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Trio bonding. I think they may be finally bonded.

I moved them to my room tonight, they are still confined to a pen. I have tried to keep everything as neutral as possible but it's impossible when it's a whole bedroom with rugs and vet beds.

There has been quite a bit of chasing from Xena again, and poor Shadowfax is once again completely freaked out. Fiver has been humping ad chasing everybody. :roll: I think they will calm down soon, it's just a case of them sorting things out, but it is quite upsetting to see after they were all so loved up.

Fiver is going mad. He can see the whole room and is completely outraged as to why he is in a cage. He has already spent the time he hasn't been chasing/humping by bar biting and it's driving me INSANE. I am not going to sleep tonight. :roll:
 
I'm just bonding too (a pair not a trio) and in my experience there will be a step back when you move them somewhere new, mine just went into the hutch and run on Monday after 6 days in the kitchen bonding, and there was a bit of chasing and no laying together or snuggling, I felt like it was all going wrong, but then today they started laying together and grooming, so don't lose faith, just give them a day or two, and hopefully they will get back to where they were. I wouldn't increase their space just yet though, however tempting it is.
Keep us informed x
 
Karen's said:
I'm just bonding too (a pair not a trio) and in my experience there will be a step back when you move them somewhere new, mine just went into the hutch and run on Monday after 6 days in the kitchen bonding, and there was a bit of chasing and no laying together or snuggling, I felt like it was all going wrong, but then today they started laying together and grooming, so don't lose faith, just give them a day or two, and hopefully they will get back to where they were. I wouldn't increase their space just yet though, however tempting it is.
Keep us informed x
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Thank you for this. :) I was beginning to lose hope, especially because Xena has been so nasty to Shadowfax. None of the buns are laying near each other, but it's only been a few hours. Shadowfax is still eating her hay and exploring (although the pen is actually smaller than it was downstairs!) which is more than she was doing a few hours after they first met.

I am most certainly not going to get any sleep tonight and I've had to cancel volunteering tomorrow. I just can't risk leaving them alone from 10 until 5 in case anybody hurts themselves. The big problem is that my room is laminated, and I've got a towel on the floor where they are, but whenever Shadowfax runs she slips on the towel and I'm terrified of her hurting her back or something.
 
I suppose the last few days proves that they CAN live happily together. And now they just need to sort out their territory issues. Fingers crossed they sort it quickly!
 
esupi said:
I suppose the last few days proves that they CAN live happily together. And now they just need to sort out their territory issues. Fingers crossed they sort it quickly!
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I'm they will be ok. It's more Shadowfax again tbh...although Xena is nipping her, she tend to completely freak out before anybody has actually done anything. :roll: I don't blame her, Xena is a nasty piece of work when she wants to be, but Shadowfax will thump and bolt off if Xena so much as twitches.

They have calmed don a little now. Xena is nipping her occasionally, but has stopped chasing her, but we shall see how it progresses over the next few days. I'd love to let them out of the stupid pen, but I can't chance it yet and really would prefer to extend their pen slowly. I just feel bad for Fiver, he really really hates being caged. :(
 
It's hard isn't it? My trio are on day 3 of bonding and they're currently in a pen about 4ft by 5ft. There's been no nastiness at all, which is great considering the feistiness of the girls. However, there's been no snuggling or grooming either. Just a lot of humping by Benji and a lot of running away from the girls :roll:. I'd love to extend their pen but it will just give them the opportunity to get even further away from each other and the bond will never happen. I have to go back to work on Tuesday so just have to stick with it. Fortunately, nobody seems to have cabin fever just yet since they're not used to being indoors and are enjoying 'Homes Under the Hammer' and 'Cash in the Attic' :lol::lol:.
 
Last night was pretty much the same as the first night of bonding. :( I found a wound on Shadowfax's ear, clearly from Xena. I'm at the end of my tether and wondering if I should just put them back downstairs and start again. Shadowfax looks absolutely exhausted, every time she lays down Xena goes over and nips her and she pelts round the enclosure, thumping. She's been pretty much confined to the litter tray. Fiver has not taken the slightest bit of interest in her, he just wants out. I don't really know what to do. :(
 
Oh no, i hope the wound is only a minor thing?
Hang in there vegan bunny, Sounds like your fight or flight response is kicking in, I had a few bouts of this during my bonding time, you panic and just want the stress to be over for you and the buns and it seems the easiest thing to do is give up, but you have come so far. Maybe it was too soon to move them upstairs and they have gone back to square one (isn't hindsight wonderful), but as esupi says they have shown they can live together. I wouldn't move them downstairs again, best to keep things as stable as possible.
I'm not trying to persuade you either way, best to just follow your gut instincts.
I hope it all works out and settles down soon.
 
Oh I'm sorry they've gone backwards. I really don't have any advice but I do wonder what's set them off as they were fine downstairs. Do you think it'd be worth keeping them downstairs longer? Like MUCH longer - couple of weeks?

This is sort of the point I got to with Tully and his potential friend - he was basically confined to wherever she chased him to - when I found the bite on him I couldn't leave them anymore and I don't have enough flexibility with work to supervise so she had to go back. They had NEVER been anything like as good together as yours were when they were downstairs though. I think having seen them getting on ok as a trio I'd maybe be inclined to persevere a bit longer. It's so stressful though!
 
esupi said:
Oh I'm sorry they've gone backwards. I really don't have any advice but I do wonder what's set them off as they were fine downstairs. Do you think it'd be worth keeping them downstairs longer? Like MUCH longer - couple of weeks?

This is sort of the point I got to with Tully and his potential friend - he was basically confined to wherever she chased him to - when I found the bite on him I couldn't leave them anymore and I don't have enough flexibility with work to supervise so she had to go back. They had NEVER been anything like as good together as yours were when they were downstairs though. I think having seen them getting on ok as a trio I'd maybe be inclined to persevere a bit longer. It's so stressful though!
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Yeh, the fact that they were ok makes me think that it's just the fact that Fiver and Xena are back in their territory. I'm feeling so stressed out, and I have a hospital appointment tomorrow as well as work. I can't really not go to either, so it means they'll be on their own most of the day.

The bite wound is very small..I'm presuming it's a bite, but it just looks like she taken the top layer of skin off, so it could be that she's ran into something. I am so worried about her hurting herself because she just pelts round the enclosure, crashing into everything. Funny thing is, apart from the first hour or so they were in the room, I've not found any fur. Maybe she's just lunging, but not biting?

I think I'm just going to keep them in here and see if they calm down. It took 2 or 3 days for them to settle down and stop chasing so much downstairs. If they don't calm down by tomorrow evening, I might just have to move them back downstairs. I didn't want to move them yet, but my parents were getting at me to get them out of the conservatory. :( I wish I had just done what I thought was best and left them down there.
 
Is your bedroom where they will live permanently once bonded? The problems you are having will definitely be due to the fact that 2 of them lived there before. What did you do to neutralise it? Have you sprayed everything with a vinegar solution to take away any bunny smells? That i really essential. It would also have been better if the room looked different, ie. If you moved stuff round. :wave:
 
ripminnie said:
Is your bedroom where they will live permanently once bonded? The problems you are having will definitely be due to the fact that 2 of them lived there before. What did you do to neutralise it? Have you sprayed everything with a vinegar solution to take away any bunny smells? That i really essential. It would also have been better if the room looked different, ie. If you moved stuff round. :wave:
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They are penned up in a corner of the room, the way my room is, it's really the only place I can put the pen.

The day before they came up I mopped the whole room using water and vinegar, I washed all the vet beds and have only put in the things from the pen downstairs, so it has all their smells on it.

Originally a bit of the rug was poking under the pen, I've moved this now, because Xena seems really territorial about it. Do you think I should take them out, neutralise the whole place again and then put them back in?
 
I moved the pen slightly so that the corner that Xena seemed to be guarding is no longer there and they have calmed down. Xena is still going for Shadowfax, but not as badly as before, and mainly when they are over excited, or waiting to be fed. They aren't laying all together, but Shadowfax was laid next to Xena yesterday. I'm feeling relieved that they have already gotten better. All was pretty quiet overnight, apart from Fiver bar biting occasionally. :roll:

I think a week in this pen will be enough to increase the size, and see how they deal with that. If things settle completely back to the level they were at when they were downstairs, I will start to introduce the vet bed etc. The towels are just too slippy on the laminate flooring, and Fiver is starting to show signs of discomfort again with his hips/spine. Plus they keep digging them up and chewing them. :roll:

I am completely worn out. I only had 5 hours sleep last night because I had to be up for a hospital appointment. I'm going to work soon, but my Mam has the day off and is going to keep an eye on them for me.
 
I'm very glad to hear it's looking more positive today. It really can be exhausting can't it? I'm sleeping in my own bed tonight after 3 nights on the lilo!! Fortunately for me, the trio bond that I was dreading has turned out to be one of the easiest bonds I've done and all three are back out in the shed tonight. I do have the CCTV on though!
 
Mackers said:
I'm very glad to hear it's looking more positive today. It really can be exhausting can't it? I'm sleeping in my own bed tonight after 3 nights on the lilo!! Fortunately for me, the trio bond that I was dreading has turned out to be one of the easiest bonds I've done and all three are back out in the shed tonight. I do have the CCTV on though!
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Excellent! I would love CCTV! I feel confident about leaving them on their own now, so I can have some chill time away from them. They have been ok and I've seen some grooming, so I'm sure they will be back to how they were soon. It really is exhausting, especially when none of them like being caged. :roll:

Fiver has been very angry towards me over the past couple of days so I know he is definitely feeling very bored and frustrated. I sat and gave him nose rubs and kisses for about 10 mins tonight and he seems to have calmed down a little; he really hates being ignored, and unfortunately I've not been able to give him the one to one he normally gets from me.

I can't wait until I can just let them in my room!
 
Hopefully small little steps on the way to a happy trio, if your feeling confident about leaving them unsupervised that is a very good sign. Now go get some well deserved sleep vegan bunny:)
 
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