• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Are trios a good idea?

BigBunnyBenji

Mama Doe
Pretty self explanatory thread title. :lol:

I'm not *seriously* considering a trio, as the OH is yet to be convinced, but I'd love a third rabbit to bond with Rupert and April.

I'd love to hear about any good/bad experiences with trios. Is it bad to consider a trio if the two rabbits you have are happily bonded?
 
Last edited:
Given my experience this week, no! But a more experienced bonder might well have been able to get them all together eventually. We had to seperate them from serious fighting again and again though, I think I'd be a bit concerned about doing that with Willow and Nettle as they are so much bigger. It was horrible seeing Samantha and Truffles start to fight too.
Now I hope the next post will be a positive one for you as there have been some really good bonding tales lately.
 
Given my experience this week, no! But a more experienced bonder might well have been able to get them all together eventually. We had to seperate them from serious fighting again and again though, I think I'd be a bit concerned about doing that with Willow and Nettle as they are so much bigger. It was horrible seeing Samantha and Truffles start to fight too.
Now I hope the next post will be a positive one for you as there have been some really good bonding tales lately.

I love your Willow and Nettle, they are absolutely gorgeous. :love:
I just love rabbits so much, I always want more. :lol:
 
I love your Willow and Nettle, they are absolutely gorgeous. :love:
I just love rabbits so much, I always want more. :lol:

Haha. Be careful what you wish for. Thats how I ended up with six. I still want more (heart) but have to say no (head).

I recently tried bonding my six and ended up with a quad and the original m/f couple, Mottle and Peaches staying as they were. So you never really know quite what will happen. The trio stickies are good.
 
Haha. Be careful what you wish for. Thats how I ended up with six. I still want more (heart) but have to say no (head).

I recently tried bonding my six and ended up with a quad and the original m/f couple, Mottle and Peaches staying as they were. So you never really know quite what will happen. The trio stickies are good.

Thank you, I'm just having a read through now. :)
I guess I'm doing it because I want a rabbit rather than they need more company. I feel guilty now! :lol:
It was just a thought anyway, nothing I had been seriously contemplating.
 
There have been quite a few success stories lately!

My newest bun was supposed to be a boy but when I took him for neutering it turned out she was a girl (and she was a rescue!:lol:) so I'm 100% she won't bond with my single girl Nahla.. Who hates other females.

I'm kind of hoping I can bond Wotsit with Cupcake and Pudding to make a trio... It's something I had been considering for a little while anyway as I hate the thought of anything happening, and one of them ending up alone :(
 
I reakon that the more rabbits you bond together, the more chance they have of getting on because its not as intense ...

What will happen to your single girl now? Ooops two more boys and a nice little quad!! I really worried that Frosty and Snowflake would never get on again (really bad locked on fighting when they were last together a few months ago) but all is going very well now.
 
Last edited:
Until recently I had two trios and they were both fab.

One set is two sisters (Originally a pair) and a male. The other was two boys (Gay bunny friends :lol: ) and a female, originally a quad or two M/F pairs

I have some squabbling between the two sisters which they usually did when they were a pair so not much changed. One of the girls is sight impaired now so some 'fighting' does occur between them all when the other two catch her on her blind side or when food appears.

I've previously had, two other trios of the same pairings as I've got now and they've been fine. One began to fall apart when one became very ill and later had to move inside as a disabled house bunny.

And the other, (originally a brother/sister pair with unrelated male adding himself) one died (Myxi) and thefemale/unrelated male pair stayed together, fought Myxi together and both passed on the same day as she wouldn't have been able to cope without him

But on the whole I'd say try it out, it might take a while for them to bond but I'd go for it
 
I like them. Having seen Floppy bereaved and left as a single then bereaved but still in a pair the difference was astronomical. When on his own he was bereft. He stopped eating, searched constantly for his partner and had none of his usual cheeky personality. When he and Millie lost Starfish they stuck together and there was no noticeable change in either of them. And he adored Starfish, constantly groomed her and cuddled with her.

I now have a quad so slightly different but I hope to always have more than 2 together.
 
Next year I hope to bond Charlie, Donny and Lola.. A trio scares me but I have a very good feeling their personalities will mix well. I'm convinced Donny and Lola try to flirt with Charlie anyway.. :lol: I can buy a bigger run for the shed then and adopt some guinea piiiiigs!! :D :love:
 
I honestly would never have attempted a trio if Shadowfax hadn't appeared. :roll: I am a strong believer in fate and I do think she came to me for a reason. I had M/F bonded pair, but my boy (Fiver) often got very frustrated with Xena (my girl) because she completely refuses to groom him. :roll: This means that he is very dependant on me, and comes to me for reassurance and cuddles. I decided to try to bond Shadowfax with them, that way he would have a bun that would *hopefully* give him some attention. It was very stressful, but they are finally bonded. Amazingly Xena has started to groom both Shadowfax and Fiver :shock:. So now, everybody will groom and they are all happy. Fiver is still completely dependant on me, and demands lots of cuddles and has even started to lay next to me on the bed. :roll: :lol:

I don't know if you saw my thread, but it might be helpful in your decision. http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...ding-I-think-they-may-be-finally-bonded/page3

I read through the sticky about bonding too, and decided that it was certainly worth a go.
 
There's lots to consider but worse case scenario is you end up with 3 single bunnies so you need to have accommodation in place in case this happens. However, I have just successfully bonded two very feisty sisters to a laid back, but assertive, unrelated male. I was dreading it as I thought the sisters would fight amongst themselves but it seems adding a male to the pair has calmed them both down as they've accepted him as top bunny (and he clearly IS top bunny).

Trios CAN work if you have the right mix but you may always get 2 bunnies who spend more time together, leaving one on its own. In my trio, the male spends more time with one of the females but the two females still spends more time together. However, they all seem content with the arrangement so it works for me. The benefit of a trio (or groups) is that you're not left with a lonely bunny if a partner dies. In my situation, the trio seems to work better than one pair of sisters as the girls have settled better now they have a clearly defined 'top' bunny.
 
I had a trio until recently and I will be getting another rabbit as soon as a suitable one comes up.
My girls always had a good bond with it being just the two of them, but it seems like the dynamic was better when I added Eli. Since he died the girls have been stuck to each other like glue, I can't imagine what it would be like if one of them is left on their own so I always hope to have more than two.
 
I was selfish and tried a trio purely because I saw Arran needing a home and he was cute :lol: Islay and Jura were happily bonded sisters and I added him to the mix. It was easy peasy though, they dated for about 10 days and then they moved in and all was well. It was when it got to 4 things got difficult :lol:
 
I had a male who was bereaved. Adopted 2 sisters to live withhim. It did work well probably because oliver was pretty chilled and I think would have accepted any bun just about. When they went to be spayed one had a false pregnancy so they had to be done at separate times. It was a bit of problem then when they were put back together. But it was the girls who fought and bless him Oliver always seemed to be the peacemaker. It definitely made it so much better when we,lost one,having 2 left rather than one.I not sure I would do it again though as I would worryabout what might happen.

On the other hand I remember reading on here about a family group that needed adopting and I always thought if I was ever at a stage when I had no buns I'd love that. every time I've been left with a single bun they are just lost. It makes the loss so much worse :(
 
Until recently I had two trios and they were both fab.

One set is two sisters (Originally a pair) and a male. The other was two boys (Gay bunny friends :lol: ) and a female, originally a quad or two M/F pairs

I have some squabbling between the two sisters which they usually did when they were a pair so not much changed. One of the girls is sight impaired now so some 'fighting' does occur between them all when the other two catch her on her blind side or when food appears.

I've previously had, two other trios of the same pairings as I've got now and they've been fine. One began to fall apart when one became very ill and later had to move inside as a disabled house bunny.

And the other, (originally a brother/sister pair with unrelated male adding himself) one died (Myxi) and thefemale/unrelated male pair stayed together, fought Myxi together and both passed on the same day as she wouldn't have been able to cope without him

But on the whole I'd say try it out, it might take a while for them to bond but I'd go for it

Hi there gem, I have been reading this thread and wonder if you have any advice for bonding a male bunny I have aquired to my male/female pair? I have let them see each other through a cages at the mo for short interactions but am really frightened about moving onto the hands on meet as I am worried the males will fight :s
 
Personally I would take the view that 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. Trios can work brilliantly but three can also be a crowd, and if the existing bonded pair is well established and happy, then there is far more risk that they will end up less happy as a consequence of you adding a third.

I would only add to an existing bonded pair if the bond wasn't very strong and they weren't all that happy as a pair, or if existing owned bunnies lose a partner and bonding them with an existing pair is the best solution on balance for all three bunnies. Having tried (sometimes successfully, sometimes unsuccessfully) to bond trios either of my own for other people, I just wouldn't even consider it if the existing pair is happy together.
 
I am not an expert at bonding, but i can tell you what has happened to mine and my thoughts about it.

My trio has just broken down after just over a year. They were all brought up together, two brothers and one other bun the same age so i didn't originally bond them. The brothers have always had an on / off relationship with a fair bit of chasing. Peanut was always the odd one out, never really fitting in. Peanut got ill last week and I had to leave him in hospital for the night. He stayed indoors with us for a couple of nights and when we tried to re-bond him he just wasn't interested. He totally blanked the others. In the end his brother started to attack him and Peanut just sat there. :(

I could continue trying this bond for a while, but as the strength of the relationship was weak to begin with i felt that it perhaps wasn't meant to be. When i put Peanut in the old hutch on his own he was instantly like a pig in sh*t :roll: I'm now happy to have two pairs of bunnies (I am getting a rescue bunny :thumb: )

I also feel that if i got the trio working again, what if the same thing happened again and we had to endure the same procedure?

The bond of the remaining pair is much stronger now. Fluff actually follows Fudge everywhere and cuddles up to him all the time. They never used to be so close.

The other benefit of keeping them in pairs is that they are blooming easier to carry in one carrier :lol:

I don't agree with trying to force a relationship to develop. Ours didn't naturally fit and i wasn't happy watching Peanut play the Gooseberry in the relationship all the time so I called it a day and decided against the trying the re-bond again, but some people are lucky with group bonding i guess. The trouble is you have to be prepared for it if it doesn't work.
 
We will be trying to bond Bug with Bobo and Harley or Holly and Sheldon (I think it will be Bobo and Harley given that Holly has already attacked Bug through the bars of her pen:() in December once Bug has gotten over being spayed - am very worried but will try anyway. And if worse comes to worse - then we will have 6 buns - what's one more:shock:
 
Back
Top