It has been warned many times on this forum about the dangers of existing bonds breaking down when introducing new rabbits to each other. I can't remember any actual instance of this being discussed though, to enable me to quantify this risk and plan accordingly.
Whilst I fully appreciate that nothing with rabbit behaviour can be certain, I would appreciate views and actual experiences, if anyone has any, on a number of aspects of this and whether the risk of this happening can be mitigated in any way. When I consider my previous group, I could not have ever imagined that introducing another rabbit would have caused their bond to break down. They might not have accepted a new rabbit, but that is something different.
So my wonderings are:
Is the likelihood increased with the number of rabbits i.e. is trying to bond 1 with 2 safer than 1 with 2+?
Does the mix of sexes have any impact on the dynamics?
Does the age of the existing bond make it less likely to break down or not and is this balanced by the thought that introducing a new rabbit to an established bond is less likely to work than a new rabbit to a newly established bond?
Is a lot of it just down to the skill of the bonder?
Any other thoughts would be welcome too.
Whilst I fully appreciate that nothing with rabbit behaviour can be certain, I would appreciate views and actual experiences, if anyone has any, on a number of aspects of this and whether the risk of this happening can be mitigated in any way. When I consider my previous group, I could not have ever imagined that introducing another rabbit would have caused their bond to break down. They might not have accepted a new rabbit, but that is something different.
So my wonderings are:
Is the likelihood increased with the number of rabbits i.e. is trying to bond 1 with 2 safer than 1 with 2+?
Does the mix of sexes have any impact on the dynamics?
Does the age of the existing bond make it less likely to break down or not and is this balanced by the thought that introducing a new rabbit to an established bond is less likely to work than a new rabbit to a newly established bond?
Is a lot of it just down to the skill of the bonder?
Any other thoughts would be welcome too.