All the bonding drama (and a ton of questions)

I posted on RU on Facebook, but thought it best to ask for potential solutions on here as well.

Elphie and Athena had been living together quite happily for about 3 weeks. This morning, I came downstairs to find fur EVERYWHERE in the dining room and kitchen. Athena was under the table, Elphie huddled up in the kitchen, breathing quite rapidly. I put down some food, and there was more attempts at nipping, scratching, biting and mutual tail biting/chasing. Nothing had changed in their environment. The only thing I noticed was that one had managed to steal a satsuma from off the windowsill and had started eating it. Could that have triggered the fights?

I have separated E&A. Athena is still in the dining room/kitchen. Elphie is back outside in the hutch she was originally living in. I've taken Elphie to the vets (thank you, RAW health checks!) and had her checked over. She has a little raggedy bit on her ear, a potential bite wound on a mole-type-thing she's always had (it wasn't cut open) and has lost one of her back claws. (These were all things I was aware of and told to keep an eye on). I've been told to keep each area clean with tepid salt water. Athena will be going for the health check tomorrow (I couldn't carry both of them at the same time. Galinda is also going tomorrow but Mum will be driving me in the car so no problems carrying them!)

I am also in the process of adopting a buck from PACT. It was originally going to be a wild-cross buck, but the rabbit lady from PACT called me today. She had a tricolour/harlequin/or something lop come in and when she saw him, she immediately thought of me. Because of the space I'll have available, she felt he'd be a better fit than the wild-cross bucks, which I won't have the height necessary to keep them happy in their runs.

Anyway, these are the only possible solutions I can come up with:

1. Adopt 3 bucks, so each of my does can have a husbun. The pros are that the bonding process would be easier, and I'd be helping out rescues. The very obvious huge con is the cost. I'd need to invest in another new, large, hutch and run combo, try and have 2 hutch/runs fit in the garden, as well as covering the donation cost for adopting them and then the costs for continued care.

2. Try and bond a trio - either Elphie and Galinda (sisters, who have always lived in sight of one another, just not together), Elphie and Athena (who worked for a little while), Galinda and Athena (not introduced) with the buck as a "calming influence" as was suggested elsewhere. Then, adopt another male to bond with the remaining doe. But, is bonding a trio of rabbits who don't currently live together feasible? Is it any easier than a same sex bonding? Harder? Even possible? This option appeals to me more than 1. because it's a little cheaper, but it needs to be possible for it to actually work.

3. Try and bond another pair of girls - either Galinda and Athena, or retry Elphie and Galinda after my many tentative attempts in the past, and pair the buck I am adopting with the remaining rabbit. But the issue is, I'm hopefully getting the buck within the next 3 weeks (post neuter and home check - neither of which have happened yet) and I need to know which way the pairings will work before I can start to bond the buck with any of the girls.

4. Retry Elphie and Athena in the hopes that it'll stick this time and stick to adopting this lop (currently called Humphrey, but probably won't be for long) as a husbun for Galinda.

Really, I am just super stressed and devastated by this major setback. I just want this to all work. What should I do? What would be best for the girls and my family? Is the trio suggestion even possible, considering Elphie and Galinda have always lived in sight of one another, (except for the past month where E's been inside with A), with their new "husbun"? Is Athena's age difference to the girls too big to risk trying again and would it make more sense to try E&G/E&G&buck? (E&G are 5, A is 6 months, the buck we are adopting is 2.5 years)

You could try a quad when you get the buck - he may just keep the females in order. Other than that I really don't know the answer. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Thanks for the suggestion! Is a quad feasible after Elphie/Athena's falling out? Elphie/Galinda have a poor track record living together, but seem to be ok seeing/smelling one another. Galinda/Athena haven't met - and the buck obviously hasn't met any of them. :lol:

Ages to be clear to people reading:

Athena: 6 months
Elphie: 5 years
Galinda: 5 years
buck: approx 2.5 years (estimated, by the people at PACT)

Mum liked the idea of a trio involving Elphie/Galinda/buck.

you could always find someone to do the bonding for you. i don't think i would attempt doing all that bonding myself. but good on you for taking on those bunnies. good luck with what ever you decide to do.

The charity the buck is coming from offers to help with bonding, but there's a long waiting list to do that [not that I've even had the homecheck yet and he isn't neutered yet either] and I'm not even sure they'd be willing to try and bond a trio rather than a pair. E&A went so well up until "The Satsuma Incident" (I call it that now, because from discussing it with everyone else at home, there is literally nothing else that could have triggered it.) But ugh, it's knocked my confidence.

It's still a while until we'll have the buck [I haven't named him. He's currently called Humphrey but no one in the family likes it so I can't even bring myself to call him that! When I've actually met him and ascertained what he seems like, I'll call him by a name.] at the moment anyway, so I can still figure out if I want to try 2 of the girls and then pair up the remaining one with the buck or something else.

I'm very tempted by the trio idea, if I go by Elphie/Galinda/buck. E&G live in sight of one another outside, know one another's smell and never act territorially over it, even when you go from hutch to hutch. E&G might have failed in the past simple because of my lack of confidence/giving them too much space straight away/not giving them enough time etc. and the presence of a boy might be all they need as a calming influence, being two does. That'll still mean we need a husbun for Athena, but it'd be a case of "one step at a time" and the fact is they all have a forever home, which for Athena and the buck (who are both rescues), is the most important thing. Elphie and Galinda have been my rabbits since 8 weeks old and nothing'll change that.