Bonding a Trio HELP!!!!!!!UPDATE

[hiskatey93]

Okay so we have gotten a third rabbit, named Nefertiti. So cute. We don’t believe she is spayed, but honestly we have no idea. I checked for an incision area, but there is just so much FUR I can’t see anything through it all! (She’s a lionhead mini rex mix, from fur type, coloring, and appearance in my guess.)
Anyway our pair is taking oddly to this bonding experience. Chom, actually seemed pretty chill. We brought them to a neutral area for all of them. Chom snuggled up, sniffed, and licked her. Speckles however…. Got highly aggressive. I’ve never seen her get like that. I mean full on attack mode. We seperated them, and gave them time to cool down, and when back together she went again in full attack mode. No broken skin thank god, just some yanked out fur.
After the ordeal, Chom went to Speckles, to snuggle and calm her down, and randomly, for the first time ever, they went at it. I wonder if the stress put them on edge. Chom actually SNARLED at Speckles. It was freaky.
Anyway I’ve never bonded a trio, and could really use some advice. We are taking Neffie to the vet to get her checked up on, and spayed if she isn’t already. She’s a sweet thing. Very very very timid, but I can’t blame her after being dumped into a dumpster.
For now we have Chom and Speckles in the living room, and Neffie in the hallway. There is a babygate where they can see eachother and smell and stick their noses through, keeping them apart. Chom shows no interest in being there. Speckles haunts the area, looking quite miffed. Neffie will only go near the gate if Speckles is there. Also I happen to be feeding them all at the gate, so they can all see, smell, and hear eachother. Neffie doesn’t seem to be food driven from what I can see. She’s nibbled the hay and pellet food and barely touched her greens. When the other two show up at the gate, interested in her, she’s mainly quite standoffish.When I had them together, she sat aside, and they actually went to her.
She’s still super new, so we haven’t seen her personality escape, and she isn’t food driven at the moment. Actually, although she is eating, it’s quite sparsley. Noticed mostly at night when we were asleep. And at night, to be safe, so there are no gate breakdowns, she spend the night in our room, with the door shut, just in case.
I’m trying the doll thing. Where you take the fur of a rabbit and tuck it into a fold of a stuffed animal. I’m doing that for ALL of them. Chom’s, and Speckles dolls will be with neffie, and I’ll have a doll with Neffie’s fur with our other two. Can anyone offer me tips and advice on how to bond these three?

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Okay so today we did some highly intense stress bonding. Put Neffie and Speckles together in a very small enclosure, this being the laundry basket. One of the tall ones. Speckles got aggtressive for a bit, some fur pulling, the typical, but stopepd. Since they actually snuggled, and Speckles started to groom Neffie, I left them in there, while watching them. Put Neffie on her side, Chom and Speckles on theirs. Put their food on the other sides of the gates, with water, so they would have to interact at least a bit, but safely, and it kind of backfired.

Speckles turned on Chom entirely, and just went for him. He backed down instantly, but just seeing Neffie through the gate made her go insane. 

We have a vet appointment for Neffie tomorrow for a check up, to see if she is fixed or not. And if she isn’t it’ll be a pre-op visit. We thought maybe the hormones are what’s making Speckles just be so aggressive. It’s so out of the norm, sin e she is normally very meek and sweet.

Neffie and Chom however got along famously with instantly snuggles on Chom’s part. Neffie however doesn’t seem to react to anything by the rabbits. When Chom snuggles she just sits there, and when Speckles attacked she literally did nothing. I’ve never seen a rabbit do that. I’ve seen her drink, and barely nibble on food, but she doesn’t seem food or even treat driven like my other two. I’m wondering if she is still freaked from settling in. She has pooped, but they were SO tiny. I’m assuming from stress from the move and all the changes. Anyway I’ll be completely separating them for a while, since Speckles isn’t taking kindly to her, and I don’t wanna traumatize Neffie.

Anyway I would really appreciate any help and input. I feel like I’ve gone over my head now with rescuing her. The whole pack is just going topsy turvey. >.<

[Moo <3]

Hi!! First, thank you for adopting! She sounds like a wonderful companion. Bonding with an unspayed rabbit is VERY dangerous, for all rabbits. This could be the cause of the fights between the two. You should take a break from bonding until you know for sure. Make sure to end each session on a positive note (snuggles, grooming, or just ignoring each other) Rabbits have a great memory and will remember the fight from the last session. Eating is a social activity, if all the buns eat near each other, they don’t perceive the other as a threat (same with grooming themselves) Also, be sure to leave space between the gate. They should be able to see each other, but you don’t want one biting the others nose. Feel free to ask any other specific questions and I can try my best to help!

[Moo <3]

I just noticed you posted this in April! I’m so sorry you didn’t get a response sooner. How did the bonding go??

[hiskatey93]

LucyKao thanks for asking. Actually Speckles, the female we had passed away in a tragic accident. So we never had a chance to bond them.

Neffie has settled into our home and bonded with Chom. She is still terrified of us humans, and from her history I can’t blame her.

[Moo <3]

So sorry to hear about Speckles! <3 Trios can be tricky to bond sometimes, I am considering adopting a third too. Thank you for opening your home to Neffie and giving her the home she deserves.

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