Major help needed!

Hi everyone,
I've been reading on here a while but just joined at this is my first post. We need some helping with our trio bonding.

We had a pair originally, they have been a pair for about 18 months. Walrus, male about 7 and pebbles, female about 2. Walrus has all sorts wrong with him due to the people before not looking after him at all. He had overgrown teeth (hence the name) now all removed, head tilt, bad back, fleas, mites and worms and his back legs didn't work properly. Overall things are better but he is quite happy to sit and observe whereas pebbles is younger so wants to play. Pebbles has over groomed walrus is some areas so we thought about getting a third bunny so she had someone else to play with. We took them both back to the rescue we got them from and they got on best with dotty, female, one (all have been fixed btw).

We have tried everything since bringing them home, car rides, bathtub, smooshing, water pistol, loudly saying no bite etc, swapping rooms, swapping toys, swapping litter boxes and bedding, group bonding, pair bonding, vanilla on noses, rooms next to each other but we seem to be getting worse.

It started well, ignoring, little sniffing, next few days dotty flopping over and grooming pebbles ears. Pebbles groomed dotty once. From here it went all wrong and for no particular reason. Everything we do they start fighting. If they are next to each other they bite though the bars, if in the same pen a big fur pulling fight starts within seconds. we really don't know what to do. We tried all three together today and both girls were pulling turfs off fur out of walrus and where he has no teeth he can't do anything back. This did only go on for 10 seconds and then we separated. We really have no idea what to do. We don't want to give up but at the moment don't see any choice.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry, I'm tired and sleepy oops and I'm trying to see who is the troublemaker in this - is walrus the victim of the scraps? or is it one of the girls?

If it is Walrus, bunnies have been known to fight if they can sense one is ill/under the weather. My pair's bond broke down when my boy became ill, Posy knew and wouldn't accept him back. They're still not bonded as they still fight, but oh well, it may be they don't rebond as Alfred is permenantly 'ill' if you like. Anyway. So yeah, if it is Walrus being the victim do you think he may be a bit under the weather? I noticed you've said he has a lot of issues, bless him. Alternatively, could one of the girls be feeling a bit poorly? (just a thought)

You say both girls and Walrus are all 'done'. It was probably an upheaval for another bunny to be introduced - how long ago was this? When my two lived together as a pair, my other single female would go out on the lawn in the run and even though they weren't next to each other, Posy and Dee could smell each other and Posy would start chasing Alf :roll: Is there another option of adding another bun and making two pairs, if the bond doesn't work out? I appreciate that it's not ideal at all and it may be you can't afford it (like me!).

I'm not experienced at bonding, but hopefully someone who has done more bonds will be able to come and offer some advice soon. x

Thanks for the reply. If it doesn't work out dotty will properly go to mum in law who wants a new bun anyway so she will have a home but fingers crossed it does.

Walrus will get on with anyone so we have mainly concentrated on getting the girls together. But they keep fur pulling and nipping each other. We tried all 3 today and they both ganged up on him.

I'd say pebbles is the 'trouble maker' walrus is bonded with her already and dotty has shown good signs in a one sided way.

Girls can be difficult to bond. Have you thought of a male instead for the trio? We find two males and a female is a good mix

When I recently bonded my trio, I found the only way to MAKE them sit still and not run/chase/fight was to place them all in a very small space - small enough so that all they could really do was sit quietly next to each other and accept being that close without a run/chase/nip situation occuring. If I gave them enough space to move away from each other, a run/chase/nip situation started. So I basically placed them all in a carry case for a couple of hours. Admitedly, I didn't like doing it because the space was small BUT they could all sit up, lay down or turn around in relative comfort and it was an open wired cage so they weren't overheating. Once they realised that they could actually sit next to the new bunny without anything 'bad' happening, I was able to progress to a slightly larger cage where they could all have a corner and a small amount of bunny-free space if they wanted. We went from a duo and single to a trio in about 48 hours and have not looked back since :thumb:.

Good luck with yours and let us know how you get on. But do bear in mind that some bunnies, despite our best efforts, just don't like each other so don't feel like you've failed if it doesn't work out.

Oo ok. Perhaps we should give that ago. I have re arranged the pen between them today so they cannot get to each other at all (they had nipped through the bars a few times) but now they can see each other but not get there.

I shall update with any progress!

If the bond doesn't work then Dotty needs to go back to the rescue. You will have signed a contract that says this.

Are you bonding them on completely neutral territory? I recently bonded a trio, it was scary and it took a long time. If there is full on fighting/locking on with any of the buns, then I would give it up and accept that the bond isn't going to work. Trios are iffy at best, and if it isn't working, then you need to find a diff bun or keep the original pair. x

Yes it is completely neutral. That's bunny bonding 101! Lol! As posts say above they picked her. I have every faith it will work. Even if it does take a lot of time.