3 years ago I adopted a neutered, bonded trio of 1.5 yo brothers. I asked the shelter if there was anything I needed to know about multiples since I had only ever had single rabbits. I was assured that I would be fine.
1 month after we adopted them they had their first fight. Two seemed to be fighting over the multiple levels in the pen that we had for them. The shelter gave us some pretty strong stress bonding techniques and we removed the levels. They were fine for about 6 months. After the second fight the shelter took the boys for a few days so we could decompress and revamp their pen.
The 6 month fighting cycle still continued though until last year when the fight resulted in 6 stitches. Someone recommended gentle bonding so we tried that. The boys were perfect all year! Even the 2 fighters seemed to be best buds. We really thought we had it figured out. Last week, out of the blue, they fought again and one needed a gash on his shoulder glued. A couple days later I tried putting them in a carrier on a chair so I could clean their pen. They went at it again. [emoji22]
Now I'm a mess and don't think I'll ever be able to trust the 2 together again, but also don't know what's best for them. I have their pen divided in thirds and they're getting 2-1 exercise time. The 3rd bun likes both fighters and the fighters seem stressed when they're alone. Should I try to bond again? If not how should I separate them out? Would someone with more experience be able to keep them together better? I'm willing to do whatever is best for them I just have no idea what that is. Any help would be so appreciated!
Sent from my SM-J727T1 using Tapatalk
1 month after we adopted them they had their first fight. Two seemed to be fighting over the multiple levels in the pen that we had for them. The shelter gave us some pretty strong stress bonding techniques and we removed the levels. They were fine for about 6 months. After the second fight the shelter took the boys for a few days so we could decompress and revamp their pen.
The 6 month fighting cycle still continued though until last year when the fight resulted in 6 stitches. Someone recommended gentle bonding so we tried that. The boys were perfect all year! Even the 2 fighters seemed to be best buds. We really thought we had it figured out. Last week, out of the blue, they fought again and one needed a gash on his shoulder glued. A couple days later I tried putting them in a carrier on a chair so I could clean their pen. They went at it again. [emoji22]
Now I'm a mess and don't think I'll ever be able to trust the 2 together again, but also don't know what's best for them. I have their pen divided in thirds and they're getting 2-1 exercise time. The 3rd bun likes both fighters and the fighters seem stressed when they're alone. Should I try to bond again? If not how should I separate them out? Would someone with more experience be able to keep them together better? I'm willing to do whatever is best for them I just have no idea what that is. Any help would be so appreciated!
Sent from my SM-J727T1 using Tapatalk
Last edited:
