To bond a trio or no?

[BunnyLiz]

I need opinions.  Ive been toying with this idea since I got Mae, because once Hammer and Lucy were bonded I saw how worth it it was.  Its so much easier to care for bonded buns vs. a few singles, more out time for all the buns, and they always have company.

A few things to consider:

1.  I have to think about whats best for Mae, with her having her past and how that affects her still.  On one hand I think she could benefit with bonded buns and boost her trust and confidence (and activity level!).  On the other hand, she stresses easily and bonding is stressful.  Hammer and Lucy would have to learn the do’s and dont’s for her, and she would have to learn that they dont want to kill her (once bonded lol).  But she loves attention, so cuddlying with them would be awesome.

2.  Lucy is a pain in the butt!  She thinks she is the center of the universe.  She did okay with bonding to Hammer, but is territorial.  Her and Hammer still have mounting fights sometimes.

3.  Im a college student, both a plus and minus.  Plus is I only go to school 3 days a week, which gives time at home to bond for lengthy periods of time.  Big minus is I wont sacrafice my grades, so if I have a test that needs major studying the buns are on the back burner and wont get a bonding session that day or maybe two days.  

4.  When I bonded H&L I had to go to my dads house every other weekend, sometimes more, and that got in the way of consistent bonding sessions.  But I dont have to go anymore (woot woot!), just when my brother and sister really miss me.  So that wont get in the way to much again.

5.  I have neutral territory for a bonding pen.  I can split H&L’s pen in two so everyone has a cage if need be at whatever point.  I have room for a large pen when all three are bonded  (same pens, just no walls between them).

6.  Don’t think its a big deal, just throwing it out there just in case.  Mae is an angel!  She is free roam in my room unless nobody is home or H&L are out.  Lucy is naughty during out time, and so she doesnt get as much time.  If they all bonded they would only get as much time as I could stand with Lucy.  It would be a huge pen though, 33 cubic feet (NIC cubes that is, so 14in instead of 12in really).

What do you think?!

[Elrohwen]

I have zero first hand bonding experience, so take my advice with a grain of salt 😉 I think you should go for it. It doesn’t hurt to try a week’s worth of sessions and see if it’s bad (probably Lucy and Mae would be the two to start with, since they might be the most difficult).

It sounds like you have a lot of free time on your hands and even if you have to skip a few days due to studying, you’re still well ahead of most people as far as spare time goes.

It really sounds like you can’t lose unless, for some reason, it makes Mae very anxious. After seeing a lot of troubled bunnies at the shelter, I’ve definitely learned that emotionally troubled bunnies often do much much better when they have friends. Some of the buns at the shelter are probably still alive just because they have a friend to take care of them. I think Mae could really benefit by having some well adjusted bunny friends.

[mrmac]

If you’re willing to work at it, I say go for it. Even if you miss a couple days you will just start where you left off. Yes bonding is stressful but as long as you recognize when Mae has had enough she would be ok. With my trio, I found that focusing on a pair, instead of sessions with all three worked well.

[MooBunnay]

I think it comes down to whether you think it is better that Mae get her free roam time, or that she has some companions. If it were me, I actually might just let her stay single because I really enjoy my bunnies that can free roam without supervision. Those are the ones I can let out when I have friends over and such. Also, what would enable you to get the most enjoyment out of your time spent with the bunnies? Maybe you can spend more time with them if all three are together, and that would be a good reason to bond them all together.

[BunnyLiz]

Moo- I agree, I did think about restricting Mae’s out time. But I reasoned in my head that she doesnt come out of her cage for more then a few hours anyway, and thats just to lounge in a new spot. And Im thinking that since it would be a large pen I *might* be able to find a good bun safe comfy chair I could stick in there that I could read and do homework in a few hours a day when Lucy is being bad. And Lucy got less destructive when she bonded with Hammer, maybe Mae will rub off on her too. Honestly I dont know right now though, whats best.

Well you guys didnt seem to think its a horrible idea, so I went ahead and switched cages. This is just a trial run! I just wanted to see how everyone would react to each others smells and new cages. Im hoping this will help me decide what Im doing. But I vacuumed and changed litter boxes and switched the buns. Mae thumped twice, stared around for awhile, explored for a minute, then FLOPPED! Woot woot! She approves Hammer and Lucy went straight to exploring everything 10x, Lucy is now happily chinning a willow tent. They had one minor tiff, Hammer tried to mount a disapproving Lucy, but they stopped. All three seem pretty content. So its a good start so far, but Im going to keep switching for a few days and see what happens. Maybe ill bond, maybe not, but I think switching cages for now is harmless either way.

[Monkeybun]

Hehe it was funny when I put Monkey into Moose’s pen the first time… she spent a good 15 minutes chinning everything she could reach; his potty, his bowl, his water bottle, the floor, his toilet paper rolls, the floor, his blanket, the floor… she’s a funny bunny

Moose on the other hand, looked around, sniffed, aimed for the hay and just sat there eating. Silly man. Hopefully I can talk the hubby into doing the damage control while I supervise so we can do bonding sessions.. he said he would contemplate another bun, or fostering one or 2, but only if we get these 2 bonded

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