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Ready for a new addition-advice needed

Boots

Mama Doe
Oh wise RU, I need your help in understanding whether we should aim for a trio again or a quad.

We have two wonderful rescue bonded girls, Illy and Chinook, who are sisters that we've had since they were a couple of months old. They were bonded with Elmo successfully, and they lived as a very loved up trio for the next 5 years until we sadly lost Elmo last year :cry:

The girls are still very happy, but we've noticed some increased chasing and dominant behaviour, which we think Elmo helped neutralise before. (He had the cutest habit of squeezing himself in between them both for snuggles :love:)

We feel ready to welcome a new bun into our lives, and we feel a male would make sense judging by other's experiences on the forum of compatibility.

So RU, I've been looking at rescues near us (Rabbit Residence and Santa are probably closest) and there are many more pairs available than single males. Do you think introducing a pair to my girls would work, or would a single male be better? I don't want to disrupt their bond and I want to do what's best for them.

We'd be looking for a bun/buns of a similar age to the girls, who are around 5.5 years old.
 
I had brilliant luck with bonding my quad. Two pet shop (impulse buys) bucks to two rescue does. They are still going strong after two years.

Best of luck with your decision.
 
I have yet to bond any bunnies yet (but should be doing it once it gets warmer) however from what I gather it would be best that if you do have a quad, it would be best if you have two males and two females. I have also read that it is easier to bond quads as one rabbit doesn't tend to get left out or bullied like what can happen with trios.
 
Don't forget about what you can afford!
Personally if i could the more the merrier. As they live in large groups in the wild i'd suspect that it would be great for their mental health and happiness. So i'd introduce two to make it a quad.
 
Don't forget about what you can afford!
Personally if i could the more the merrier. As they live in large groups in the wild i'd suspect that it would be great for their mental health and happiness. So i'd introduce two to make it a quad.

Haha thats a very good point! The girls and Elmo have never been insured, so three obstruction surgeries last year certainly hit the bank balance :shock: Obviously worth it a hundred times over! But we shall be making sure to insure our new addition(s).

I think I'll reach out to Rabbit Residence and see what they think, and if theres any buns who might be suitable. Its exciting and nerve wracking!
 
At one time I had a pair of girls, who were sisters, and a pair of boys, who were brothers. I bonded them into a quad and they were very happy together. I would say that you need to bear in mind the personalities of the rabbits concerned.
 
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