introducing 3rd f bunny to happy pair

Hi everyone. We have a fully bonded female and male lionhead pair called smudge and binky. They have both been neutred/spayed and are very happy together. Stupidly we have adopted another lionhead who is 6 months old called bambi. She is unneutred.

When we introduced her in neutral territory the male smudge mounted her and she let him have his wicked way with her a few times. This resulted in him being very randy and subsequently then chasing his female partner around for a long time which agitated her. When introducing the 2 female bunnies there was some pushing from binky towards bambi and we have tried again which has resulted in proper fights where the bambi has had fur ripped out and has squealed which was upsetting for us.

Before the last fight they were laid snuggled together on the couch between me and my partner and bambi was preening binky however bambi then tried to mount her or climb on her which started the fight. My partner wants to take bambi back as she doesnt think they will bond as a trio. I think it will take a bit longer as we have only had her 2 days and i would love some advice on the best way to bond them. Is it because she is not neutred that may cause problems as at the minute we are not in a position to get her neutred straight away.

Hello and welcome to the forum :wave:. Bonding a third into an already established pair can be tricky. In the first instance, I don't think your existing female is going to appreciate an un-neutered female being introduced to her man! You stand far more chance of a successful bond if all parties are neutered (as well as the health benefits this brings).

You must also be prepared that the bonding may not work AND it could destroy the bond of your existing pair so that you end up with 3 single rabbits. However, having said that, a trio CAN work. Two days is nothing in terms of introducing bunnies. I would ensure that your existing pair and the new girl can see and smell each other on a daily basis but cannot actually get to each other (to avoid fights and negative introductions). Don't attempt to re-introduce them properly until the new girl has been neutered and has fully recovered from the operation (a good 6 weeks post-neuter).

Then when you are ready to introduce, I would advocate putting them together in neuteral territory and keeping them together. You may need to take time off work to do this so that once together, they stay together as constantly removing them from each other just prolongs the agony of bonding. I took 2 weeks off work for my last bonding and slept downstairs with them all too so that I could supervise overnight.

Hi, thanks for the reply. I now realise I put this in the wrong section! Wowee you are very dedicated. Thats really good advice and the last thing we want to do is break up smudge and binky as they are sooooo in love .

My partner really wants to take bambi back to the adoption centre so she can find another home quickly and maybe a mate rather than have her end up not liked by ours which I guess is fair enough but I love her to pieces! I think in terms of what is best for all is to let her be rehomed but she is quite happy here despite the fights with binky so I am unsure of whats best.

I will show your advice to my other half and see what she thinks.