What would you do?

Hi all,

The situation : I have just recently taken on two male rabbits with a view to bonding one or ideally both with my doe, once she has been spayed / recovered.

The problem : Its going to be a few weeks until our girl is ready to be bonded and the boys are currently living in a too small double hutch (no ramp between, so they live separately.)

The Aim : To have them all live happily in our 7x7 shed, with attached run, which we still have to sort out.

Does anyone have any ideas what I should do in the meantime? I want to move them all into the new shed / run at the same time so it's neutral. But I can't leave the boys in their current accommodation for too much longer. I also want to spend money on the new accommodation.

I'm thinking I might have to attach something onto their current hutch but is obviously complicated by the fact that one is upstairs and one downstairs.

Any suggestions gratefully received, thanks x

Is there any way they can (temporarily) have outside time for a good few hours a day to stretch their legs and have a run around/ perform natural rabbit behaviour that they can't do at the moment? Or is there a way to bond the boys before introducing the female since they're separated at the moment, so that they can then have the bottom part of the hutch with a large run attached. Unfortunately, you've got yourself in a bit of a mess by adding another two to the family :lol: ! I hope you can come up with something soon, I admire you for rescuing another two buns.

Could you maybe split their current hutch in half so you've got two hutches at ground level & then build a make shift run that you can split in half for them to access?
It would only be a temp thing so you shouldn't need to spend tons of money on it but thats the only thing I can really think of, apart from letting them have a few hours in the run per day separately.

Is the shed empty at the mo? Do you have another neutral territory you can bond? If so I'd be tempted to put them in the shed and just neutralise with vinegar when the time comes. In my experience males are far less territorial about their space than females and more accepting of a female entering the space. Are they both neutered?

Actually having just re-read are the boys not bonded either?

Limit said:

Unfortunately, you've got yourself in a bit of a mess by adding another two to the family :lol: ! I hope you can come up with something soon, I admire you for rescuing another two buns.

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I have really, I know The timing wasn't right at all, but it was too good an opportunity to not go for it x

The previous owners have given us a large metal playpen style run which I can get them out in for now (obviously with supervision), either one at a time or have a go at bonding them sooner. I'd just got this plan that id bond all three at the same time, but maybe that's ambitious anyway.

I think the hutch might fall apart if I try separating it. I was thinking I might put it in the shed to use when they are bonded, but create access to both levels somehow.

Amy - yes both boys are neutered. They did used to be bonded, but had a falling out apparently. But I'm hoping they will rebond.

The shed currently has bikes etc in, but probably wouldn't take too long to get ready, meshing windows, laying Lino etc. So I guess that's a possibility.

Thanks everyone, such a lot to think about x

See what you can find locally second hand, might be a few smaller things you can link/adapt to create extra space temporarily or a second hutch. Even if you stick a run on the front and then swap them between levels so they have half the day each that's still more exercise than just a hutch.

I have 2 girls that are sisters and live together and get on well, then I got Ted from an adoption centre who had fallen out with his cage mate... he has since been castrated and I was going to bond him with my girls but someone said that since the girls are already bonded and are happy leave them as they are and try another female with Ted and keep them separate to the girls........

Thanks Tamsin, I'm always on the look out for things I can use for the rabbits, so hopefully I might find something.

Nik - I'm pretty clueless about bonding, but I wouldn't have thought it's impossible. Although I think someone said 2 males and 1 female is easier to bond than 2 females / 1 male. I have a trio of 3 girls (same litter) and have decided to not upset the balance by trying to introduce any of my other 3 rabbits. Do you think you will try to pair him with another female? x

TheThreeB's said:

Thanks Tamsin, I'm always on the look out for things I can use for the rabbits, so hopefully I might find something.

Nik - I'm pretty clueless about bonding, but I wouldn't have thought it's impossible. Although I think someone said 2 males and 1 female is easier to bond than 2 females / 1 male. I have a trio of 3 girls (same litter) and have decided to not upset the balance by trying to introduce any of my other 3 rabbits. Do you think you will try to pair him with another female? x

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Yes, I don't know enough about rabbits and their behaviour to be brave enough to try it!! The 2 girls ive got are very different, one is quite confident, quite nosey, always wants to know what your doing and can be handled and picked up, the other one is quite timid, backs away from us and if we do pick her up kicks and scratches..... they are relatively new to us, we only got them middle of May at 8 weeks old so I don't want to upset the apple cart by trying to do something with Ted that might not work and then in turn present me with another problem so im leaving the girls alone and I will consider trying to bond Ted with another rabbit.... what an absolute shame having to go get another rabbit........lol :lol:

Niklovesrats said:

what an absolute shame having to go get another rabbit........lol :lol:

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Yes, I mean how completely awful would that be

Totally get your decision when they are happy as they are. When we rescued our fourth bun, Buffy we decided we would get her a 'husbun' rather than try to bond her with the trio, but now instead of one 'husbun' she will potentially now have two! Lol :lol: x

Something else that's easier to find is a large dog crate, if you've got somewhere inside with space, or just put the pen up. Not much difference in temperature in/out for the next few months so it wouldn't cause a problem to have one in for awhile.

Thank you. Unfortunately we are limited for space inside and already have Buffy in one room. But I could maybe put the playpen they gave us up in the living room during the day. It's only me here for a while, in the mornings. Maybe see if the boys can get along.

We have also just brought a large coop / run second hand which we will either steal bits from or use alongside the hutch until the shed is ready. Obviously we will re-mesh if it's not suitable.

My dh also had an idea that we could divide our shed in half with a mesh frame and a small door between. So for now the boys could see each other, but not get to each other and then once they are bonded we could leave the door open full time.

Only then we'd have to have a different neutral area to bond them with Buffy! x