Tips Needed For Bonding A Trio

Hi,

We currently have 2 bunnies (a neutered male and neutered female) living in a large shed with attached run. A few weeks ago we aquired (from the free ads) a male bun who was neutered just afterwards.

When we let the new bun (Jack) free in the garden he loves to sit next to the shed bunnies run and they usually come and sit next to him (no aggression).

I would love to try and bond them as a trio and move Jack into the shed. The long weekend seems like a good time to do it (especially as I have Friday booked as holiday too!).

I have read the no nonsense guide to bonding that appeared on here but I was wondering if there were any pointers on bonding a group?

Thanks

Having just bonded a trio myself I'd say that it's not much different really. I had a pair of (neutered) bonded girls which I have added an (intact) male. I just did it in a neutral area (my kitchen) and then put them back in the shed later on. It all went fine, apart from the usual humping and running away (although this should improve once he is done in a couple of months). Good luck!

Thanks for your reply.

I wondered if there was any benefit from introducing the unknown bun seperately to the other buns to gauge individual reactions.

We have previously tried to bonding another neutered male to the pair acouple of times.

The first time the 2 males got on but the single male seemed to strongly dislike the female and casued alot of scarring to her back.

With the second single male it went well for about 6 hours and then the paired up male attacked the single male. The female seemed to love both but as I had never seen aggression in the paired male before I would not try that again.

I guess this is the last time I will try it so i want the best possible start!

The main reason I would like to add another bun is because the paired female is just over 1 year old and the male is just over 5years old. The new bun is about 1.

I don't have experience of introducing a second male into a bonded male-female pair, though I think it's harder than trying to introduce another female.

My female pair have never been separated so I just introduced the male to both of them together. I think the main rule of thumb when bonding rabbits is to leave them to it, try not to touch them unless you really have to separate them and if they draw blood then give it up as a lost cause.

Sorry I can't be more help!

When i added Fifi to my other two i put them in a pen in a room they dont go in.. added lots of tasty hay/grass and left them to it.. only had a few hours in there.. meanwhile i cleaned out their pen area and rearranged it all then put them in together.. i do think i was lucky as i didnt really have alot of problems with them at all. Good luck with your trio!