Trio bonding - immediate fighting

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 2sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 5 months ago by Nutmeg.

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- 10/14/2018 at 9:09 PM
  Kimberley D
  Participant
  30 posts
  Yesterday we took our existing bonded pair of rabbits (Bun, female nethie, and Rory, male himalayan) to meet a third bun, Aspen, a male REW. The initial meeting at the rescue went really well, there was no aggression and Bun even gave Aspen a head lick at one point. Since things went really well we decided to bring Aspen home for a month trial to see if we could bond them. We gave Aspen 24 hours to settle into his new home without stressing him out with bonding sessions.
  
  Today we tried our first bonding session in a neutral territory and immediately a fight broke out between Aspen and Rory. We tried separating them and giving them pats but the second pats would stop they would immediately go after each other. After a short amount of time, this stressed Bun out and she began to attack Aspen too.
  
  Does anyone have any tips or advice on how to move forward when all they seem to be doing right now is fight? I don’t understand how yesterday went so well but today all they want to do is fight.
- 10/14/2018 at 11:00 PM
  Asriel and Bombur
  Participant
  1104 posts
  You need to let new bun have one month to settle in, then you need to prebond for one month with all of them by switching their items between enclosures, then you can begin short sessions on neutral territory. The new bun shouldn’t be allowed to come into contact with the existing pair until you are ready to start sessions. As a side note, the new bun could cause your existing pair to have issues as well, so keep that in mind and monitor them. If issues arise with them, separate them as well.
- 10/15/2018 at 2:03 PM
  Nutmeg
  Participant
  594 posts
  Exactly what A&B said. The new bunny must be scared out of his mind being brought to a new home and then put in with two other bunnies.
  Bonding a 3 some is a lot harder then bonding two and is not a fast process.
  
  You need to slow this way down.
  
  Congrats on the new addition though
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