Bonding two pairs together...

Hi everyone!

Just after a little advice...

I'm trying to bond two pairs of bunnies into a four. I have Thistle & Jess and Pharrell & Daphne - two boys, two girls. All aged 4-5.

I bought them indoors yesterday and let them all out together in the utility room together. They were adorable! Lots of mutual grooming, grass nomming and flopping out!



I decided as it had gone so well, I'd try and pop them in the shed together too but they didn't like that so much! Jess went after Daphne and Thistle and Pharrell started bickering. Nothing serious. But I split them again as obviously I couldn't leave them together.

The shed has been home to Thistle and Jess for a long time and Pharrell and Daphne have a large hutch. Last night, I left Pharrell and Daph in the shed and put Thistle and Jess in the hutch, thinking they'd get the smells of the other buns on themselves.

Today, I'm going to bring them in and leave them to play in the utility room again whilst I give the shed a good old clean and remove the carpet etc.

My questions are... Once cleaned, should I try and put them back in the shed together again or should I not use the shed for a few days? Also, if they still fight down there, would it be sensible to put a divider down the middle of the shed so they can sniff each other or should they be kept away from each other whilst I'm not there?

They were so lovely in the house - I'm convinced they will live happily together eventually. I'm just a bit concerned that Thistle could do quite a bit of damage if he decides to as he's huuuuge. :?

Any advice would be great! Thank youuuu! :wave:

Had you neutralised the shed with white vinegar and/or disinfectant before putting them in it? If not that wont have helped.

Try moving things around in the shed once you have neutralised it so that it looks and feels different. I would keep the space fairly small to start with and gradually increase it over a period of a few days if things go well. Can you keep them in the utility room for a couple of days just to give them time to settle?

Unless there is serious fighting I wouldnt split them up as you will just have to start over again when you put them back together

PS you large REW is

webbkath said:

Had you neutralised the shed with white vinegar and/or disinfectant before putting them in it? If not that wont have helped.

Try moving things around in the shed once you have neutralised it so that it looks and feels different. I would keep the space fairly small to start with and gradually increase it over a period of a few days if things go well. Can you keep them in the utility room for a couple of days just to give them time to settle?

Unless there is serious fighting I wouldnt split them up as you will just have to start over again when you put them back together

PS you large REW is

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No, I hadn't disinfected the shed. To be honest, I really wasn't expecting the initial meeting to go so well so I was thinking they'd be returned to their seperate homes anyway! I decided to just try them in the shed to see what happened as it went so well indoors. They didn't have any full on scraps - just a bit of chasing and shoving each other out of the way. I didn't want to leave them together in that situation as it was getting dark and Thistle is so big and Daphne has no teeth to stick up for herself with.

I've been down the shed this morning and have used a weak bleach solution to clean the floors, walls, anything chin rubbing height, I've taken the carpet out, I've taken the fabric tunnel out and I've disinfected bowls, litter trays and water bottles and I've bought all blankets and bedding in to be put on a hot wash and de-stunk. :lol: Once the floor and the walls are dry, I'll pop the rest of the stuff back in and re-arrange it (great minds think alike! ) so it's almost like a different shed for them.

Fingers crossed they'll fall for my cunning plan! :lol:

(BTW, there are more pictures of Thistle and the other bunnies in the 'pictures and story sharing section! )

Forgot to add - I had asked my parents if they could stay in the utility room for a while as they were getting on so well and got a big fat 'no' in response. To be fair, the utility room gets used a lot in this house and I think the buns would end up a bit stressed with the constant washing machine noise and toilet flushing! :roll::lol:

That sounds like a great plan good luck with it. Must be honest I probably put my newly bonded outside 4 back in their shed too quickly because it was going well - its so tempting isnt it

I had A and E in the utility room when we first moved here and to be honest it was a pain having to move puppy panels everytime we wanted to wash clothes

I tried putting them in the shed... I've come to the conclusion that Jess is evil! :lol:

I now have Thistle, Pharrell and Daphne in together and Jess is seperated. Thistle has given Pharrell a few nips but isn't chasing him at all, it just seems to be if Pharrell is in Thistle's way. Pharrell seems a bit peeved though and has been sulking in the litter tray :shock: (at least, he sulks in the litter tray until Thistle decides to shove him out :roll.

I'm not sure I'm brave enough to leave them together. :shock:

No advice, but good luck!!

I want to bond some of mine into groups but they live outside too and i'm scared of leaving together overnight :?

georgie_f said:

I tried putting them in the shed... I've come to the conclusion that Jess is evil! :lol:

I now have Thistle, Pharrell and Daphne in together and Jess is seperated. Thistle has given Pharrell a few nips but isn't chasing him at all, it just seems to be if Pharrell is in Thistle's way. Pharrell seems a bit peeved though and has been sulking in the litter tray :shock: (at least, he sulks in the litter tray until Thistle decides to shove him out :roll.

I'm not sure I'm brave enough to leave them together. :shock:

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oh dear - what are you going to do with jess then? because surely you dont want a trio and a single?? you'd be better off leaving them as 2 pairs, though I think you are moving them about too much. I think with groups you need to leave them in a smallish area for at least a week!
Good luck x

Is a shed not a small space?! I bought them into the house yesterday and have out them in the shed today. I'm not sure how I could move them about less tbh.

Jess is still in the shed too but she has an aviary panel between her and the other bunnies. It has been Jess that has instigated any fighting so I figured if I could get the other three to bond a little, they would be more likely to ignore her. If it doesn't work out, they'll be going back into their pairs. I'm not expecting everything to work out straight away but it will be better for all of the bunnies if I can at least try to bond a group. Pharrell and Daphne will have more space and then my other buns can have a bigger hutch as they'll be more space in the garden too. :wave: