to those with multiple bunnies…

[kralspace]

How do you find it best to set up the households? I’ve been reading and looking at the setups where it looks like single buns in condos right next to each other. What about couples? Can 2 couples in separate condos co-exist in the same room without being antagonistic ALL the time?

For a long while I had one couple in my front living room, and the other couple in the back bedroom and unless a door got left open, they didn’t run into each other. They did have some spectacular poop wars on both sides of the kitchen door for the longest time. Now it’s just a obligatory few poops, and not any more of that massive peeing! (yikes, that was a mess)

When my fifth bun, Simba went from  visitor to permanent (his owner passed away), his condo in the same room with the lovely Pringles and Toby is working out ok. Pringles seems always on agressive alert, trying to get to him, I’m afraid to fight.

Toby ( her male mate) is friendly enough towards Simba (male) so that in the evening I’ll trap Pringles in the top of their condo and let Toby down on the floor level and Simba outside, so the two of them can run and play on either side of the fence. But to let them actually together, even they will fight.

Sarita knows I’m interested in an older girl at the sanctuary who just lost her mate as Simba’s friend, but I don’t kow how 2 couples are going to do in the same room. (along with 2 guinea pigs)

I’d be interested in hearing how you guys with 6, 8 and even 10 buns have them situated and how do couples do when they’re housed close together?

Pringles is my diva and I’m just worried about her staying in a constant state of agitation if I move another rabbit, especially a female into the room.

I thought about moving Pringles and Toby to the front living room, but they are such pigs! They keep their condo trashed and constantly kick hay and stuff out. Daisy and Lola keep a beautiful cage and I really like having them up there as company when I work and not worry about picking flyaway poops off the computer.

thanks, kathy

 

[Beka27]

that’s an excellent question. i’m interested too…

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Wow no where near that many bunnies with me (YET LOL) I have three and they have free roam so that’s not particularly helpful!

[BinkyBunny]

I just emailed moobunnay as she is in your “league” of multiple bunny household.  I think Sarita is another in the big leagues.  She may have some good advice too.

[bunnytowne]

I also am interested in how multiple bunny  households do it. I only have 3 so I don’t think I have anything to contribute.

[Sarita]

Well, I have 2 couples and I also have a pair that I bunnysit frequently that I put upstairs in one of my rabbit rooms and none ever have a problem.

I don’t have any rabbits like Pringles who are high strung though, mine all seem pretty easy going with the other rabbits.

In my big rabbit room I have one pair and the rest are singles and in the other rabbit room I have one pair and one single. I have the pairs in the same room before too and didn’t notice any behavior problems.

I do have a pair that I bunny sit and the female is a little high strung and occasionally she will try to hump the male at my house and has done that at her own home too. But overall they are okay with the other rabbits around.

One of my pairs is a pair of females and the other are mother and son so I’m not sure if that makes a difference too.

So I guess I would have to say alot depends on the rabbits.

As for poop and pee wars – the only litter problem rabbits I have, have these problems due to medical reasons. I do occasionally have one of my females who poops outside the box but never pee’s – not sure why she does that though as she has been around the other rabbits for a long time.

Pretty much here is my set-up too. In the large rabbit room – I have 4 x-pens with 2 single females and 1 single male and one pair of females – the pens are flush pretty much next to each other (2 on one side and 2 on the other with an aisle in between) and I have 2 Leith condos with a single male and a single female.

My small rabbit room has a single male in a pen and a pair in a Leith Condo and that is where I put my pair that I bunnysit.

[MooBunnay]

I have 3 condos in my front “solarium” room, and have not had any issues with poop/pee wars inside the condos up to this point. The way they are set up is 3 condos in a row against the front wall. I found that it is important to have a divider between the condos so the airs can’t see each other because that causes arguments between the pairs. What I used was big towels clothespinned to the sides of the cages, so when the bunnies are in their condo, they can’t see any of the other bunnies. They do have a tendency to re-mark their territory by peeing in one corner or another, so all the condos are on top of linoleum for easy clean up.

When it comes to having time out of the cage, to prevent the bonded pairs from fighting, or any poop/pee wars, I create a barrier around the condos of the bunnies that are still in their condos. To do this I set up an ex-pen around the condo, about 1 foot away from the condo. Then I put a sheet over the ex-pen. That one foot barrier prevents any fighting through cage bars, and also prevents the bunnies from seeing each other. This works really well in keep the bunnies still in their condos calm.

I love having lots of bunnies! I would say the only downside in my case is that I wish each of the bunnies got more time out of their condos. To help with this problem I made their condos 3 stories, and very large, and the bottom floor is big enough for them to do some laps or binkies if they are in the mood!

[kralspace]

Thanks so much, Sarita and Moobunny! That’s exactly what I was looking for.

Simba’s condo is only a few feet away from Pringles and Toby, because I was hoping I could bond the three of them. NOT! Toby is very friendly, but Pringles just turns into Zena, Warrior Princess with blood on her mind.

I guess the thing that worries me most was if it would upset the current bondings. Pringles was quick to dump Daisy in favor of Toby and I can’t help thinking she goes so ballistic about Simba, because Toby likes him so much. Maybe SHE’s worried about getting dumped. (would serve her right heheheh)

I like the idea of blocking their view, right now, poor Simba loves ANY interaction with the other two, even Pringles grabbing his lionhair and jerking him against the bars, but if he will bond with Hershey, that would be great.

I was planning on ripping up the old nasty carpet in the bunny room (Burrow?) next weekend, I may reconfigure the condos to fit your suggestions so I can go ahead with the adoption.

I feel so sorry for the little guy, he’s 4 or 5 years old and never been around rabbits. I hope he’s not too much of an old bachelor to be able to bond. Hs’s tiny, just a little poof of black hair.

thanks, Kathy

[Beka27]

are you unable to bond Simba with Daisy and Lola? aren’t they more laid-back?

[kralspace]

They were my first thought, but that quiet little Daisy turns into a raving madman when Simba is around. Maybe he’s still smarting over losing Pringles to a stranger (I know I shouldn’t put human feelings on them, but they sure act the same as we do a lot.)

Daisy was so depressed after Pringles deserted him, I thought I would lose him. He even gets a sniff of Simba and he’s throwing himself at the bars trying to get at him, snorting and growling. Like Moobunny mentioned, having him around seems to make the couples fight among themselves and I REALLY don’t want that.

I hate to isolate the little guy, but I think I’m going to try blocking the view from his and Pringles’ condo and see if she calms down.

[Sarita]

Wow, I’m surprised at that with Daisy too since he is such an amiable guy.

[kralspace]

Well, they say it’s the quiet ones you gotta watch out for.

[ScooterandAnnette]

We’ve got the 6 buns currently in 2 x-pens side by side, 4 in one and 2 in the other. As we’ve just moved into a new place we’re hoping not to have a lot of territory wars – it’s new to everyone and no one has had a chance to claim it yet. We’ve been giving them out time with all 6 at the same time, both x-pen doors open. There’s been a few scuffles and a bit of fur flying but not as much as when we tried it in the old place. The goal is to have all 6 living together in one large multi-storey condo.
– Annette

[kralspace]

oh WOW!! I WANT!! I WANT!!!

[skunklionshow]

I’m EXTREMELY impressed!  I have a hard enough time w/ my 2 bunnies (& 4 cats) let alone several couples/pairs.  I don’t know how you guys do it???  I’ve found w/ cats that once you hit 3 comfortably, adding more wasn’t such a big deal…is it similar w/ bunnies?

[kralspace]

Man, I would love to have one big bunny room with everyone doing their own thing free range in there but I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Poor Pringles came home from the feed store that day, the most outgoing of the litter and she took over the house in 2 minutes flat . For her, it’s Good To Be Queen….hehehe. And then I start bringing more rabbits home and she has to ungraciously share. poor baby……

I can relate to her, I was 2 years old when my mom had triplets and they brought them home one at a time over several weeks and I remember thinking, MY God , WHERE are they coming from and stop, please, no more!……lol

poor Pringles. I’m going to catch and snuggle her tonight even if she does bite my nose off….

Kathy

[Beka27]

^^^lol! i can imagine being two years old and thinking that!!!

[MooBunnay]

I agree, skunklionshow, once I hit three, it wasn’t that hard for me to get to 7! Especially since I have two bonded pairs, I’ve now got 5 cages. Really, my only difficulty is not being able to spend as much time with all of them as I could, but they all came from quite bad situations that we were not too optimistic would get any better (basically unadoptables that would probably spend their lives in the shelter) – so we feel that even though they don’t get as much attention as they would were we a 2 bunny household, they still have it pretty good!

[kralspace]

Here’s my bunny room, the piggies are on the left, Toby and Pringles at the back and little Simba on the right. I hope to pull up that old carpet this weekend and replace it with some easier to clean flooring.

Once I rebuild Simba’s bachelor pad  so it’s big enough for 2, I think there will still be room on that right wall to put both the large condos side by side so I can block their view of each other, like was suggested.

Any suggestions?

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[Sarita]

WOW – that is a fabulous setup!

Simba is adorable! He looks so soft.

[kralspace]

Do you think Hershey will take a shine to him? He’s a tiny little old fellow, if he didn’t have all thay hair he’d be nothing at all.

I would love to have some of those Leath condos….lol

[Beka27]

that does look awesome already! and you’re gonna make it better?! Simba is too sweet for words. i think he will make a great husbun to some lucky lady.

[Sarita]

I bet Hershey will love him – how can you not :~) He is tiny – she’s pretty tiny too so she wouldn’t take up much more space either.

[kralspace]

Some one was asking in another thread about bunnies being able to jump from one floor to the other, if you look in the photo at the large condo, that’s a big distance between the ‘penthouse’ and the next floor, but even little Toby pops up with no trouble. Now that I’m looking, it’s almost 2 grids high.

I keep the big litterbox right there so they take off and land in it, they might not do it with just a slick floor.

Kathy

[MooBunnay]

Haha – do they get hay everywhere when they land in the box?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

That’s an amazing setup!! You are a wonderful bunny mom!!!

[kralspace]

Thanks KK,

Actually no Moobunny, lol it stays put while they land and take off, but Pringles sits with her backfeet outside the litterbox and leans over, digging the hay out and throws it everywhere, she can aim 360 degrees I think. One day she got so mad about something, they threw everything out of the condo, including the litter box…..little monster (oh, did I say that outloud?)

[kralspace]

I have a rocking chair in that room where I’ll sit and read sometimes or just watch the furballs and I’m always amazed at the way they jump.

It’s not like a cat, where they hunch down, get ready and strreetchhh into their jump, it’s just *pop* and they’re up there. I very seldom see any leg extension or movement, just pop and they’re there….funniest thing I’ve seen…..heheh

For all the Harry Potter fans, I think they just apparate!

[kralspace]

I just wanted to bump this thread up to say thanks to everyone for their imput. I did go ahead and bring Hershey home to  bond with Simba. It’s been a week and getting these two older bunnies situated was MUCH easier than any of the others, they’re just so sweet.

Right now the newlyweds are free roam in my bedroom and we may stay that way.

With each of the three couples in separate rooms, there has been much less mess overall to clean up, it’s been unbelievable in the difference. I think besides the territorial thing, Pringles and Lola staying in foul moods when Simba would come close, there was a lot of revenge messing going on. I swear a lot of it was Pringles being angry with me for bringing another bun home.

thanks all! Kathy

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[ADEE]

what a cool setup!!

[minnieservis]

awww that’s an amazing set-up! Your bunnies are adorable! I’m glad everything worked out for you

[Beka27]

i’m so glad it’s going well! and again, Hershey is a beauty. i think i misunderstood your other thread, i didn’t realize she had come home with you, i thought they were just dating, but that’s fantastic news! tell me, is Simba addicted to the willow tent? i can barely get Max out of that thing… he’s got a big pen and he stays within one square foot… lol!

[kralspace]

Thanks Beka,

They did so well on their date that we went ahead and brought her home. I had rebuilt Simba’s bachelor condo so that I could divide it in half if they didn’t get along.

Simba loves the willow tent, now hershey has taken it over. You’re right, they don’t wander far from it.

I’ve reached my limit with 6 buns, 3 couples. I have an agreement with NTRS that when I drive up for hay, they frisk me to make sure I’m not smuggling any more buns out.

[skunklionshow]

Yeah Krlspace, you are a bit out of control…..hand over the rabbit, NOW!!!!!

Your set up is totally awesome.  I would love to have a bunny room some day.  Jess & Leo love their willow tent and tunnel too!  I have their bed under the tent and the tunnel connects 2 grid cube spaces.  I used to get upset/sad when they spend all their time just under the tent.  It’s like you have all that condo space and access to a living room and you just want to lay under a tent! LOL

[kralspace]

I know skunklionshow (can I just call you skunk for short? heheh)

To get Simba to come out of his condo, I had to take the tent out and put it in the floor. I have my bed up on those risers so I have room to store plastic boxes underneath. I left room between them so they can play and run through like tunnels and they will spend all day under there on some towels I put on top of a couple of the boxes.

I guess I should be glad they let me share the room with them.

I think on any further trips to the Dallas rescue, I will probably be frisked for bunnies before I leave!

Kathy

[BBMommy]

my two rabbits sometimes `fight`

[kralspace]

I think they do squabble a bit, everynow and then I find a tuf of hair, always black, so I guess Hershey is ‘teaching’ the lionhead bachelor a thing or two about worshiping her properly.

[kimberleyanddarren]

my two share the one condo, there is a top level which is just for hopscotch though because daxter does bug him occasionally and he likes to have a place to just chill out so (because there is such a huge size difference) i made one shelf slightly higher so daxter cant reach but hopscotch can manage it easily, so they both have some space to go where the other cant bother them, although i never seen hopscotch up there anymore really, only very rarely lol

[Author]

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