Possibly bonding trio - Would love advice

Hi everyone,

We currently have 2 bunnies that have been bonded since last November and are quite the pair. In December we decided to foster a REW bun that is 6 years old and who lost his sister over 2 years ago. We have him in a separate room and we take him out for cuddles but we worry that he is not stimulated enough and want to possibly try adding him to our trio. I have read all the information I can. I know one of the cons of a trio could be that he never gets truly accepted into the trio which we are willing to have because it would still be better for him from stimulation and company however we do not want to ruin the bond of our existing two.

Some background on my buns.

Scooter - over 6 and quite dominant but not dominant with existing paired bun Ferdinand

Ferdinand - 1 year old male and totally a chilled out dude. He has seen and sniffed the bun we may bond when I've been cuddling with him on the bed and he hasn't done more than sniff him in curiosity and has run back to his partner Scooter with no adverse affects.

Jimmy - REW who is partially blind and has been alone for the last 2 years. The rescue did try a quick couple of attempts at bonding after his sister died but he boxed at the other buns and she chalked it up to aggression but she did not realize his sight was compromised so appears this may be more of a defensive manouvre rather than outright aggression.

The couple (Ferdie and Scooter) have had no adverse reaction to his scent for the most part in the 6 months and I often bring Jimmy out for snuggles and then pet them with no aggressive reaction.

Just wanted peoples thoughts on our specific situation. Would be much appreciated. We would likely go for the dating method as we are in no rush and want to watch for any signs that this will not work or breakdown our existing bonded pair.

As always I'm indebted to you all for your advice.

Anybody??? :wave:

bump:wave:

ETA. It is possible! The problem is it could go either way. Was the bond with the current couple fairly easy?

I'm interested in this as I have a REW with I think pretty bad sight who bonded really easily and quickly with Alfie and I am thinking of introducing a new bun in the very near future to make a trio.

Hi MattyP,

Thanks for your reply. We had Scooter for 5 years and decided to get her a partner so we got Ferdinand at 8 weeks. We kept them in separate rooms with a gate separating them and let her adapt to the idea of someone else sharing her space. We did this for 3 months until they could both be spayed and neutered and then as we got closer to the time of us going for it with the bonding we swapped them out of each others living spaces to get them immersed in each others scents and to avoid too much territorial issues. We then did the dating method and had them in a neutral confined space and they just ignored each other for the most part. We decided to give them more space as they seemed bored and they've been buds ever since. So it was easy in the end up but we did take a lot of time to slowly lead up to it. Does that make sense? Scooter (the female) is definitely more territorial which I think is normal with females and Ferdinand (male) is a totally docile guy and has seen the other bun with little reaction. I know they've seen and smelt the third guy Jimmy because we have a towel in the living room that we use to wrap him in and the bonded pair have been all over it with little care or reaction and we have Jimmy on our bed most nights for a snuggle before putting him back in his pen and the bonded pair come up during the night.

Does any of this info help? LOL Sorry I'm a bit longwinded but wanted to provide as much specific info on the situation to get the right advice.

I'm interested in this as I have a REW with I think pretty bad sight who bonded really easily and quickly with Alfie and I am thinking of introducing a new bun in the very near future to make a trio.

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Molly,

Our rescue did not know his sight was compromised. A quick trip to the vet and he was able to confirm it. If you see your REW sway from side to side when trying to focus on something then it's a good indicator that his sight is definitely compromised. You can also take him into a dark room and shine a light in each eye. If the iris does not expand much then that shows he is not responding to the light. Hope that helps. I know I was happy to find out about his limitations so we could care for him better. I know I read a ton of articles that claimed REW's vision is not an issue but our vet said the fact that they have no color in their eyes means that their sight will degrade over time.

thebuz said:

Molly,

Our rescue did not know his sight was compromised. A quick trip to the vet and he was able to confirm it. If you see your REW sway from side to side when trying to focus on something then it's a good indicator that his sight is definitely compromised. You can also take him into a dark room and shine a light in each eye. If the iris does not expand much then that shows he is not responding to the light. Hope that helps. I know I was happy to find out about his limitations so we could care for him better. I know I read a ton of articles that claimed REW's vision is not an issue but our vet said the fact that they have no color in their eyes means that their sight will degrade over time.

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She sways from side to side all the time, I noticed this within a few minutes of her coming to live with me. I've never taken her to the vets about it as she is a happy bun and its obviously the only eyesight she has ever known. She does 'explore' less than Alfie but thats about all.

She sways from side to side all the time, I noticed this within a few minutes of her coming to live with me. I've never taken her to the vets about it as she is a happy bun and its obviously the only eyesight she has ever known. She does 'explore' less than Alfie but thats about all.

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That's great. Our guys is not too explorative either but he seems happy. We just feel bad for him being segregated in a different room while our bonded pair are able to free range so hoping that someone can help me with my situation. :wave:

Anyone out there with experience bonding trios? :wave: