Trio bond advice please :)

I've been reading up on old bonding threads for weeks now, found loads of information and have written a plan of action

However, I'm confused as to what I should do with them to start with.

I have a 3ft indoor cage base I could fill with hay and make a puppy pen around it, but is that too small for a trio? I don't know :? Or make a more circular shape with the puppy pen with just hay on the floor, or a longer rectangle? Or more space? I have no idea what to do about this, I'm just fairly clued up on everything else :lol:

I'm going to put Charley in first, then Leo and then Kerbie.

Personality wise -

Charley - Very timid still, not a fan on sudden movements/loud noises but once used to things is very active and happy (does terrifying looking flops), she is approx. 2 years old. If she was indoors would be excellent for her.
Leo - Basically he's not a very bright bunny, bless him. He doesn't seem to get the fact some other bun might want to be groomed too. He just wants to eat and sleep! (He'll be approx. 8 years old in May)
Kerbie - Thinks he's the boss but really he just wants to be the first to get the food. Very food 'bossy', not aggressive but bossy. He is an active 7 year old and while he doesn't jump on things he does dart around a lot.

Also, would it be possible to bond them in the bedroom, it is where Poppy lives so would probably smell of her, would this bother them too much? We can move her into the rabbit room for a bit, that isn't a problem, it would be a lot easier for us to keep an eye on them too. But not too sure if it would upset them? I can clean the room beforehand but no idea if the smell of Pops would still linger so much that it would affect them!

bump :wave:

I'd say a 3ft cage base with a puppy pen might actually be too big. With my recent trio I had to reduce the space to about 2x2ft to keep the fighting under control. I had a pile of hay in the middle until I felt they were settled enough to add a litter tray (I had tarp down for the wee).

I'd err on the side of caution and do it somewhere new if possible but you could neutralise the bedroom with vinegar I think.

I used a pen of about 4ftx4ft. I wanted this space, though, because Shadowfax completely freaked out every time Xena came near her and she would fly round the pen, smashing into the sides and tipping the water bowl over. If it had been smaller, I think she'd have really hurt herself. Mine got aggressive over the litter tray. :roll: So I ended up putting a towel down with a load of hay piled on it. This forced them all to eat near each other and they felt safer because they didn't feel "trapped".

I would personally use a room where no bun has been. If this isn't possible, at least use a room with laminate/lino/tiled flooring so that you can vinegar it all and make sure there are no smells.