Two trio’s or one sextet??

[Silwerkitty]

Hi

I currently have two groups of bunnies, a quartet (two nethies, a new zealand and a cinnamon, Mickey) and a pair (two havana mixes I adopted from a rescue). The plan is to EVENTUALLY have one bonded group of six, but one of the havanas still needs to get spayed, so I’m waiting for that before doing any bonding. 

Here’s my problem. Mickey, for some reason, never really cemented his bond with the two nethies, so they chase him around now and then, at least three or four times a day. I’ve tried very many different bonding methods (for months on end) to try to cement the bond, but this behaviour just continues non-stop and sometimes they pull some fur out.

My question is: when my little havana girl is spayed and healed, should I maybe remove Mickey from the quartet and rather bond him to the two havanas first and just have two groups of three each for a few months? I want him to stop being afraid of being chased all the time, and I want the nethies to get out of this habit of theirs. One problem: the New zealand (Bella) that’s also part of the quartet is bonded well with Mickey as well as the two nethies at the moment, so if I do move Mickey over to the havanas, do I move her with him, or do I keep her with the nethies?

My lounge is currently split into two with the two groups on either side, so they can all see each other all day and chat through the wooden bars if they want. 

Appreciate any insight on what to do with Mickey, thank you guys in advance!

[Zombie-Sue]

I think sometimes rabbits are just jerks to one another no matter how close they are. My rabbit Mulder is like that, and it was especially bad with Tank. I could tell they loved each other most of the time but sometimes he’d harass him.

If I were you, I’d put all six of them together, when the time comes, and see what happens. The new rabbits have a good chance of changing the whole dynamic.

As long as Mickey always has space to get away from the nethies when they’re feeling mean, I think he’s okay,

[Silwerkitty]

Thank you Zombie-Sue!!

You actually answered the question I forgot to ask about whether adding all six together might solve the problem anyway, haha! I’m so glad to hear someone else’s bunnies are such jerks sometimes, I honestly thought I had done this bonding thing wrong, although I’ve basically been bonding intensely since the beginning of the year, on and off.

My buns are usually free roam in my house (unless I’m full-on bonding), their space has been split in half now while the havanas are living apart from them, so Mickey does have plenty of space to get away when the nethies go mean. Argh, I’ve really tried everything. I’m currently on a ‘time out’ system where the one who chases Mickey gets put in a travel carrier for five minutes to cool off. I’ve tried positive reinforcement which didn’t work, I’ve done one-on-one sessions which go wonderfully but don’t change anything once they’re out of the bathtub/whatever.

They do cuddle, some days more than others, and groom each other sometimes.

I’ll keep them as they are for now and add the two new buns when the time is right. Fingers crossed!

[Author]

Messages