Help bonding a trio

Hello,

First of all, let me introduce myself. I am Steph and I have 3 bunnies - Ruffus (6 months old), Blossom (4 months old) and Evie (2.5 years).

I initially owned a rabbit when I was a youngster and have always wanted another one. When I was younger it was a case of sticking it in a cage with an hours run in the garden a day. This time i'm obviously more aware of their needs.

I initially bought Ruffus (Ruffie) but it only took me a few days to realise he looked lonely and that I would like to get him a mate. So I adopted blossom. I bought 2 indoor cages and started the bonding process. They fell in love straight away and to be honest it only took a few days. Blossom, i was informed, was quite aggressive but these two never had an issue. It must've been bunny love at first sight. I then got Evie. I felt sorry for her and made the conscious decision that even if the bonding didnt work as a trio that I would still keep her regardless.

I would just like to state that Ruffie & Blossom had only been interacting for around 4 days before Evie was brought into the mix, all three cages were together so they could see & smell each other and get used to having one another around. At first I noticed no aggression but on the second day, Evie was out having her hop around (Ruffus & Blossom still in their cages), Evie put her paw onto Blossom's cage to sniff and Blossom went for her - luckily resulting in no injury.

Yesterday Ruffus and Blossom went in to be Spayed & Neutered. I don't plan on having Evie done straight away unless I can help it. A day later, Evie was in her cage while Blossom was having her hop around and they were having a sniff at each other when Blossom went to scratch Evie.

How long after being spayed does it take for a female to become less aggressive? Do you think I should continue or quit trying to bond them?

Any help or advice would be gratefully appreciated. Please note that if I am doing something wrong, all I need is pointing in the right direction, not persecuting for it as I have been on other (non rabbit) related forums

I look forward to hearing from you

Steph

You would be very lucky if you bonded an unneutered female with 2 neutered rabbits. It does depend on their personaliities in a sense but even neutered does will fight. You were fortunate in having an easy bond with the first 2 but trying to bond ina third could upset the bond.

Rabbits do scratch and nip through bars so try not to let 1 rabbit approach a caged one. It can allso set off Referred Aggression where 2 in a cage start fighting as a separate rabbit approaches.

I think your best bet is to spay the third rabbit, Evie, wait for a few weeks then try bonding all 3 ina neutral area where none of them have been before.

Hope your neutered rabbits are recovering well from their operations.

Thank you for your advice. I may just try to bond Evie with another male after she (and him) are neutered.
Ruffus is on antibiotics as he's been licking his wound ��

tonibun said:

You would be very lucky if you bonded an unneutered female with 2 neutered rabbits. It does depend on their personaliities in a sense but even neutered does will fight. You were fortunate in having an easy bond with the first 2 but trying to bond ina third could upset the bond.

Rabbits do scratch and nip through bars so try not to let 1 rabbit approach a caged one. It can allso set off Referred Aggression where 2 in a cage start fighting as a separate rabbit approaches.

I think your best bet is to spay the third rabbit, Evie, wait for a few weeks then try bonding all 3 ina neutral area where none of them have been before.

Hope your neutered rabbits are recovering well from their operations.

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I agree with this . Good luck with your decision & welcome to RU

Hi Bergmaus :wave:

Welcome to RU and good luck with your bonding!