which bunnies to bond?

We have 3 buns, 2 dwarf lops, Audrey and TJ, and 1 male mini lop, Honey. They are all single and neutered. we got Audrey, to try to bond with TJ. This was a disaster. Since then I have been wondering if we are trying to bond the wrong bunnies.

I put TJ and Audrey in adjacent runs for a couple of weeks before trying. Audrey spent alot of time near TJs run and they occasionally sniffed each other but looking back TJ spent most of his time as far away from Audrey as he could. It was hate at almost first sight when we put them together but I know that people on here have happily bonded buns who fought to start with.
Audrey is an outdoor bun. She not only lives outdoors but loves everything outdoors. She loves binkying on the grass gets nervous when handled or brought into the house. TJ lives outside but seems a bit lost when he is out on the grass. He loves being in the thick of things in the house. Climbs all over the kids, anyone who visits and sulks if he doesn't get your full attention! I swear he thinks he's human!

Honey, the mini, is sweet and loopy. Is comfortable in the house but just loves being outside on the grass and binkys all over the place. He is nearly 10 months so may calm down a bit. I just thought that honey and audrey seem closer in temperement. When I put them in adjacent runs they are both interested in each other, but honey may annoy audrey with his loopy behaviour if tried together. Also Audrey is twice the size of honey and seeing how aggressive bonding can be (we are still dealing with the injuries) I am afraid that Honey might get hurt badly being that much smaller.

What I want to ask is what do you think?
Can buns of different sizes be bonded successfully?
Can buns of different ages be bonded successfully?
Can buns of very different personalities be bonded?
Basically should we try Audrey and TJ again or try Audrey and Honey?
Either way Janice has very kindly offered to bond them which is very much appreciated!

Another option may be trying to bond honey and audrey and bringing TJ in as a house bun???

Any thoughts?

Sorry for waffling on.
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Can buns of different sizes be bonded successfully? Most definately ... see http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=124889

Can buns of different ages be bonded successfully? most definately. Only consideration is bonding a youngster with a really old bun .... however if it works and they are both happy together ... does it really matter?


Can buns of very different personalities be bonded? Often different characters are easier to bond than ones the same, however it is more about how they adjust to being with another rabbit and will they accept being top rabbit or lower class rabbit.

Basically should we try Audrey and TJ again or try Audrey and Honey? Sorry ... might not be what you want to hear, but you can bring all 3 and see whom I can get to pair up Helen did that with her buns, we knew very quickly who were going to bond and she took Poppy home with her.

Can you elaborate on where and how you went about bonding them previously and what happened.

Thanks Janice, great idea about bringing all 3.
Last time we used the dining room that neither had been in before, brought in the piggies run (about 4 foot square) that was also neutral and used litter trays toys that were new/neutral.
We put them in the area at the same time.
TJ humped Audrey to start with which audrey took.
Then audrey seemd to have had enough and started to hump TJ.
This TJ didn't like at all and it quickly went to chasing nipping and full on scraps.
Audrey was definately dominant but TJ wouldn't take it.
With hindsight putting the litter trays and toys in was a bad idea as each bun claimed various bits as their own and it quickly became territorial.
We did take the stuff out but they had defined their areas by then.
I tried to ignore nipping and chasing but each time they scrapped I separated them briefly (while still in the run) and then let them go again. They stayed together till mid afternoon when I noticed blood on TJ's ear and gave up.
At one point we made the space smaller after a suggestion from someone on here but that didn't work either.
Hope that helps
If you need to know anything else please let me know.
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