Bonding My Trio

I’ve been reading this and need some advice for my rabbits. I have 2 bonded neutered sister Netherland Dwarfs approx 6months old. I have just tried to introduce my baby 8week old boy mini lop very gently. I had two separate pens in the garden, about 5cm apart, I put the boy in one first and the the two girls in the other. Initially there was sniffing at the wire which appeared quite sweet. And then approx 3 mins into the introduction the 2 girls started scuffling and chasing. I separated them immediately and removed the boy and put him away. I am terribly worried that the sisters bond is now broken and that was only 3 mins in what has happened, did I do it wrong?! I would be terrified to put them all together so don’t know how to proceed… any advice for me? Thanks in advance x

I’ve removed the duplicate post of this you made on the other thread as we don’t allow duplicate/cross posting. Referred aggression is very common in pairs or groups when they see/smell another rabbit. Behaviour when they are separated by mesh doesn’t necessarily mirror how they will react when they are put together. Personally I would attempt bonding once they are all spayed/neutered and wait 6 weeks post bonding for hormones to subside.

Are your girls spayed already?

Zoobec said:

I’ve removed the duplicate post of this you made on the other thread as we don’t allow duplicate/cross posting. Referred aggression is very common in pairs or groups when they see/smell another rabbit. Behaviour when they are separated by mesh doesn’t necessarily mirror how they will react when they are put together. Personally I would attempt bonding once they are all spayed/neutered and wait 6 weeks post bonding for hormones to subside.

Are your girls spayed already?

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Hi Zoobec, sorry I didnt realise that wasn't allowed! Okay so the girls were spayed about a month ago, so perhaps there are still some hormones floating around? Obviously my boy is still too young to snip yet. Do I keep introducing them occasionally or keep them totally separate? Will the girls be okay still living with each other? Thankyou x

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gabriella.lunt said:

Hi Zoobec, sorry I didnt realise that wasn't allowed! Okay so the girls were spayed about a month ago, so perhaps there are still some hormones floating around? Obviously my boy is still too young to snip yet. Do I keep introducing them occasionally or keep them totally separate? Will the girls be okay still living with each other? Thankyou x

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No worries :wave: there could be hormones around still, they should be fine together, I would just keep an eye on them, especially if your other bunny is in sight/smell. Personally I wouldn’t try bonding the girls with your boy bunny until after he’s been neutered, and his hormones have subsided.