Four Bunnies!! How much work is it? (With Pics)

[Wascally Wabbits]

Hi guys!

I am about to welcome two more rabbits to my house (adopted from rescue). They’re currently at bonding boot camp with my two bunnies. The new bunnies were picked specifically for their neutralizing effects on my Lilo and Pepper. They’re almost half way through bonding and spent 72h together without much fighting. They’re all coming home in four days. 

My main question is.. would four bonded rabbits be a whole lot more work than two single bunnies? Also they’re mostly the same weight, but Pepper needs a little bit more pellets bc she has megacolon and has trouble maintaining weight, can I just hand feed her the extra 1 tbsp she gets? Would this cause jealousy with the other rabbits or should I just feed them all the same amount she gets (probably not smart). How much space should their pen be? They’ll roam my 550 sqft apartment (I’m moving to a 900 sqft apartment in 2 months) when I’m home (6-7h a day). Currently Lilo’s pen is 28 sqft. I can make it 35-40 sqft, is this enough for 4 rabbits about 4 pounds each? 

Lilo (5.5 yrs, lionhead mix, male), Pepper (10 months, dwarf mix, female), Boba (8-10 months, Netherland Dwarf, female), Mun (7 months, dwarf mix, male). Don’t worry Lilo is SUPER hyper and actually seems more energetic than his young companions.

[Q8bunny]

Not sure, and too late now
They look darling. How lucky – you’ll have your very own fluffle

[Gina.Jenny]

I’ve six buns, but in three pairs. 28 sq ft sounds awfully small for 4 buns for any amount of time. The main thing that I’ve found increases is the amount of clearing up! You will need to be sure that Lilo doesn’t think they are all moving into ‘his’ space. You’ll need to move it to some totally new arrangement!

[Wascally Wabbits]

Thank you Gina, I have more x-pens to increase the area. When I move in with my boyfriend in about 2 months, he wants their area to be 40 sqft max. Would this be enough? I’d not I have to start.. negotiating soon .

We will not be moving into his area (he lived in my bedroom previously). When they first come home I will set them up in a smallish xpen (4×6) in my living room that I plan on gradually increasing to 6×6 or 6×8 over a period of a week. Both Lilo and Pepper have previously roam the living room, so to create the neutral area.. I have actually moved all my furniture around to make everything look different. The pen will be in the space that used to be occupied by a big couch. Then I will move them to the bedroom, but on the other side of my bedroom not where Lilo used to be. Hopefully this works out any territorial issues.

[Wascally Wabbits]

Thank you Gina, I have more x-pens to increase the area. When I move in with my boyfriend in about 2 months, he wants their area to be 40 sqft max. Would this be enough? I’d not I have to start.. negotiating soon .

We will not be moving into his area (he lived in my bedroom previously). When they first come home I will set them up in a smallish xpen (4×6) in my living room that I plan on gradually increasing to 6×6 or 6×8 over a period of a week. Both Lilo and Pepper have previously roam the living room, so to create the neutral area.. I have actually moved all my furniture around to make everything look different. The pen will be in the space that used to be occupied by a big couch. Then I will move them to the bedroom, but on the other side of my bedroom not where Lilo used to be. Hopefully this works out any territorial issues.

[Rodstewartfoxybrown]

Hi there
I just added 2 more rescue babies, we have 2 that partly bonded 1 male and 1 female we adopted 2 more females. Our first girl was very aggressive, towards the 2 others at first. The boy was very happy with his concubine.
We are giving them our entire basement, it is currently in construction, we actually bought our house with this in mind (Bun lover much?). Each rabbit Ive found is happier with at least 2 xpens wide together and some sort of hiding space, we attach a small dog crate and depending on the bun cover it or not. This also helps you figure who likes who and you can separate the pens in case they start punching at each at first. I found this so helpful the first weeks rather than stick them all in the same pen. You might wake up with some bloody little faces like I did. Make sure nails are trim and of course neutering helps lots.
Be ready for large Hay and salad bills but soooo worth !!. Ohh also a litter box for each they arent much into sharing
GOOD LUCK

[Vienna Blue in France]

Again I repeat “how exciting”, but jolly glad when I left my two at bonding camp, I only brought the same two home !!

(Well I would have swapped Henry with a calmer version of him, but there were only 9 ferrets and 16 rats on offer and I think I would have noticed…)

[LittlePuffyTail]

Such a cute little fluffle! You are so lucky to have help with bonding available.

[Wascally Wabbits]

Thank you thank you, the color pallette is very pretty if I do say so myself . Yea I’m sure half the reason they suggested more rabbits is because they’re trying to adopt out some of their bunnies. But I actually somewhat agree with the assessment that they need somebun to bridge their polar opposite personalities!

I’m half excited half scared out of my mind lol. Just SO many bunnies. I will need to make sure they all know I’m the top bun or I’ll be spending the next ten years chasing after 4 rabbits intent on chewing up all my things.

Rod- I’m only putting all of them together in the same pen when I come home because they should be at least mostly bonded by then. And even so, I’m taking days off at work to just camp out (and sleep) near them so I can break up any scuffles!

[LittlePuffyTail]

The most buns I ever had at a time was 3 and they were all unbonded. It was a lot of work but a lot of love and fun too and I would never change a thing. Those were happy times

[vanessa]

I have 4 bunnies, in 2 pairs. Each pair has 66 square feet. The destructive pair, Avalon and Morgana, are vety wimilar. Both too destructive to let out of their half of the bedroom (rabbit/bird room). They are similar in weight, similar dietary requirements, and do very well with their litterbox. The other pair – Guinivere and Lancelot, are very different. Guin is an overweight piggy, very sweet and cuddly, and although she doesn’t get jealous of Lancelot’s herbal treats, she will bumrush him and steal them. Lancelot is less than half of Guin’s weight. Blind, deaf, weak in the hind limbs, and incontinent. They both used to enjoy playing in the back half of the house. I keep a baby gate up so the rabbits can’t get past the hallway into the lounge/kitchen/main part of the house. This might be an option for you t negotiate with your BF. As far as the work load – I think that 4 rabits in 1 group, wouldn’t be a whole lot more work than 2 or 3. 4 rabbits on two groups – is a lot of work. My destructive pair have 1 lotterbox. The other pair have 3 litterboxes in their room, and 1 in chichever other room of the house I’m letting them roam in. I have 2 watering systems, 2 feeding systems, Guin and Lancelot have different dietary requirements, and each pair has a diferent floor setup. Avalon and Morgana need plywood over their lonoleum as they are chewing through the linoleum so theh can chew through the carpet and dig up the underlayment… Guin and Lancelto woudl be fine on carpet except that he is incontinent so they have 3 different layers of absorbent pads on their floor surface, which is why Lancelot can’t explore the house anymore unless he is in a diaper.
So I think that the differences between the rabbits, and the number of groups you have, are what make it a lot of work.

[Wascally Wabbits]

Vanessa – They’re all SO lucky to have you as there mom! That is some hardcore dedication to your rabbits especially with Lancelot being special needs.

LPT – I’m trying to mentally prepare for the worst of having 4 single rabbits. I don’t think it will happen though. When I was at the rescue, Lilo, Boba, and Mun got along instantly (mutual grooming within 10 min of meeting each other). Pepper is the only one that needs convincing. I’m hoping they stay as a bonded quad, but I’m ok if it’s a trio and Pepper.

About three more days till they come home! I’ll start negotiating with the BF that I need 50-60 sqft of space for rabbits (if he gets a whole room for his gym equipment, I deserve half a room for bunnies). They do get out to the rest of the apartment for 6-7h a day and basically all day on weekends. This is obviously temporary since we are buying a house together in July or August, it’s already decided then that the smallest bedroom will be bunny room!

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