Do you want to bond a trio? Read this first

[tabithakat64]

Is there any advice on bonding a quad when introducing a male to a bonded group of three females as I'm currently considering this.

[Mandmcc]

I've been really hmmming and haaaaing over whether or not to try to bond my pair (m/f) to my third(m). I've carefully thought through all the potential outcomes and still not sure I have the stomach for it. This thread is really useful and it's been great to get some honest, frank accounts. Guess I still have some thinking to do on the matter... My pair are happy together and my single is a happy wee soul too so it's maybe best to let sleeping buns lie :/

[midnight88blues]

so i have two rabbits (male and female), both fixed, who i bought together from the same place. they were bonded before i bought them and never fought or showed any aggression towards each other.

now, my friend went away for vacation and she asked my bf and I to bunny-sit her female rabbit (unspayed) for a week.
at first, we put my friend's rabbit into the same cage as our rabbits. we thought the cage was pretty big (10x10 ft) so they would stay out of each other's way. i was wrong.

our rabbits showed interest in the new rabbit, but in different ways. our male rabbit tried to smell her, which is understandable since she was unspayed. our female rabbit was very friendly and immediately started to groom the new rabbit. but the new rabbit was extremely shy/scared and would run whenever our rabbits came close. this would trigger a weird reaction: our male rabbit would run after the new rabbit and our female rabbit would chase after them and then our two (M&F) would break out fighting and pulling hair.

we separated the new rabbit but they're all still in the same "cage." (We have a C&C cage so we just took some extra cubes and closed off a 4x4 area for the bunny visitor. Our bunnies still have the rest of their cage area).

so my questions are:
1) should i move the new rabbit farther away to prevent further friction or is our simple caged off area ok?
2) Why did our two act that way? It seemed like maybe our female was protecting the guest from our male?
3) What are the chances that our bunnies' bond is damaged?
We're hoping this experience doesn't end up permanently damaging their relationship. They've always been extremely doting to one another so it was scary to see them fight.
They seem fine again after their fight. They're grooming each other and eating next to each other. They would sniff the cage area by the new rabbit once in a while but for the most part, they leave her alone/act like shes not even there. Our female one goes over to try to sniff/say hi once in a while.

4)I'm also curious if this means that our duo just isn't meant to be a trio?
It seems like from this thread, most trios work because they need the third to compensate for something. From looking at our duo's dynamic, they seem to live perfectly rabbit content lives--They groom each other, follow each other around, play together, sleep together, etc.
I have a friend who rescued a bunny off the side of the road so she's looking for an adopter. I'm cautious about offering to take in a third based on what just happened though I know that in ALL cases, always make sure to set up play dates first before agreeing to take it. I'm wondering if I should even bother setting up the play date based on how my duo acted towards the guest. But I'm also wondering if it's because the guest wasn't spayed. If it was a spayed/neutered third, it might've made a difference?

[Avenger Bunnies]

Thanks so much for this thread, as someone who is about to attempt to bond a trio it is really really helpful

I am starting with a single and adding in a pair which I know is probably a more unusual way of doing things, but I'm hoping it will work out.

Our boy bun lost his mate a couple of weeks ago and we were hoping to find a single female bun to try and bond with him, but we've ended up taking in a pair of bonded females from a local rescue instead. I've been doing as much reading and video watching about trio bonding as possible before we attempt it, but for now they're living as neighbours in separate dog crates in the dining room, and having separate play times.