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Bonding 2 pairs to 1 foursome.

babybunnies3

Alpha Buck
I have four buns, Dumpling+Treacle who are large dwarf lops and Dusty (only boy)+Meggie who are lionheads.

Dumpy is the bossiest then Treacle, then Dusty (who gets on with Dumpling+Treacle as they have played in the garden before together) then lastly Meggie.
They are all "done".
Dusty+Meggie are my "rescue" buns and so are more hand shy than Treacle+Dumpy as we've had them from babies.
If they were bonded it would mean they could have double the free time they get now also at the moment Meggie gets anxious if Treac/Dumpy run past her hutch, then Dusty sometimes jumps on her so would eliminate this.

My only real worry is that Meggie may get bullied/left out :?

So my questions are:

1. What do you think are the likelyhood of them bonding? (I know thats a big question from the little information I've given but I'd like to know your thoughts :wave:)
2. Is there anyone near me that does bonding as I don't have a neutral space to bond in? (If I decide to go ahead)

Katie
:D
 
Hi
Sorry no one's replied you, it's easy to miss threads sometimes!

So you have two girls in a pair, and then a male and female pair? First of all, are they all neutered?
 
:wave:

I think you need to consider housing them all together too :D If they were bonded into a foursome I would think they would need to live in a shed? I think the 6ft hutch recommendation is for two buns so a hutch would be too small for four buns.

Also prepare for your two bonded pairs falling out with each other if you attempt putting them together, I dont know if this would happen but think its possible if another bun is introduced to a pair as it would mess up their little order of who is boss :D

Sorry I dont mean to sound negative I just worry about everything :oops: :lol:

I would love all mine to live together but its not going to happen because Im too scared to even attempt it :lol:
 
Sorry I've got no advice, but as I'm going through my own terrifying (for me at least, the bunnies don't seem too fussed :lol:) bonding at the moment I understand totally how you're feeling. I hope whatever you decide goes well :D
 
We found when bonding ours into a group of 5 that it was the girls that had the most dominance issues as both would like to be top bun. So you are more likely to succeed if you have just one boss I think. However there are people who have been bonding a lot longer than I have that might have different advice. :lol:

If you have experienced some of them playing together already I'd say it sounds more promising. You just have to watch out that the bonded pairs don't turn on each other.

I would recommend trying them out on some neutral space and be prepared to seperate if a fight breaks out to see how they get along. They will need to be watched for a few days whilst they establish a hierachy.

Good luck if you go ahead.
 
Hi
Sorry no one's replied you, it's easy to miss threads sometimes!

So you have two girls in a pair, and then a male and female pair? First of all, are they all neutered?

Thank you.
Yep all neutered! :D
The last one Meggie was spayed end of October so 4 months ago.

sillyrabbit said:
I think you need to consider housing them all together too If they were bonded into a foursome I would think they would need to live in a shed? I think the 6ft hutch recommendation is for two buns so a hutch would be too small for four buns.

:wave:

I worry about everything too :oops: which is why I'm trying to get lots of info first!!!
If I do go ahead then I think I would ask a rescue to help (do :lol:) the bonding as I'd be really scared!!!!!
Each pair are in a 5x2x2ft double huch currently, I can't afford a "hutch" big enough for all 4 and don't have room for a shed so would join the hutches together either end to end so 10x2x2ft or front to back so 5x4x2ft. In summer they would have a 6x6ft run attached.
 
We found when bonding ours into a group of 5 that it was the girls that had the most dominance issues as both would like to be top bun. So you are more likely to succeed if you have just one boss I think. However there are people who have been bonding a lot longer than I have that might have different advice. :lol:

If you have experienced some of them playing together already I'd say it sounds more promising. You just have to watch out that the bonded pairs don't turn on each other.
I would recommend trying them out on some neutral space and be prepared to seperate if a fight breaks out to see how they get along. They will need to be watched for a few days whilst they establish a hierachy.

Good luck if you go ahead.

Well it would be 3 girls :shock: and one boy. Dumpling is dominant over Treacle but Dusty is the boss over Meg, so only one female boss so far.

Dusty likes all the girls ,but will jump on Meg if Dumpling/Treacle is outside his hutch loose , (I haven't tried the three out together since I had Meggie :?) but he would hump then just sit next to them when him Dump+Treac were out together.

I would love them to be together but I really don't know if to try it or not as if I do and change the hutch round then I'd have a problem while I got the hutch sorted again :?
 
:wave:

I bonded my two pairs into a foursome although I have to say they are back as pairs again now - Santa has been getting more and more poorly with her snuffles and one of the bigger buns started to bully her when they realised she wasn't strong enough to be boss any more, so I separated them.

I don't think you can necessarily predict how the hierachy will work out from how they are currently - I would never have dreamed that my tiny Santa would be humping all the other three and having them groom her :lol: and Dudley, who was always the boss of Santa, was right at the bottom of the pecking order when I put all four together. Mine were bonded at a rescue, I took my deckchair and flask of tea and let them all out. For the first half hour or so they were fine, all wandering around looking at the new territory and new smells, then they started bickering and stuff once they eventually noticed each other. I brought them all back home together that evening and then slept on the kitchen floor with them for the next few nights until I was happy they were ok. I did watch them carefully when I put them into their new accommodation (we had just moved house so it was totally new) but fortunately they were fine.

It doesn't sound terribly helpful but the only way you will know is to give it a go - can you use somewhere like a spare room/kitchen/bathroom if you can't find anywhere else to take them? I'd definitely suggest having someone else with you to start off with in case it does all go horribly! I'd also be open minded about what the outcome will be - you'll have to keep a really close eye on their behaviour to ensure that one isn't getting left out or a bit picked on; if that's the case then they may be better off reverting back to their pairs in the long term. If they all get on brilliantly and get to enjoy extra space because of it, then that's obviously great :D

Good luck!
 
coulnt u attach the run to both hutches, so the hutches are apart but facing each other, if this makes sense. so its as if two hutches are sharing a run but both are open to it all the time
 
Thanks for the great advise Alison, I'm starting to get quite excited about the idea of having them all together and I know they don't normally do what you expect-bunnies eh?!

coulnt u attach the run to both hutches, so the hutches are apart but facing each other, if this makes sense. so its as if two hutches are sharing a run but both are open to it all the time

To be honest I hadn't thought of that, and it makes alot of sense, but even though I'd totally clean them with white vinegar wouldn't each pair still think of one hutch as "theirs"?
This is probably the best solution to my space issue but I wouldn't want them to be territorial about "their" hutch.
 
i dont know a lot about territorial buns.

but if the bond is good you might find that all four sleep in one hutch anyways! but with two hutches they have a choice of shelters. before the bond you could keep swapping the buns over between hutches to get them used to the smell and also to enable all four bun smells to be on both hutches
 
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