Failing quad bond

[4buns]

We rescued a four year old neutered female in January after taking pity on her being in an adoption crate at pets at home for a long time, her bonded partner had died and she wasn’t coping well in an alien environment and hadn’t had any interest. We already have a trio, two 7ish year old females and a 1 year old male who was surrendered to us as a five month old. They’re all neutered. We bonded him to our female pair and it was incredibly easy, within an hour they were sleeping, grooming and feeding and we never needed to separate them again. So we thought they would all be accepting of a new rabbit, well we were wrong!

We tried 24/7 bonding from Saturday morning in a small neutral pen with just hay, and by this morning they were still very unsettled. The male chasing the new rabbit any time she moved, honking and mounting constantly. I had a breakdown from 3 sleepless nights, even though it’s my husband actually sleeping in the room with them as I’m more anxious, and also pregnant. He decided to call it and we separated them at 7am back to their original adjacent x-pens. The girls got on fine, and the new rabbit and one of the trio were very close and I think would easily bond, but breaking the trio bond seems wrong especially as she has been with the other female for at least 4 years since we rescued them.

Does anyone have any advice? We think our options are:
Try bonding again after giving everyone a break.
Create two pairs.
Have a trio and a lone rabbit next to them but not bonded.
Search for a suitable 5th rabbit to bond with the new one.

Thanks for any help! We are already aware we were a bit naive in rescuing her but no matter what happens she has a safe and loving home with us. In the photos, she is the big tri-coloured rabbit and the male is the black rabbit.

 

[Omi]

We rescued a four year old neutered female in January after taking pity on her being in an adoption crate at pets at home for a long time, her bonded partner had died and she wasn’t coping well in an alien environment and hadn’t had any interest. We already have a trio, two 7ish year old females and a 1 year old male who was surrendered to us as a five month old. They’re all neutered. We bonded him to our female pair and it was incredibly easy, within an hour they were sleeping, grooming and feeding and we never needed to separate them again. So we thought they would all be accepting of a new rabbit, well we were wrong!

We tried 24/7 bonding from Saturday morning in a small neutral pen with just hay, and by this morning they were still very unsettled. The male chasing the new rabbit any time she moved, honking and mounting constantly. I had a breakdown from 3 sleepless nights, even though it’s my husband actually sleeping in the room with them as I’m more anxious, and also pregnant. He decided to call it and we separated them at 7am back to their original adjacent x-pens. The girls got on fine, and the new rabbit and one of the trio were very close and I think would easily bond, but breaking the trio bond seems wrong especially as she has been with the other female for at least 4 years since we rescued them.

Does anyone have any advice? We think our options are:
Try bonding again after giving everyone a break.
Create two pairs.
Have a trio and a lone rabbit next to them but not bonded.
Search for a suitable 5th rabbit to bond with the new one.

Thanks for any help! We are already aware we were a bit naive in rescuing her but no matter what happens she has a safe and loving home with us. In the photos, she is the big tri-coloured rabbit and the male is the black rabbit.

Hello, I'm sorry you're having issues with the new bond. It is actually difficult to advise what to do, either short or long term, in situations like this. It's not a given that a previously easy bond between rabbits will be the same with another rabbit into the mix.

I would say that sometimes bonds can take quite a while to establish properly and so it could be that this bond just needs a little more time. I would also say that it's very common for there to be chasing etc between a male and a female during the early stages of bonding. The key issue to watch for then is that there is no aggression, ie chasing is fine and actually quite normal, but if the female objects and becomes aggressive or if the male is aggressive in his actions, then obviously it's not positive. In these instances it's good to ensure that the female can have somewhere to run away.

If I were you, and I realise that bonding rabbits is extremely stressful, I would continue much as you were doing and pay careful attention to whether there is any aggression or not. It might just need a little more time. But of course it might not and these rabbits just don't want to be together. I think it worthwhile to try a little longer before that scenario is definite though.

I would decide which of your options to follow if you get to the stage when you are sure they can't live together. Best of luck and well done for rescuing this lovely little rabbit

 

[4buns]

Hello, I'm sorry you're having issues with the new bond. It is actually difficult to advise what to do, either short or long term, in situations like this. It's not a given that a previously easy bond between rabbits will be the same with another rabbit into the mix.

I would say that sometimes bonds can take quite a while to establish properly and so it could be that this bond just needs a little more time. I would also say that it's very common for there to be chasing etc between a male and a female during the early stages of bonding. The key issue to watch for then is that there is no aggression, ie chasing is fine and actually quite normal, but if the female objects and becomes aggressive or if the male is aggressive in his actions, then obviously it's not positive. In these instances it's good to ensure that the female can have somewhere to run away.

If I were you, and I realise that bonding rabbits is extremely stressful, I would continue much as you were doing and pay careful attention to whether there is any aggression or not. It might just need a little more time. But of course it might not and these rabbits just don't want to be together. I think it worthwhile to try a little longer before that scenario is definite though.

I would decide which of your options to follow if you get to the stage when you are sure they can't live together. Best of luck and well done for rescuing this lovely little rabbit

Thank you so much for your lovely message, we probably do need to give it more time, just finding it so stressful. There hasn’t been any serious aggression, just the chasing etc but my husband and I both struggle to let it happen so have interfered, maybe this is unhelpful for the hierarchy forming but it’s horrible to see the new rabbit looking so thoroughly miserable. I would love it if it could work though and I think she would too. Maybe we need to both book a week off work and try again!