Bonding Three Rabbits

[Theo&Leo]

Hi all! It seems to me that there is a lot of negativity or should I say bias around the subject of bonding especially so in regards to bonding a trio. Well whatever small bits of information you can find on it anyways. So here I am to shed some positive light on bonding a trio and hopefully this will help those who are struggling with their bonding.

The first thing I learned is that everything you’ve read online “take it with a grain of salt”. Although yes the bonding can be stressful and you should definitely do your research, you have to really keep in mind that each rabbit is different and that their upbringing can play a huge role in how successful the process is. 

I am not going to lie, I did make some mistakes in the process that gave me minor setbacks. However with patience you can get things back in order.

First off I should mention that all 3 of my rabbits are under 1 year old and all spayed/neutered. I’ve had each of them starting at the ages between 6-9 weeks old. Each are about a month apart.

I started off with a little buck named Theodore from a breeder. He was 6 weeks old at the time and hes grown to be quite a sweetheart. Having him from such a young age and spending at least 4 hours with him while he was out of the cage really bonded us and made him a very caring bunny.

A few months later after Theodore was just neutered I picked up a second bunny (thought it was a boy but turned out to be a girl) from the same breeder because I was so happy with Theodore’s temperament. At this point Theodore had access to his cage and a large run area. So I set up the same thing for Rose alongside Theodore. They spent 4 months like that. Keeping their food in the same spot on either side of the cage forced them to spend time together and interact. 

Immediately after Rose was confirmed a girl and finished with her cage rest after the spay, I took the chance and put them together right away. Theo being the sweet guy he is groomed her like crazy and they became instant best buds.

Now here is where I made a mistake that set me back for a couple months. I thought that because my rabbits just clicked with the bonding that adding a third bunny (Riley) was going to be just as easy. I figured Rose would take to the little one seeing as it was just a kit. However that wasn’t the case. She got aggressive with Theodore, tackling him to the ground and nipping him. So I then separated them all. I wasn’t able to have them all in the same room because Rose had started marking territory so I had alot of one on one time with Riley in another room. A month or so later I had an entire spare bedroom divided into 3 sections. Not allowing Rose and Riley to touch or see much of each other but slowly getting used to smelling each other.  

Theodore was extremely frustrated. He LOVED them both and would groom each bun through the bars of the cage. So I put Riley and Theodore together once she was spayed. Again they just clicked. I like to think of Theodore as a magic bonding bunny lol 2 months past of the 2 alongside rose. Of course the odd nip or attempt to scratch would happen but I learned in those 2 months that Riley was actually more dominant than Rose. Even though Rose is a typically female bunny to a T with her space issues and random aggressive spouts, she became intimidated by Riley. Knowing this is what really helped me with getting them all together.

Because of how they interacted through the caging I knew that there was no way that I would be able to just do the regular “neutral area” thing. I had to be a little more dramatic. So yesterday I finally put them all together. Inside I was super nervous but I could tell that Rose hasn’t been happy being the odd one out so putting my own fears aside, I put them all in a carrier and sat them on the dryer for a full hour. Right away Riley groomed a very stressed and nervous Rose. They all huddled and Rose was mashed between two buns who groomed her like crazy. 

After that they spent 1 hour in the kitchen (neutral space). I watched them and gauged how they interacted. Riley and Rose ignored each other for a little but quickly started to just go about as usual. I then took a bin of fresh hay and set it inside. They all jumped in and chowed down with zero issues. This helped them socialised without being divided by caging. After the hour, I brought them back to their spare bedroom (previously cleaned) and I put them in there with a mixture of each bunnies toys so that . It has now been over 24 hours and I have 3 cuddly buns whom are happier than ever. (Like seriously, never thought I’d see so much binkying!)

Breaking it down in a simpler form:

1. Really get to know your bunny. Figure them out (What they like, what they don’t like)

2.You SHOULD and MUST get them spayed/neutered in order for it to work.

3. Cage them side by side. (At first riley and rose fought through bars so I doubled up on caging, slowly letting them able to touch at certain spots along the division)

4. Keep their litter boxes and food dishes opposite each other. These areas are where your rabbit is the most social and will get used to the presence of each other. 

5. As for the actual bonding attempt. Have a pot and metal spoon ready to clang if a fight breaks out. 

Have food ready. It provides a good distraction as well as promotes socialisation. 

Keep them on tile. The slippery tiles keep the buns from chasing each other.

I’ve probably missed a few details as this process has been almost a full year this coming December so feel free to ask questions or even add your own experiences!

[Chloe]

Thank you for all this information! I’ve got 3 rabbits myself (2 are brothers who are due to be neutered in 2 weeks together), and I wanted to bond them all… however, I don’t have a mix, they’re all boys.

So I wanted advice on whether it would work out? They’re all indoor bunnies and we wanted to put them all out together in a spacious shed in the spring. Please just any advice you can give

[Theo&Leo]

Hi Chloe, The bond can still work with 3 boys. It really all depends on their personality. I originally was going to bond all males but ended up with a bunny of the wrong gender! If you find in your bonding process that you can’t get all three together without some sort of issue then just start by figuring out which two are the easiest to bond. (Of course their hierarchy will change when you add the third) This will get the 3rd bunny used to seeing the other two together. You should be able to bond them it just may take patience a time. It solely depends on the bunnies and their personalities. I myself have a lady bun who is a female bunny to a “T”. She has all the aggression and space issues that a bun could have however I was able to bring out their sweet side. Her habits were just signs that she was unhappy and so I had to figure out ways that made her happy without it affecting her living conditions. (She hated when anything was moved around) 

To better help you I just have a few questions: Are the two brothers caged together and already “kinda bonded”? Or what are the living arrangements like? Also have the two already met the third boy?

Depending on your bunnies you may have to wait the full 2 months for their hormones to calm down before any attempt together.

As well keep in mind that you may have to periodically do mini re-bonding sessions, sometimes depending on the time of year they can get hormonal and you’ll have to help them through it. 

In the case that they are all separate or that you have 2 together and 1 separate:

Have cages/run areas side by side if you can
Keep litter boxes, food, bowls, and water dishes all close together (great for socialisation before hand)
Alternate toys and litter boxes (from time to time) to start
Eventually you can start alternating their living spaces (If they start spraying then their hormones haven’t calmed down. Don’t worry if it takes a week or so to get them back to not spraying. It happened to me and once the bun reestablishes their own space they will stop)

Having two girls who would try to claw at each other through the caging I decided to opt out of the neutral space idea having already used it when there were only two buns and go straight for the carrier idea. It turned out that the one bun I thought would fight in the carrier was actually the one grooming the others who were stressed out. They were almost instantly all bonded.

The best advice I can really give is PATIENCE! As much as it is very exciting to finally get them all together you don’t want to have a set-back just because you weren’t able to wait a few more days or months lol I’ve been there done that!

If you have any other questions just let me know!

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