Will they ever get on?

I have 4 bunnies but at the moment it seems they will never be friends.

I got my first beautiful rabbit (April) over 2 years ago, then after having her for a month it was clear she needed a friend so along came Daisy the introduction went fairly well with April been the clear dominant female which Daisy seemed to accept.

Things were going well and then i noticed a beautiful white lion head lop (male) now named Hughie, who had been with the pet store for months no one wanted him so i felt sorry for him and two became three. All were then neutered and were getting on fine.

Then in December of the same year there was a bunny (Harvey) up for adoption, he was known for his biting and again wasn’t wanted, this is where the problems began.

We tried to introduce him to the female bunnies but it proved very difficult as he hadn’t been neutered so just wanted to hump all the time, April didn’t seemed to mind and took to him straight away however Daisy hated him from the start and he seemed to bring out her nasty side. Unfortunately when my back was turned Harvey got through the baby gate and Daisy ended up with a torn ear resulting in trip to the vets. Now she attacks him very time I try to introduce them.

Harvey was then neutered and after his hormones had calmed down I attempted to introduce the two males resulting a trip to the hospital and a very sore finger (god they have a good bite!!) and a further trip to the vets for poor Harvey who ended up with a torn lip. I felt the stress of the whole introduction was too much for both them and me and gave up.

So this brings me to where we are at now nearly 2 years later, I have April and Harvey together in one hutch and Daisy and Hughie in another. Harvey appears to want to be friends he only shows aggression when provoked and for some reason he brings out a nasty side to both Daisy and Hughie who are normally the most chilled out of the 4 of them.

There have been a few occasions where they have managed to get to each other be pure accident when I haven’t been around and although there has been fur everywhere and a few cuts on them by the time I have realised what has happened they have calmed down and seem to be able to spend time in the same area without fighting but one false move tends to set them off again. They will happily sit at either side of a mesh fence side by side and show no sign of aggression, which is very frustrating.

Life would be much easier if they would all get on and I am not sure if I’m just been over protective and should just let them get on with it, but I don’t want any more injuries. I tried again on Saturday but Daisy ended up with her head in Harvey’s mouth.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Or should I just give up and accept they will never get on?

I think the amount of injuries that's happened means they are all very wary of one another. Rabbits do remember previous encounters and that can change how they react in the future.

I'm in a similar situation. I have two boys and two girls. I tried bonding them all into a quad last year and it was going well until they got into an unneutralised room and Mini ripped Nutmeg's leg. Now Nutmeg does not react very well to either of the lops. If she smells them on an item she will start attacking Smudge. I can't let them even see each other or smell each other and sometimes even her hearing the lops can set it off.

I really think the damage has been done mentally and I don't think you'd get a bond now. Maybe a very experienced bonder could manage it but it might be running too much of a risk based on the previous injuries that have happened. In my opinion it's probably not worth it.

I have ummed and aahed a few times about trying again but I think now, until I sadly loose Nutmeg I won't be trying any further bondings. I don't fully know her history as it is and with the incident last year I just don't think she trusts other rabbits very easily at all. It's a shame cos Smudge got on very well with the lops but that's just how it goes sometimes. Bigger groups are a lot harder than a pairing.