Hello all, just looking for a little advice please. I have 2 male, neutered mini rex both 1 year old and were litter buddies. I recently went to pet store to get their monthly food, toys etc and noticed they had a new bunny in the corner. She was an albino mini rex around 11 weeks old. The lady told me she was brought in with another rabbit ad the owner couldn't sell them especially the albino one due to her eyes being red and she told me it normally puts people off and though they've taken her in they didn't expect anyone would want her which was so sad. Now normally I would never consider any pet from a pet store but this one just grabbed at my heart straight away so I brought her home. She's lovely, very friendly. I put my 2 in separately to sniff her and put them in a small run together and watched. There was a bit of chasing and circling and my boisterous bunny groomed her straight away, my shy bunny did try nip her a few times inbetween grooming her. I put my 2 away and the female stayed with me overnight as I'm going to put them together each day until I'm happy about the bond. My question is how do I know it's safe to put them together. I only considered having her because the vet once told me females and males are better together than 2 males. My 2 fought quite abit before having then neutered. I've also heard I should deep clean their spaces so there's no scent is this true? I've put a blanket in of hers with my 2 males and their blanket with her so they can smell eachother as I thought this was the right thing up until I read to completely remove the scent. Any advice would be appreciated thankyou.
Adding a new bunny
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InspectorMorse
Wise Old Thumper
You can’t reliably achieve a proper bond until the Doe is spayed. ‘Baby Bonds’ are not true bonds. Once the baby hits puberty the bond often breaks down.
Are you 100% certain the new Rabbit is a Doe? Petshops frequently mis-gender the Rabbits they sell. I would get your new Rabbit seen by a Rabbit Savvy Vet for a general health check and to confirm gender. If you are in the UK the new Rabbit will need vaccinating too.
Really it would have been better to quarantine the new Rabbit for at least a week prior to allowing any contact with your Bucks.
With the Bucks you need to be mindful of the possibility of them displaying referred aggression. This means they can turn on each other in frustration at not being able to get at the new Rabbit. This is far more likely to become an issue when the new Rabbit hits puberty. So for now I would keep her away from the Bucks and wait until 6-8 weeks after her spay before attempting to bond her with the Bucks. It isn’t impossible that it will work, but it might not and worst case scenario could be that the Bucks fall out with each other, neither will accept the Doe and you end up with three single Rabbits who all hate each other. So you will need to prepare for all scenarios, that the trio bond works. That the boys won’t accept her, that one boy accepts her but the other doesn’t, that all three fall out and you cannot get any of them to bond.
Are you 100% certain the new Rabbit is a Doe? Petshops frequently mis-gender the Rabbits they sell. I would get your new Rabbit seen by a Rabbit Savvy Vet for a general health check and to confirm gender. If you are in the UK the new Rabbit will need vaccinating too.
Really it would have been better to quarantine the new Rabbit for at least a week prior to allowing any contact with your Bucks.
With the Bucks you need to be mindful of the possibility of them displaying referred aggression. This means they can turn on each other in frustration at not being able to get at the new Rabbit. This is far more likely to become an issue when the new Rabbit hits puberty. So for now I would keep her away from the Bucks and wait until 6-8 weeks after her spay before attempting to bond her with the Bucks. It isn’t impossible that it will work, but it might not and worst case scenario could be that the Bucks fall out with each other, neither will accept the Doe and you end up with three single Rabbits who all hate each other. So you will need to prepare for all scenarios, that the trio bond works. That the boys won’t accept her, that one boy accepts her but the other doesn’t, that all three fall out and you cannot get any of them to bond.
Ahh I've only ever had bucks never had a doe before but when my boys were neutered she told me that if I was to add to the group then I should opt for a female as they tend to bond better than 2 of the same sex. She mentioned having a female spayed for uterine problems but said bonding before that shouldn't be an issue if the 2 bucks were neutered but I have contacted the vet for vaccinations and will talk about spaying when I go for the vaccines.
She slept with me lastnight but I have noticed her sneezing. Never ever have I had a rabbit that sneezes like this. She's worse if she drinks from a bowl so I've given her a bottle aswell. The lady from the store is ringing me tomorrow to check how we are getting on and has said she has been checked by vet but if I notice any issues I can go and speak to their vet too.
She slept with me lastnight but I have noticed her sneezing. Never ever have I had a rabbit that sneezes like this. She's worse if she drinks from a bowl so I've given her a bottle aswell. The lady from the store is ringing me tomorrow to check how we are getting on and has said she has been checked by vet but if I notice any issues I can go and speak to their vet too.
InspectorMorse
Wise Old Thumper
Sneezing could be indicative of an upper respiratory tract infection/ ‘Snuffles’. A Vet check is needed ASAP.
rabbitwelfare.co.uk
I would want to see evidence of the Vet check the Pet Shop claim was carried out, ie a copy of the clinical records.
Rabbit Snuffles
Discover symptoms, causes, and treatment options. Learn how to care for your rabbit and manage respiratory conditions effectively.
rabbitwelfare.co.uk
I would want to see evidence of the Vet check the Pet Shop claim was carried out, ie a copy of the clinical records.
I'm going to ring the store tomorrow as I'm really worried it could be snuffles. She's had 2 sneezing fits tonight then goes ages without sneezing then starts again. There's no discharge in the eyes or nose, still eating and sleeping well. Very active. Reading about snuffles has terrified me I didn't think it was so severe or could last a lifetime or even kill a rabbit and also read its contagious to other animals too. I can't see any other reason for her sneezing so many times. I'm phoning them first thing as they apparently have a vet there and if I'm unhappy about the care received I will call my own vet instead.
bunny momma
Wise Old Thumper
Sending positive vibes for your new female. While it may be snuffles, there are also other reasons for her sneezing including hay or something in her nose, dusty hay/food, tooth roots, or allergies are some causes. I had both situations.
InspectorMorse
Wise Old Thumper
This is why quarantining all new Rabbits is always best practice. Something to bear in mind in future. The Petshop should have advised you of this, but its no surprise that they didn’t.
What type of litter are you using. Some Rabbits can be allergic to certain substrates such as wood shavings. If the hay used is dusty that too can cause an allergic response.
Thanks for your replies ive been really worried as ive never had a rabbit with snuffles before. I've monitored her overnight and no sneezing at all, no wheezing, no snot and she had full on binkies, eating fine and pooping fine. She's sneezed a few times this morning. I've never had a rabbit from a pet store before and always said I never would but when I saw her and the lady said people don't normally want albinos I wanted her she's lovely. I've rang the store and I spoke to the lady who sold her to me and they've said she was vet checked before going to them and she never sneezed while with them, the rabbit who went in with her was sold straight away and they've not had phonecalls about that one. She said she really doesn't think it's snuffles and thinks it's more of irritation maybe. She said give it 24 hours and any snot then ring my vet and the pet store will reimburse any vet bills for up to 6 weeks.
I think this is a reasonable response from the pet shop. It could be something that has irritated her in her environment which has caused the sneezing.
If it were me I think I would get her examined by your normal vet. It would be sensible to confirm her sex, discuss vaccinations and neutering. It would also put your mind at rest regarding her sneezing.
Best of luck with everything. I completely understand you wanting to take her home. She sounds lovely.
Went to the vet yesterday and he's positive it is an allergy to the new home. She's showing no signs of snuffles and said she's very healthy. He told me to continue to bond with my other 2. We resumed bonding today indoors and everything was going well grooming eachother, eating out of the same bowl, not sleeping together but comfortable around eachother.
Yesterday I extended their outdoor enclosure abit, used vingar to clean and moved around some things and I have been putting a blanket with her scent in the enclosure. I put her in the enclosure yesterday for 1 hour and all was fine. Today she was exploring and all was fine for a bit and one of my boys chased her around amd was grunting. I got so worried as she's small and just so sweet I pulled her out I did pop her back in for a little while after once all was calm and one bun just lay asleep happy with her around and the other stayed away. Indoors they're absolutely fine. I'm not going to be leaving her overnight with them for a while until im confident but won't me bringing her in at night make the other 2 buns forget her in a way? So ill be trying all over again.
I don't know what to do now. I do have a carrier I could fit in the enclosure one night and that way my other 2 can't get at her but can smell her would this work? I'm so worried they won't bond she's such a sweet rabbit and if I had space I'd keep her as an indoor rabbit but I don't unfortunately. Any advice please?
Yesterday I extended their outdoor enclosure abit, used vingar to clean and moved around some things and I have been putting a blanket with her scent in the enclosure. I put her in the enclosure yesterday for 1 hour and all was fine. Today she was exploring and all was fine for a bit and one of my boys chased her around amd was grunting. I got so worried as she's small and just so sweet I pulled her out I did pop her back in for a little while after once all was calm and one bun just lay asleep happy with her around and the other stayed away. Indoors they're absolutely fine. I'm not going to be leaving her overnight with them for a while until im confident but won't me bringing her in at night make the other 2 buns forget her in a way? So ill be trying all over again.
I don't know what to do now. I do have a carrier I could fit in the enclosure one night and that way my other 2 can't get at her but can smell her would this work? I'm so worried they won't bond she's such a sweet rabbit and if I had space I'd keep her as an indoor rabbit but I don't unfortunately. Any advice please?
I'm glad that your vet thought she was healthy. Did you discuss vaccinations and neutering?
Are you changing the place where you are putting them together? If so, it would be better to put them just in one, smallish place until you are confident they are bonded. Bonding is a lot to do with trust of the rabbits involved. If you change from a place where they feel OK to somewhere else too soon, they will likely become confused, which is possibly why you experienced the chasing today. Chasing actually is normal during bonding and is to be expected, but not if it's accompanied by any aggression. If possible, it would also be better if the rabbits were kept together with no splitting up at night. Is this possible for you to do indoors with all three? It would mean that you would need to watch them overnight until you felt they were OK to be left.
Do remember also, that any bond achieved now will need to be watched very closely when she approaches puberty, which could trigger unrest between them.
Are you changing the place where you are putting them together? If so, it would be better to put them just in one, smallish place until you are confident they are bonded. Bonding is a lot to do with trust of the rabbits involved. If you change from a place where they feel OK to somewhere else too soon, they will likely become confused, which is possibly why you experienced the chasing today. Chasing actually is normal during bonding and is to be expected, but not if it's accompanied by any aggression. If possible, it would also be better if the rabbits were kept together with no splitting up at night. Is this possible for you to do indoors with all three? It would mean that you would need to watch them overnight until you felt they were OK to be left.
Do remember also, that any bond achieved now will need to be watched very closely when she approaches puberty, which could trigger unrest between them.
I normally put them in a large playpen in the living room where she stays during the day and they're brilliant in there together even minimal chasing. They ignore eachother for a bit but sniff and groom as they pass, share toys, food etc. I've put her blanket with my other 2 so they can smell her sent and their blanket with her. She's even used their litter tray with them so her poop is in there too so her scent is with them.
When I've had dogs in the past I've always slept downstairs with them for a couple of days to see how they act through the night so I think I might do that woth the buns whilst they are in the pen.
My main worry is autumn setting in and I don't think it's good for her if I have her in the outdoor enclosure in the day and bring her in at night when I can't watch them so was hoping to do this before winter if possible. The rabbit that's chasing her is actually the one who is nor ally very shy. His brother (same age) used to chase him constantly and pull fur etc and eventually he calmed down but now it's the shy one chasing her.
When I've had dogs in the past I've always slept downstairs with them for a couple of days to see how they act through the night so I think I might do that woth the buns whilst they are in the pen.
My main worry is autumn setting in and I don't think it's good for her if I have her in the outdoor enclosure in the day and bring her in at night when I can't watch them so was hoping to do this before winter if possible. The rabbit that's chasing her is actually the one who is nor ally very shy. His brother (same age) used to chase him constantly and pull fur etc and eventually he calmed down but now it's the shy one chasing her.
InspectorMorse
Wise Old Thumper
That will be because he does not want to be at the bottom of the hierarchy in a trio. He knows he’s subordinate to his brother, but wants to make sure he is above the new Rabbit.
Even if you get to a stage where you can leave them all together unsupervised, once the Doe hits puberty this can change like the flick of a switch. No warning at all, just full on serious fighting. Any ‘bond’ established between a prepubescent Rabbit and other Rabbits is never a true bond. Personally I would not risk leaving them all together unsupervised until 6-8 weeks after the Doe has been spayed.
Other people might disagree, I just base my opinion on 26 years of experience caring for 152 Rabbits
As your Vet said the new Rabbit is healthy has she had her vaccination ? This really is so important.
Vaccines
Explore essential information on rabbit vaccines and their importance for your furry friend's health. Expert guidance from Rabbit Welfare Association.
rabbitwelfare.co.uk
bunny momma
Wise Old Thumper
It is good to read your new doe is healthy according to your vet.
