bonding the naughty bun? or new partner?

as some of you may have seen my previous posts on my bonding of 5 bunnies i have been left with a dilemma!
Lola has now been separated from the group as she is now on antibiotics for her ripped ear. she is in a hutch within the run of the bonded 4, who are all very happy together and are settling nicely!

i am now not sure what to do with Lola. she has turned out to be the trouble maker and even when i do let her out in to the run she is constantly marking out the territory by chinning, peeing and pooing! the rest of the buns are now avoiding her, if Lola approaches them they scoot off. they seem very happy in their 4!

as afar as i can see my options are-

to wait a while and see if i can bond her with the 4 again
keep her as a single
or get her a new partner

anyone any advice? Lola is a really lovely bun and can be very affectionate but also quite boisterous, inquisitve, very possesive. at the moment she is very annoyed and quite grumpy although i did get a kiss from her tonight.

if i do opt to look for a partner for her i am looking for a neutered bun, probably male around 1-3 years old and one that would be able to get along with a Mrs Grumpy!!

bumped this up for you as havnt any advice myself as in same position as you know, hope you have some help how are things going anyway

gill
:wave:

Sounds like a great excuse to get an extra bunny if you ask me!

I'm not greatly experienced with rabbits, but I know with dogs sometimes one just doesn't fit into the hierarchy and totally disrupts all the others and how they relate to each other. Constant bickering ensues. If your 4 are happy and peaceful together, I'd keep the status quo as it is and get feisty little Lola a placid husband to order about.

thanks for bumping this up!! yes, i've been looking for a neutered male pal for Lola and so far the only one available is in Fife which is a 2 hour drive away.... i missed one at my vets last week and wished i'd known about it as it had been pts (it had special needs)
Lola is quite a fiesty little character and i suspect that whatever match she gets she will need to be the boss

I currently have 3 buns at the moment.

Two of them are recently bonded... one I thought I would never have a chance in bonding.

Extremely agreesive to other buns, but now she has started to seem lonely..
I put her with the male of my three and she fell in love.. Wouldnt leave him alone.

Im now in the process of getting my fourth bun, as I can tell she is lonely.. Although she is a trouble maker, i know she just wants a husbun

gil said:

she is in a hutch within the run of the bonded 4, who are all very happy together and are settling nicely!

when i do let her out in to the run she is constantly marking out the territory by chinning, peeing and pooing! the rest of the buns are now avoiding her, if Lola approaches them they scoot off.

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Please can I check if what I am reading is correct.

Lola is in a hutch which is inside a run with 4 other rabbits who are living in the run. She can see them but not touch them.

You are letting Lola out into the run where the others are living normally. Can you confirm if I am correct?

If this is correct you will have very little chance of bonding Lola in with this group as there are territory issues. The only way that this will work is if you bond them on TOTALLY neutral territory ie where none of them have previously been apart from as a group of 5 rabits.

If this is neutral territory meaning that none of them live here and dont normally have access to this area apart from as a group of 5 the worst that is happening is that there is avoidance of each other by running away but nothing else I would leave them together as they need to learn to trust each other.

hi

just to clarify the process............

all 5 rabbits were bonded on neutral territory in the house for a few days. apart from initial scuffles there were no real problems and Lola and Mischa as an established pair seemed to be both in charge!

while they were all in the house the run was completely dismantled, rebuilt, a different hutch put in, the existing hutches moved around and everything thoroughly washed down in vinegar. the first couple of days in the run there were minor scuffles however it wasn't until the 3rd day that there was a major scuffle between Lola and Mischa and Lola had her ears chewed! lola was taken to vet and put on course of antibiotics and was separated from the rest of the group, as only she could access her water bottle with the antibiotics in it. we did try again to bond (usual things like car rides etc) however she is intent on noising up all the other buns and starting fights. the other 4 are all very happy and getting along nicely.

hence my dilemma with Lola.............

she is in a hutch in the run however i have another run on the other side of the garden where my loved up couple live. i have the potential to sort this run into 2 and create a space for Lola and new partner. i don't want to put Lola over there just now as if i get a male for her i'd rather put him there first as i read somewhere, possibly on this forum, that it is easier for a female to go into a male territory (correct me if i'm wrong!). Lola is a terribly possessive wee bun and chins, marks everything in sight............although her and Mischa were a pair there were occassional instances of scuffles and one which although Lola fell in the garden pond she still came out and tried to carry on the fight! (have to add though she thoroughly enjoyed the attention and subsequent blow dry with the hair drier......... )

so that's more or less the story so far............

i just feel if i can get a neutered male to bond with Lola I can then get the accommodation sorted out properly!!

cheers!

quick question and probly obvious but dont think you have said..erm lola is she neutered? if not then this would be my first step for behaviour and for health. i would let her pick a new partner and let them be seperate as sounds like she causes rifts in the group otherwise. hope that helps x

hi bunlover

yes all my rabbits are neutered! Lola has been like this since day one-it's just her personality! she is really very sweet but in comparison to my other buns she has the strongest character and can be very amusing to watch at times.... the day she fell in the pond was classic Lola! she actually whimpered when i wrapped her in a towel and she snuggled into me but i was totally amazed when she just sat there quite the thing while i dried her off with the hair drier! i just think she's desperate to be boss but the others won't let her!

gil said:

hi bunlover

yes all my rabbits are neutered! Lola has been like this since day one-it's just her personality! she is really very sweet but in comparison to my other buns she has the strongest character and can be very amusing to watch at times.... the day she fell in the pond was classic Lola! she actually whimpered when i wrapped her in a towel and she snuggled into me but i was totally amazed when she just sat there quite the thing while i dried her off with the hair drier! i just think she's desperate to be boss but the others won't let her!

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in that case then i think finding her a bun ferind of her own is a definate answer if you have the space. i would take her to a local rescue adn let her spped date the other buns to find one she likes(usually makes bonding easier!) good luck let us know how it goes x

Hi gil

Dont know if you remember me but i was having the same dilema as you as was going to bond a group of six and like you it was two mixed pairs that had lived together for a couple of years and two lone buns doe and buck. I bonded on neutral territory in my lounge and stayed with then all night for the first four nights and apart from a few scuffles they were fine together apart from the lone buck who seemed to spend alot of time on his own but no major fights and the five were mostly all snuggled up pretty quickly.

Unfortunately after about ten days together one of my does and the one i thought was top buck bun started to fight resulting in my buck getting his ear ripped got him seen to and put him back in with rest on advice from vets and they were fine for a couple of days then again a major fight resulting in the doe getting her ear ripped and a trip to the vets and a course of antibiotics which resulting in her being split from the group in a cage within the shed and that is how it is at mo till she recovers and goes back to vet my obvious question is is that it should i keep her seperated from the rest and again do i get her a friend even though her original partner seems to still care for her as he has been lying beside her cage alot but also seems to be happy with the other five in the group and happily lies with them so dont know whether to put tem back together and seperate again or to find her a new friend or a new home as i feel it is unfiar for her to be on her own as she is used to having company. Its so hard as i love her to bits and for the first ten days she was happily snuggled up to the others including the one she had a bad fight with. Is all lost the vet sais so but i want to check with experienced bonders on here to ask the same question but my top priority is her.

hope you can advice also does anyone on here know of anyone in scotland that does bonding i live in refrewshire

thanks again
gill

gill

Hi Gill! :wave:

this is exactly the problem i had with Lola and i had to separate her from the rest after she got her ears ripped...........she was on a course of antibiotics anyway which was in the water so it was eseesntial to keep her away from the others. took the decision to keep her apart as the other 4 were getting on brilliant and it was Lola that was starting the fights!

we have now successfully bonded Lola with Zak, a male that we got from a breeder. he had to be neutered first and it's only in the last 2 weeks that we got them bonded and i'm pleased to say that it seems to have worked out ok so far.............

not sure what you should do........for me it came down to Lola's personality i knew that if i put her back with the group she would kick off again so that's why we got her a friend. it also means that i needed to re-arrange the bunny runs outside again.........and this was another expense but at the end of the day my priority was for Lola and to make sure she was going to be happy as i didn't want her on her own. i also felt that if i tried to put Lola back in the group i would be worrying in case i came home from work and found injured rabbits or worse.
hope this helps but you will know your rabbits personalities and maybe that will help you come to a decision.

cheers!

thanks for replying gil its so hard as they are all my babies but i kind of have to agree with you i feel if i put her back i will be worrying when im away and not sure what i will find when i come home.

As you said i feel i should put her back with her partner as every time i go to the shed he is lying beside her cage and hasnt been with the rest of the group in the last cvouple of days and i have also found alot of white fur lying around recently and the only bun that has white fur is the partner of the wee injured doe and im wondering if some other buns have been trying to come on top of the hutch and he has thought of this as his territory now as he is there beside bun and doesnt want anyone else there.

Im also like you it will mean alot more expense having to seperate aviary and runs and seems as if ive tried to do this for nothing but she is my top priority the only other thing that bothers me seperating them back is will they get on again and the ones that are left are one mixed pair that seem to still be with each other all time and my other two lone buns one who was lying beside the others all the time and now seems on her own and the other wee lone bun who always seemed on his own as other five quite close is still on his own so i feel i wont have what you have and have a foursome that is really close but that is all i can do not sure if im creating more jproblems doing this or not¬

thanks for replying much appreciated
take care
gill:wave:

aww if she was already with a partner i would put those 2 back together if they were happy hun he could be pining for her :wave:

I know thanks wendle appreciate your advice hope your wee two are okay too
take care
gill
x:wave:

Hi Gill :wave:

have been so busy plus i was away for a few days and not had time to reply. how are things with the bunny bonding? have you got your pair back together? hope all is well with them!
cheers!