Dominance or Unbonded?

I am seriously confused about my bunnies.

They are all neutered. We have one male, and two females.

They are currently all laying down pretty relaxed, though one of the females (the younger one) is a bit further away. The other two seem to bully her and push her about. She wants to go and cuddle them but they sometimes don't let her and will charge, though it doesn't get any where serious (maybe a bit of fur gets pulled out 1/100 times).

But I am worried that the youngest bunny is going to be kicked out or left out and she is already wary of them and sneaks past them if they are about. But then other times the other two will make a big fuss over her and lick her, cuddle up with her and even let her lay in the boxes with them.

Is it just the pecking order has been established and this is how things work in bunnies or is the bond not working and I need to go back to basics?

But then thats the other thing, when I remove them from their bunny room to a neutral area they get along fine, they cuddle up, lick, etc.... I have even taken them all on car rides together to get them bonded further. These things only happen when they are all in the bunny room.

Whats going on?!

Update: 00:01am

Well I have been sitting up with them now for about 4 hours... the vigile continues.

Smudge (neutered female) decided to have a binkie and a mad five minutes of hurtling about the place. She lands next to Cookie (neutered female) and then starts grooming Cookie. All well and good, Cookie is a bit nervous at first but then settles down.

Few minutes later Smudge moves to Cookie's rear end and nips, causing Cookie to peg it for cover behind my legs. No fur pulled, no wounds, none of that just a little nip.

So is this Smudge just saying "i'm boss" and is Cookie being over-reactive and just trying to get the sympathy vote from me?

Cookie will follow Smudge about most of the time so it can't be all that bad surely?

Frosty (neutered male) is just flopped about as usual (should have called him Jabba!). But Cookie is extra wary of him and won't usually go up to him unless she gets permission (or thats how it seems).

Cookie just always gives off this vibe of "love me" and I feel a bit sorry for her as she tries to get with the other two but they can push her away. It seems to be on their terms.

I just don't want Cookie excluded and left out on a permanent basis as her being lonely is not fair.

have you treid neutralising the bunny room too? it may be cuz its all a new bond.... however if constantly is pushed away around 2-3 weeks down the line then i would say it prob wont work and you may have to get her a freind and have 2 pairs or try a foursoem so no one gets left out? good luck. at moment to me it sounds like initial pecking order but is hard to tell with out seeing x

bunlover said:

have you treid neutralising the bunny room too? it may be cuz its all a new bond.... however if constantly is pushed away around 2-3 weeks down the line then i would say it prob wont work and you may have to get her a freind and have 2 pairs or try a foursoem so no one gets left out? good luck. at moment to me it sounds like initial pecking order but is hard to tell with out seeing x

Click to expand...

We have neutralised the area before. Shampooing the carpets, vinegar-wash all their toys and parafenalia... They seemed fine in the bathroom and there were no issues.. so I don't understand why up in the bunny room they are being funny. I've even changed the layout of the room so that they don't have visual clues as to it being thier room.

Problem is we don't really have room for another bunny. A foursome would just create more issues I feel, and 2 pairs is not feasible in terms of a decent enough space for them.

Maybe things will work themselves out.

We successfully bonded these three within the bunny room when we first got them, however the problems started when we took cookie away for a day to be spayed.

Graeme27Uk said:

We have neutralised the area before. Shampooing the carpets, vinegar-wash all their toys and parafenalia... They seemed fine in the bathroom and there were no issues.. so I don't understand why up in the bunny room they are being funny. I've even changed the layout of the room so that they don't have visual clues as to it being thier room.

Problem is we don't really have room for another bunny. A foursome would just create more issues I feel, and 2 pairs is not feasible in terms of a decent enough space for them.

Maybe things will work themselves out.

Click to expand...

well good luck and fingers crossed for you have you treid the mashed banana/apple puree/other mashed treat on the head of the left out bunny trick? as they will want to lick her then? and sometimes this helps xx

Graeme27Uk said:

We successfully bonded these three within the bunny room when we first got them, however the problems started when we took cookie away for a day to be spayed.

Click to expand...

yes been there had that one..unfortunatly it usually means you have to start the bonding from scratch again unless they all go to vets together and recover toether....bunnys are so frustrating.x