unsuccessful bonding

[jezabel loves moxie]

Hi guys,

we are trying to bond three bunnies and have not been successful at all.  We have read all we can read about bonding and feel that we are doing it all wrong.

mOXie, 2yo dutch female AKA the boss lady.

Nivens, 1yo netherlands female dwarf (foster, makes cooing sounds and loves cuddles)

Roam, 10 mos rex male (foster-likes to grunt and nips but after he knows why we are in his area he flops)

Dates:

1. home intro.  both fosters in cages and moxie free.  she smelled them and left lots of droppings. 

2. each bun in a playpen.  moxie in the middle. nothing to talk about. other than the norms.

3. nail trim date at shelter.  we realized Nivens is the sweet one and other two are very territorial.  And decided Roam won’t be as easy as Nivens.

4. kitchen date: Nivens, would run away from moxie or put head down for petting, some chasing and eventually they fought.  that was way to scary!

After this the see each other through gates.  The only time Roam has been in the mix of things was at the shelter.

5. This morning Nivens jumped out of her playpen.  

We woke up at 6am to feed them, BF was in the kitchen I was still downstairs and he called me for help.  When I got downstairs there was bunch of fur, poop, pee and Moxie resting along Nivens’ playpen.  BF had already put Nivens back in her playpen.  He doesn’t know for how long she’d been out.  He saw mOXie resting in the same area I saw her on and no Nivens.  Then went to the sink to get water for the buns. After turning the water off, he heard feet and noise so he looked and saw Nivens running. He thinks that they had been going at it and eventually got tired, when they heard the water running they started to move again.

mOXie has couple of smooth bald spots, not huge but can see missing fur from afar, to see Nivens bald spot, I had to search and it isn’t as smooth as moxie’s. There is no blood on them or around.  they are both eating and acting normal.  

I know it takes forever to bond them and we have no problem with it; what I don’t like is them getting hurt every time they are around each other. 

Should we continue and how soon should we go for round 6?

Thank you

[Billie's bunnies]

I personally think you should not put them together for a bit longer and just get them used to being near each other, when you do put them together they will all fight for the best/boss spot in the hierarchy and may hurt each other but you will just need to keep and eye on them and make sure they are acting their normal selves. When bunnies are introduced it is best not to separate them again and see how they get on together after the fighting is over, so maybe soon put them together and keep them together even if they fight.

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