Bonding advice for this weekend 3 boys/1 girl

Hi everyone, I've not been here for a very long time but hoping you'll be able to help/support me.

Last year we had to have both Eva and Kira PTS, Eva in March and Kira in September. They formed a group of four with Arnie (9 this month) and Alfie (Eva's son and 6 this year). Alfie is also hemaphrodite but the vet decided he was more male than female, so I'm not sure if Arnie accepts Alfie as a male or female.

I have another pair, Stevie (male) and Bobbi (female) who I would like to attempt bonding with the other two. They were moved inside from the shed last Sep when it got wet outside and they'll either need to go back out or make friends with Arnie and Alf.

I adopted Eva with her son, Alfie and adoptive daughter Bobbi (her mum died) when Alf and Bob were 8 weeks old. Stevie ended up with Bobbie (having tried him with Eva), and it was love at first sight.

Putting Arnie, Kira, Eva and Alfie together wasn't so smooth, lots of fighting and dominance from Arnie and Eva seemed to be sticking up for her son.

I'm keen to know what has changed with a view to bonding 3 males and 1 female? (Not recommended previously)!

I've been swapping their housing everyday for the last week, put their cages next to each other last night. Arnie has been plucking Alfie's fluff and Bobbi humping Stevies head (that's normal and he seems to like it)! But today through the bars Stevie nipped Arnie and Alfie and then chased Bobbi nipping her (briefly).

I'm concerned that Arnie and Stevie just won't accept one another or if Bobbi humps Arnie he'll turn on her, is it worth risking putting them together? I'm so nervous, which doesn't help. I work long days but with the bank holiday thought it's now or never?!?

Any words of advice/support?

Stevie is the biggest and only has one eye so does a lot of lunging (non aggressive) but not sure the others will realise, especially after him having a bit of a go today!

Thanks in advance.

Vicki

Well we braved it. OH took the first shift starting at 1:30pm in the bathroom. Initial fight between Arnie and Steve. Since then they've been approaching each other, sometimes stomping and running away, sometimes giving a little nip. Alfie has been speaking to the other three although is still happiest with Arnie, even though he still gets nipped.

Bobbi hasn't moved from her litter tray, Arnie seems almost scared of her but she's not doing anything.

I took up my shift at 8pm, duvet in bath ready for a long night!!

Both Arnie and Alf have groomed Stevie but Stevie wasn't sure if they were friend or foe so opted to start a little scuffle. Quite often Steve will go up to Arnie, causing Arnie to stomp and run off. Not always aggression/dominance showing and at the moment they all seem pretty relaxed, eating, washing, sleeping etc.

Fingers crossed.

Well, all I can say is that you are braver than me !! Especially doing it when the Vets are on OOH cover over a BH Weekend. Can you tell I am a totally neurotic numpty !!

I hope all goes as smoothly as possible. I am always loathe to give advice re bonding if I can't see the actual interactions of the Rabbits IRL. Observing the messages they give off via their body language guides me to how best to handle the individual bonding situation. I am afraid I am not one for adhering to hard and fast rules and IME what works for one bond will be a disaster for another. Such is the complexity of the Rabbit world !!

Good luck xx

Well done for braving it. You might find putting them all in a carrier together and taking them for a drive in the car helps too

Good luck.

As Jane says, what works for one bond may not for another.

I would try to stick to a confined space and make it small and then gradually extend it. If there is any aggression then I would stop it and calm them down. If you do have to separate them for short periods then make sure it is on a positive note and then put them together again as soon as possible.

The car trip has been known to help in some bonds (Weeble knows )

I think they can also sense it when we are calm or anxious so try not to let them know you are stressed.

It's still mostly quiet, with the boys getting on fairly well. Bobbi had actually been the one nipping them all today. Our vets were open as usual yesterday and today, hence why we started yesterday. They are closed tomorrow though, so I'm not planning on trying anything until Monday.

They all ate side by side earlier with no aggression, but Arnie got spooked and ran off, which then scared Alf.

I usually work 6 days a week, 5 of them being 8am-9pm so it really was our only real shot at it. Missing out on all the Easter fun will be worth it if they make friends.

Luckily I only have to work for two hours Tuesday morning and then 2.5 hours Tuesday eve, if they still seem wary of one another should I add a partition, move both pairs or risk leaving where they are? I could try to get my mum over but she might make things worse (stressed and breaking up fluff pulling).

Apart from Bobbi, the boys seem easier together so far!

vicki267 said:

It's still mostly quiet, with the boys getting on fairly well. Bobbi had actually been the one nipping them all today. Our vets were open as usual yesterday and today, hence why we started yesterday. They are closed tomorrow though, so I'm not planning on trying anything until Monday.

They all ate side by side earlier with no aggression, but Arnie got spooked and ran off, which then scared Alf.

I usually work 6 days a week, 5 of them being 8am-9pm so it really was our only real shot at it. Missing out on all the Easter fun will be worth it if they make friends.

Luckily I only have to work for two hours Tuesday morning and then 2.5 hours Tuesday eve, if they still seem wary of one another should I add a partition, move both pairs or risk leaving where they are? I could try to get my mum over but she might make things worse (stressed and breaking up fluff pulling).

Apart from Bobbi, the boys seem easier together so far!

Click to expand...

Personally I would not risk leaving them together unsupervised so early on into the bonding. But then again I have a low panic threshold !!

From my experience your better off taking things really slowly and really well supervised so I'd approach with caution.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk