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Forum BONDING Bonding a trio of bucks?!?!

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    • Chloe
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        Right, so this is really stressing me out! Currently, we have 2 lionhead buck brothers (who are yet to be neutered as they’re too small, according to the vet). And we have an adopted mini lop buck called Timber. Now this may seem stupid as to why we have 3 bucks and not a doe and buck, but this is because about 2 months ago now my mini lion lop baby girl, Misty died during her spay operation. It absolutely broke my heart when she died, I blamed it all on myself as there was nothing wrong with her – she was never aggressive, was litter trained easily and was just so loving. And then I carted her off to the vets one morning, and never saw my baby again…

        After about 2 weeks, my aunt and uncle brought me 2 6 month old lionhead bucks – not really realising how much more grief it was going to cause trying to bond them with Timber.

        So my question is – what can I do?

        I must bond them with Timber. My parents are expecting me to have them bonded by the end of February/start of March (even though they’re booked into the vet for the 30th of January for their op). But will it even work? Smidge and Smudge, the bonded brothers do seem to be very loving rabbits towards everyone, as well as each other. And now at 8 months old (they will be 9 months old when they’re neutered), they still are getting along well (though they will mount each other every now and then).

        Also what would the steps be in bonding a trio of bucks? I can’t seem to find any sites that talks about bonding a trio of solely bucks. Please PLEASE help!

        Thank you in advance!

        Chloe xx


      • Mikey
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          DO NOT BOND THEM UNTIL THEY ARE ALL NEUTERED AND HEALED! Tell your parents it CANNOT happen without major fights likely breaking out, which will cost much more than waiting for neutering. And even after they are neutered, they still are hormonal and youll need to wait ATLEAST a month before starting to bond them (meaning you cant even put them together until the end of feb!!). They may even die if they fight bad enough. So no, tell your parents you CANNOT push them as fast as your parents want them pushed. It cannot safely happen

          As for actual bonding, itll go the same as all other bonding. Start with fast sessions in a small area, progress over a few days to spending 2+ hours in the small area per session, progressing to a larger area with short fast sessions after atleast a week, progressing to longer sessions in the larger area, ect. Throw in some stress bonding as needed. How fast it goes, after all are neutered and no longer hormonal, will depend on their personalities and how well they actually want to befriend one another. Be prepared for the worst case scenario where you end up with three single boys who cannot go near one another. Be prepared for your pair to break up and one of them decides to bond with your first bun. Not all bunnies will get along, and adding a bunny into an already bonded pair can cause a lot of breaks if they decide they hate one another. Your parents need to be prepared for that

          That said, my three boys are all caring so bonding them together only took about a month. All three of them have one thing in common: they love to cuddle. And the boss, Blue, loves to force cuddles if he sees anyone trying to challenge his alpha status


        • Chloe
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            Sorry I think you misunderstood about the rabbits. I’ve had a rabbit neutered before, so they definitely wouldn’t be going straight together.


          • Chloe
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            26 posts Send Private Message

              Sorry I think you misunderstood about the rabbits. I’ve had a rabbit neutered before, so they definitely wouldn’t be going straight together.


            • Mikey
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              3186 posts Send Private Message

                “Currently, we have 2 lionhead buck brothers (who are yet to be neutered as they’re too small, according to the vet).”
                “(even though they’re booked into the vet for the 30th of January for their op)”

                Theyre not yet neutered. You cannot bond them until a month after they are neutered. Your parents want them bonded by Feb, which is impossible because you cannot even start bonding until Feb 30th. It will be late March or later, it may even be a year, before you can have them all bonded together. Even then, if they choose they do not like one another, you may end up with three single bunnies who cannot be bonded. The current bonded pair may split. One of the current pair may bond with your first single bunny leaving the other from the bonded pair a new single bunny. You and your parents need to be ready to house and care for up to 3 single bunnies. Trios do not always work. Trios can break up pairs.


              • Chloe
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                  Hi, sorry! I was going to write more but was unable to on my phone unfortunately. So basically what I meant is that my parents expected me to start bonding them by the end of February. I already know that ideally, it should 6 weeks at least after op. I have discussed this with my mum, explaining how it would be almost impossible to bond a rabbit just like that and so quickly without harming them (which I obviously do not want to do to any of the bunnies!) and she has agreed that it cannot be done. So really I wanted a timescale. I already know how long it would take for a bond between 2 bunnies on average, which is why I was just wondering about trios and whether the methods used were any different. I have watched and read up on a lot of trio bonding, but as of yet haven’t found anything on bonding a trio of bucks and whether it would even work.

                  I’m not thinking about myself at all in all of this, or anyone else for that matter – only the lone bun, Timber. I know, that all the love we can give him, could never compare to the love of bonded rabbits. And I want that for him.

                  We were originally going to bond him with my little girly until she unfortunately passed away during her op.

                  I already know all the risks and precautions, I only want to be able to limit them. I know the risk of it not working out – I am prepared for it. I just want to give Timber the best quality of life he can get.


                • Mikey
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                    Ah ok. Makes more sense then

                    All bonding depends on personalities. Sex means very little when it comes to bonding fixed bunnies. My trio was a lot easier to bond than my pair due to their personalities clicking better as a three than as a two. Blue likes to investigate everything and cuddle, Bombur likes to cuddle and run around, Badger likes to investigat, cuddle, and play. They all have atleast one thing in common, so bonding them when very fast. It also helped me out that only Blue wanted to be the alpha; the other two didnt care where they were in the totem as long as they got attention/grooming/cuddles from the other two

                    Like pairs, some trios take a few weeks, some a few months, and some up to a year in stubborn cases. Do bonding as normal. Small area with multiple fast sessions a day and whenever they are calm (very minimal to no signs of aggression at all), progress to the next step

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                Forum BONDING Bonding a trio of bucks?!?!