Bonding (sorry for being a little scattered)

[Cosima]

I and planning of having two rabbit colonies one of does and the other one of bucks that way they can be social rabbit like they are supposed to but I need advice to bond them. Currently I have two groups of rabbits. Mus’s group that includes mus (of course) and his babies that he is acting like a mother to since lily passed and the two junior 2 month old New Zealand whites. I want to bond mus, cloud (one of his babies) and J (the male nz) and I also want to bond B (the other nz) feather and the adult nz that is not here yet. I am going to put the junior nz in a cage next to mus and his babies so they can sniff each other through the wire. but I haven’t decided anything else and would like help on the next step. Also I want to bond mus’s group and the junior’s together before separate them but nothing has happened get so it can be changed is it is not the best.

 

[WylieCoyote]

I have had bucks fight and try to 'dominate' (best way I can say nongraphically) each other when trying that. Cuts and sores...too much risk, so after that ( many years ago) I opted for individual cages for everyone until a mate-up. It keeps everyone honest and safe.

 

[Cosima]

Okay

 

[KMC]

Hi Cosima, I’ve done what you’re trying to do with 17 bucks at one point. (I have a problem getting rid of the bucks. They’re always my favorites.) Anyway, it’s possible to keep a buck colony with a few things to keep in mind. My biggest problems arose from keeping the big with the small. My big guys are too big to dominate the small guys properly and my minis acted like opportunistic piranha, streaking by for a hit and run mouthful of fur but then not sticking around for the fight. Cowards. The big rabbits are the ones that were showing signs of stress.

I kept them that way for about 4-5 months before signs of stress and behavior changes began which also coincided with spring. I broke the groups up by size and it helped a lot but long term peace is still negotiable. My rabbits are all perfectly behaved when I’m there. Tiffs can be stopped most of the time just by me calling their names. They will fight from time to time, as will the does, but the thing I’ve learned is, rabbits don’t usually want to hurt each other. Most fights are warnings and if you can figure out why they fight sometimes you can solve the problem by a mere adjustment of the space. Also, rabbits are highly reactionary. Most altercations are crimes of passion and not long standing grudges. To help keep the peace, group similar sizes and temperaments together if possible, reduce competition for resources, make sure that there are hiding spots that cannot be seen from the highest point in the room and keep it clean and full of interesting things for them to do and explore. That’s what’s worked for me in the past.

 

[Cosima]

Thanks for sharing. I think that all my bucks are going to be ruffly the same size so I probably won’t encounter that problem and the to two bucks that I have right now are probably going to be good together because they both like company. And I the third buck is living with mus (my first buck) right now so I probably will have a easy time. Thanks again.