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New friends for Tethra

Oh will be watching this thread with interest, hope all goes well for you and you dont get too cold. Would love to see some photos too
 
Hello everyone :wave: I'm having a rest while OH looks after them. It's certainly extremely scary at times. It's going good and bad, but the good is very good and the bad is very bad :( Tethra is petrified :( I don't think he's ever encountered aggression in his life. There have been a few bad fights between Tethra and one of the males, although Tethra is not fighting back, but is also not running away. At one stage there were 5 rabbits chasing and it was almost as though they were flying :shock:The female has made friends and has been grooming Tethra's face a lot from very early on.

I must keep on reminding myself that there is no such thing as a nasty rabbit :(
 
Omi said:
Hello everyone :wave: I'm having a rest while OH looks after them. It's certainly extremely scary at times. It's going good and bad, but the good is very good and the bad is very bad :( Tethra is petrified :( I don't think he's ever encountered aggression in his life. There have been a few bad fights between Tethra and one of the males, although Tethra is not fighting back, but is also not running away. At one stage there were 5 rabbits chasing and it was almost as though they were flying :shock:The female has made friends and has been grooming Tethra's face a lot from very early on.

I must keep on reminding myself that there is no such thing as a nasty rabbit :(
Click to expand...

Flippin' 'eck, you are braver than me !!
 
Oh no [emoji17] I really hope they settle down. I have to say it's bad enough seeing two rabbits flying at each other, five must be absolutely terrifying!

Sending you all lots of calming vibes, I bet your poor nerves must be frazzled [emoji17]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
So they are all a little scrappy except your big gentle soul Tethra? Its lovely he has found one friend already (Mouse & Joe bonded instantly). Whats causing the tension - can you tell or is it too chaotic so far?
 
joey&boo said:
So they are all a little scrappy except your big gentle soul Tethra? Its lovely he has found one friend already (Mouse & Joe bonded instantly). Whats causing the tension - can you tell or is it too chaotic so far?
Click to expand...

From observing them last night, the aggressive male is the dominant male of the 4.
 
Omi said:
From observing them last night, the aggressive male is the dominant male of the 4.
Click to expand...

So he is rushing round interfering with any interactions the other buns are having? How is he being aggressive - boxing, biting, chasing?

I hope you nerves are holding out ok. I was a wreck with three, its really emotionally difficult to intentionally put your rabbit/s in a stressful & potentially dangerous situation isn't it? That said the end goal & benefits remain the same & they'll be fab for all five. Do you have any injuries? Are they eating ok & resting a bit? Feel free to not answer my interrogations but please accept lots of bonding vibes
 
I had a lot of chasing when I was quad bonding. It was mainly the dominant male on the dominant female and I found that it luckily subsided. The other 2 were sat in opposite corners, looking like they were trying not to look :lol: it is very scary, although I didn't have any fighting just circling and fur pulling. I kept chucking in piles of hay and forage - I used lots of my rosemary plant and since read somewhere it has calming influences:thumb: and that diverted them.

I'm glad that he has found a friend already. Thinking of you and sending calming vibes and hugs. I found a glass of wine helped my nerves ;)
 
Omi said:
Hello everyone :wave: I'm having a rest while OH looks after them. It's certainly extremely scary at times. It's going good and bad, but the good is very good and the bad is very bad :( Tethra is petrified :( I don't think he's ever encountered aggression in his life. There have been a few bad fights between Tethra and one of the males, although Tethra is not fighting back, but is also not running away. At one stage there were 5 rabbits chasing and it was almost as though they were flying :shock:The female has made friends and has been grooming Tethra's face a lot from very early on.

I must keep on reminding myself that there is no such thing as a nasty rabbit :(
Click to expand...


Calming vibes. I hope the males can sort it out between them :)
 
Hoping it's not too stressful for you. It's not nice seeing your original bun unhappy and out of sorts. The rewards are great though if they can work it out. Good luck x

Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk
 
Oh Omi it must be incredibly stressful.
I'm glad OH is able to help and give you a break.

Sending lots of calming vibes for buns and supporting vibes for you xx

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
 
joey&boo said:
So he is rushing round interfering with any interactions the other buns are having? How is he being aggressive - boxing, biting, chasing?

I hope you nerves are holding out ok. I was a wreck with three, its really emotionally difficult to intentionally put your rabbit/s in a stressful & potentially dangerous situation isn't it? That said the end goal & benefits remain the same & they'll be fab for all five. Do you have any injuries? Are they eating ok & resting a bit? Feel free to not answer my interrogations but please accept lots of bonding vibes
Click to expand...

All are eating OK now, but Tethra didn't this morning. Yes, they are all resting a bit, but the aggressive one is being nippy and chasing his siblings every now and again. Every time he gets close to Tethra he attempts to bite and has bitten. He even went for OH several times after he'd split them up.

I've just put Tethra back in the shed to have a rest. It seems very hard on him and at the moment he doesn't appear to like any of the other rabbits, even though the female grooms him and the other two males are non-aggressive. We'll decide next steps in the morning.
 
Omi said:
All are eating OK now, but Tethra didn't this morning. Yes, they are all resting a bit, but the aggressive one is being nippy and chasing his siblings every now and again. Every time he gets close to Tethra he attempts to bite and has bitten. He even went for OH several times after he'd split them up.

I've just put Tethra back in the shed to have a rest. It seems very hard on him and at the moment he doesn't appear to like any of the other rabbits, even though the female grooms him and the other two males are non-aggressive. We'll decide next steps in the morning.
Click to expand...


I hope these are early teething troubles and that things begin to resolve themselves soon, Omi. It would be so good for those four rabbits to have a home with you, and for Tethra to have some playmates.
 
Omi said:
All are eating OK now, but Tethra didn't this morning. Yes, they are all resting a bit, but the aggressive one is being nippy and chasing his siblings every now and again. Every time he gets close to Tethra he attempts to bite and has bitten. He even went for OH several times after he'd split them up.

I've just put Tethra back in the shed to have a rest. It seems very hard on him and at the moment he doesn't appear to like any of the other rabbits, even though the female grooms him and the other two males are non-aggressive. We'll decide next steps in the morning.
Click to expand...

The nipping and chasing may just be his determined efforts to establish his position as Top Rabbit, if all of the others come to respect that it he should gradually stop doing it.

Do the three Dutch Bucks get on OK ? I am wondering if having a pair and a trio may be an easier (on Tethra) option ?

Of course there is always the risk that removing the Doe will alter the dynamics of the Buck's relationship and some people may think it to be 'cruel' to disrupt an established Quad bond in such a way. But if it came to doing that or having to send the Quad back to the Rescue maybe it'd be worth a try. A last resort I guess.

Just my usual useless ramblings !!

Sending vibes for a less stressful day today xx
 
Last edited:
I wonder if the aggressive bunny wants to dominate your OH too! It is admirable that you are trying to help your bunny and the four dutch crosses too. Sending you some more positive vibes.
 
Jack's-Jane said:
The nipping and chasing may just be his determined efforts to establish his position as Top Rabbit, if all of the others come to respect that it he should gradually stop doing it.

Do the three Dutch Bucks get on OK ? I am wondering if having a pair and a trio may be an easier (on Tethra) option ?

Of course there is always the risk that removing the Doe will alter the dynamics of the Buck's relationship and some people may think it to be 'cruel' to disrupt an established Quad bond in such a way. But if it came to doing that or having to send the Quad back to the Rescue maybe it'd be worth a try. A last resort I guess.

Just my usual useless ramblings !!

Sending vibes for a less stressful day today xx
Click to expand...

Yes, I think most of the problem is that the dominant Dutch buck needs to re-establish his position as top rabbit and he's feeling threatened by the situation. Although Tethra hasn't attacked him, he just hasn't run away (which the other bucks do).

Three out of the four are reasonably OK with Tethra. However, I can't have two set-ups here. Also the lady who gave them up was upset at doing so and asked that they weren't separated. The rescue has also had another offer of a home for them.

If there wasn't the issue of Tethra to consider in all of this, it would be so much easier. He really was very frightened yesterday.
 
I really hope things will be better today. It's very difficult to know if you should give up on a bond, I nearly did at the beginning of my quad bond but it all worked out fine :thumb:
 
Omi said:
Yes, I think most of the problem is that the dominant Dutch buck needs to re-establish his position as top rabbit and he's feeling threatened by the situation. Although Tethra hasn't attacked him, he just hasn't run away (which the other bucks do).

Three out of the four are reasonably OK with Tethra. However, I can't have two set-ups here. Also the lady who gave them up was upset at doing so and asked that they weren't separated. The rescue has also had another offer of a home for them.

If there wasn't the issue of Tethra to consider in all of this, it would be so much easier. He really was very frightened yesterday.
Click to expand...

Bless him. Does the Rescue have any single easy going Rabbits available ? I would not rule out a Buck as IME (for what it's worth) Buck/Buck bonds can be easier than Doe/Buck bonds even if the Bucks are unrelated and have previously been bonded with a Doe. IME (again) with Buck/Buck bonds it depends very much on the Buck's character more than their gender. The same can seldom be said for Doe/Doe bonds though !!

All that aside for now though, today may go better for you all xx
 
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