Bonding not going very well - help

Hello,

We collected our third bunny on friday and have slowly being introducing him to our other two since then. Things have been going ok so tonight we put them together in the lounge. It stated out ok, but Muppet and Harvey got into a scuffle and now Harvey has a chunk of fur/skin missing. Does anybody have any first aid advice, as he is bleeding a little bit. I will take him to the vet tomorrow but wondered if there was anything i could do tonight?

Please help!! :!:

Same as with humans really, just apply abit of pressure with something clean until the bleeding stops It should scab over okay.

Tam

Ok, i'll go try and hold him down! He seems fine apart from that - he won't stop eating so he can't be too bad!

i carnt see why people want to have three rabbits when a pair are ususaly so happy together,as u have found out it wont be easy to get them together. Also as uve found out it could end up with vet bills for bites and things running the risk of abbcesses. Im not trying to be mean i just carnt see why do it sorry. val

Unless the skin is badly torn, or the bleeding won't stop, you probably don't need to see the vet. Anyway the day after is too late to stitch a wound as the infection risk is too high. As long as you clean it and keep an eye out for signs of infection it should be alright. In my experience (having had some houdini fighter types :evil: ) rabbit wounds heal very nicely. The only ones that seem highly prone to infection are those on the head and ears. But there is always a risk of an abcess forming, so keep an eye out. If an infection sets in the wound must be kept open and clean so as not to trap pus inside forming an abcess. At that point an antibiotic would be necessary from the vet.

As to why keep groups larger than a pair - they look so sweet together :lol: and more seriously sometimes it is a way of ensuring maximum space available to the rabbits. I am trying to bond a foursome atm so not to have to cut a run in half and adopt yet another rabbit as a companion for the singleton.

But it can be difficult - especially as if you are adding to an existing pair it will probably trigger fights between the already bonded rabbits. It can also be easy if the rabbits temperaments are such to make it so, but it is not always easy to tell beforehand. If you are adopting another rabbit with the intention of creating a trio you need to have the room to keep the rabbit and a companion for it separately if things don't work out. But a few scuffles are to be expected, although extra care should be taken once a serious bite has been delivered, things can escalte very quickly

hi

I'm thinking of bonding a third to my boys in a few months (accomodation pending) - I was afraid it would start the boys fighting though, so had intended to take it very slowly...I don't think that the 4 days Jacqui waited till putting the rabbits together is 'slow' at all - I think it's way too fast...?

Bearing in mind that a change of home, routine and strange people are mega-stressful for a new bunny, to then be put with other, territorial rabbits as well must be a nightmare for them?

My boys took about 3 months to really relax here - Wouldn't it be best to just allow the new bunny to settle in for a couple of months, seperate but within sight and smelling distance of existing rabbits? Or am I being too cautious?

Hi Elve,
Have you thought of adopting another pair, allowing them to settle in and then bonding them into a foursome if it seems likely that they would all get on? It would be a shame to ruin your boys' relationship by introducing a strange rabbit to them. As it is even just having another within smelling distance may unsettle them and lead to fighting:? In your position I wouldn't risk it. If they were both does I would think differently, as two does will often happily accept a buck.

hi

Yes you're probably right - it's just I can't see 4 bunnies in a 5'x8' shed, but my two are rattling around in it as they're only little - So having done some thinking (beating temptation with a big stick :lol: ) I've decided to cosy them up in a 6' double decker hutch in the shed (not safe enough outside at night here)...They're so happy owning me and the patio - I don't want to upset them really...

Re: hi

i definitely think you should leave it a bit longer for all of your bunnies to get used to each others smell and looks.

are all of your rabbits neutered?

sophie

Hello,

thanks for all of the advice. I have gone back to the 2nd bedroom that we were using before, and after a bit of trouble this afternoon it seems to be ok again this evening. I didn't feel i was rushing at all, i introduced them all into the same room with no barriers on the first day- as i said i felt that everybody was ok (grooming, not fighting, not totally ignoring each other) that we could move on a into another room, i was wrong, but then i never can predict what my lot are thinking! I will just keep leaving them to it and then in a couple of weeks look at moving rooms again.