Question on bonding a 3rd bun into a bonded male + female pair

[Happy Hopping]

I am about to go to the rabbit rescue in about 1 to 2 weeks and adopt the 3rd rabbit. The 3rd rabbit is the brother of the male in the male/female bonded pair, another very tame lop.

Supposedly, I would put the 2 bonded bun in 1 region (a pen), and the new bun in another pen, and the 3 of them (2 set of space next to ea. other) 24 hr. x 7 days.

Now, there is a bit of a hiccup: The 2 bonded bun since Sep / Oct. 2025, occasionally chase each other, I caught the male trying to hump the female, and the female doesn't like it, so they chase ea. other, until I stop it. To be fair, all the neuter male from SPCA in the past decades has hump their female partners on rare occasion, so this is nothing new. The only difference is, this female doesn't like being hump, and she tries to nip back.

So how would you bond the 3rd bun into the group when I don't feel safe to put the 2 bonded bun in 1 region of space, in the rare case that they chase ea. other, try to nip ea. other?

 

[Cuthbert&Dillon]

How did you get on with this, I am really in awe of anyone bonding bunnies and three - well that is just amazing.

 

[Happy Hopping]

many members I know have bonded a group of rabbits.

My bonded pair, the female, Andi, is very dominant, she's the problem of the group, so I put her in a 24 hr. x 7 days routine side by side w/ my new bun BoBo. So they can smell ea. other.

the male Bucky that is the brother of BoBo, they are both soft character rabbits. So he's already hopping outside BoBo's pen, but there is no nipping, all Bucky does so far is mark his territory w/ his poo and urinate outside the pen. And the fact that there is no nipping eventhough BoBo and Bucky can touch ea. other, is a very good sign

 

[pandrhola]

I am about to go to the rabbit rescue in about 1 to 2 weeks and adopt the 3rd rabbit. The 3rd rabbit is the brother of the male in the male/female bonded pair, another very tame lop.

Supposedly, I would put the 2 bonded bun in 1 region (a pen), and the new bun in another pen, and the 3 of them (2 set of space next to ea. other) 24 hr. x 7 days.

Now, there is a bit of a hiccup: The 2 bonded bun since Sep / Oct. 2025, occasionally chase each other, I caught the male trying to hump the female, and the female doesn't like it, so they chase ea. other, until I stop it. To be fair, all the neuter male from SPCA in the past decades has hump their female partners on rare occasion, so this is nothing new. The only difference is, this female doesn't like being hump, and she tries to nip back.

So how would you bond the 3rd bun into the group when I don't feel safe to put the 2 bonded bun in 1 region of space, in the rare case that they chase ea. other, try to nip ea. other? slope game

I wouldn't add a third rabbit just yet. The chasing and nipping between your current pair suggests their bond isn’t fully stable, and introducing another bun could make things worse.

 

[Happy Hopping]

too late

 

[Preitler]

Ouch. What happened, how bad is it?

 

[Happy Hopping]

Nothing. 2 out of 3 rabbits has pretty much fully bonded.