically another repeat of yesterday except for a couple of things.

The biggest thing I think is that Buns is actually trying to get closer to Honey , like there were no nips and there was nothing that looked like Buns was going to go after Honey today. Actually when Honey started to get close to Buns she would try to sniff him and like he would kind of hop away, I think he is still weary that she is going to go after him. I’m pretty pleased with how their relationship is progressing though and I am actually starting to look forward to these sessions more and more. 

The other thing is that Mugsly tried to hump Buns…like I haven’t seen that since they were in the tub. So I’m not really sure what all is going on there, but Buns really wasn’t digging it and it only happened once so we will see how that works its self out. 

It ended similarly to yesterday with all of them lounging near one another.

OH! One other thing I find pretty interesting is that lately every time I let a bunny out for their out of cage time the first thing they do is go to the sliding glass door and look out the window at the porch where they have their sessions…not sure if it’s a good or bad thing I just found it prety cool that they all bolt there as soon as they are let out. Eh I’m probably just reading too much into it…Oh well.

Now….on to some pictures of today!

YAY! Non violent reaction to one another!!!

Bromance kisses over the water bowl

Bunny face off!

Bro loving and Buns investigating…Exscuse the appearance of my porch and pale leg.

Haha I love how my cat always has to supervise the sessions through the window.

Mean Muggin Mugsly…sorry just too cute not to share. (He wasn’t liking the picture taking)

Grooming right before the attempted hump…I wasn’t fast enough to catch it on camera though. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[OhMommaButterGrits]

Day 10-
Oh the last couple days were too good to be true =(

Buns nipped at Honey, but only once which is good and it was only when he wouldn’t groom her despite her best effort of throwing herself under his chin and bunny face offs…

And the biggest thing is that Buns nipped at Mugsly(after he refused to groom her) and Mugsly nipped at Honey and Buns (after they wouldn’t groom him)… I don’t know I think Mugs is just sick of being the only one grooming everyone else. Like he usually will just give in after bunny face offs, but not today.

It’s just like…can’t everyone get along and everybody lick everybody????

Bleh…hopefully tomorrow will be better.

[TriBun]

 Yay, thank you for video and pics.  It’s fun to see them in action.  I just love Mugsly, he’s such a sweetie pie, trying to keep the peace and all. Buns really is kind of a bully.  I think it’s really funny that in the bunny world the females rule .  And poor Honey, he does look miserable, but at least Mugs will be friends with him.  

[NaturalRabbit]

*slinks into the thread too lazy to actually read the whole thing*

Hehe, sorry but I heard there were pictures! Your buns are gorgeous! I want to smoosh their little fluffy faces!

[OhMommaButterGrits]

TriBun- Mugs is my little sweetie, but he is actually when it comes to human interactions he is first one to box you and grunt which I know that means he is upset (usually happens when I have to go into his cage for something), but I think it is the cutest freaking thing because he just thinks he is so much tougher than he is. And he just makes me want to cuddle him…but he really isn’t such a cuddly bunny with humans…but he is with bunnies.

On the other hand Buns is like the sweetest thing to anyone that steps foot in my door. She jumps up and snuggles on the couch and will follow you around until you pet her if she is feeling cuddly, but with bunnies it’s a whole other story as you saw lol.

Honey even though he looks miserable when we are out there is actually so much social with with the boyfriend and me after a session. Like he is rather skittish, but I feel like after bunnybonding he is much braver.

EarthBunny- ….Yeah I kind of skip ahead to the pictures too…lol And thanks I always smoosh their faces…only one really lets me though haha

*UPDATE*
So for the past week I haven’t been able to do any bonding. It all started when the boyfriend got arrested for having an expired license…*rolls eyes* Yeah that was fun and then I started school a couple of days after so I was slacking =/ But I finally have a schedule figured out and resumed the bonding today.

It was pretty short only about 25mins, but all in all it went better than I expected. There was a good deal of chasing, but I believe that is to be expected. The only thing is that Mugs was actually not very lovey, I mean he did a lot of the chasing (and actually nipped at Honey!) and was just not having it today. (He did groom Honey a couple of times though) Honey is much more brave then the last time we bonded and does not just run away and hide in the corner anymore. Him and Buns did a couple of bunny face offs and they chased each other a few times, but it ended with them laying next to each other face to face and Mugs off at the other end.

The only question I have is this…they seem to love each other when food is present like they will huddle together around a plate to get at some greens, but as soon as that disappears the chasing starts. Sooo should I keep starting out sessions that way or is that just kind of distracting them and keeping them from doing any actually work on their relationships????? Any thoughts????

[Author]

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