# biggest group of bunnies..



## mstori (May 22, 2009)

what is the biggest group of bunnies anyone has living together?

I currently have 3 girls and 1 boy together (all neutered and spayed) but have been asked to take on some more (even on a foster if not fulltime)

just would like others thoughts.. I dont want mine falling out, but one of my girls is often left out

Tori x


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## Guest (Apr 16, 2011)

I have 2 trios and 2 singles at the moment, but one neutered and hormones have died down, I will have a group of 5 and a trio


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

I think someone on here has 9 together! I have one duo, one single and mum with 4 babies together...doesn't count though i know


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

my biggest group at the moment is 8, all does, one of which is a continental giant, but it has been more (12) and will be again, when i do some bonding

when it was 12 i had 2 bucks and 10 does, unfortunatly jemima, bailey and Rabbit have made their way over the bridge

my second biggest group, is a 6, 2 bucks, 4 does
2 of the does are sisters, and another of the does is mum to the 2 bucks


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

I have a 6 at the moment 3 neutered boys and 3 girls. Thats the biggest I have had so far  Different ages and sizes, all 6 rabbits in my signature live together.

*Heidi*


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

wow! I dint realise you could bond so many.. that must have been a shed they lived in 

My girl georgia-Amelia is getting really picked on by another of my girls sasha. Got so bad i had to take george out 

Now dont know what to do.. I havent the room for 2 bonded lots, i really needed them to live altogether  x


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

mstori said:


> wow! I dint realise you could bond so many.. that must have been a shed they lived in
> 
> My girl georgia-Amelia is getting really picked on by another of my girls sasha. Got so bad i had to take george out
> 
> Now dont know what to do.. I havent the room for 2 bonded lots, i really needed them to live altogether  x


Take a look through the threads about bonding, you will pick up alot of tips! 
I will PM a message I sent to someone else who was bonding, might help you with some ideas 

*Heidi*


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

thanks, the message is really helpful. I have to flystrike them again today so will try what you suggested, thanksyou  

Tori x


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

mstori said:


> thanks, the message is really helpful. I have to flystrike them again today so will try what you suggested, thanksyou
> 
> Tori x


Let me know how you get on 

*Heidi*


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## $hAzZa (May 2, 2010)

So long as you have large enough accomodation, fights should be minimal


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

tried and tried and they just arent having it :cryin: sasha is starting all the trouble, and i dont understand why 

x


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

Whats happening?
What is Sasha doing that makes you say she is causing all the trouble?

*Heidi*


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

She's charging at Georgia and pulling her fur out ;(


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

Thats pretty normal during bonding. Get a spray bottle and each time she does it, give her a squirt. They have to go through all the chasing, fur pulling and humping at some point, some for longer than others. 

Oh, and for the original question 0 I have a bonded 7 now!

*Heidi*


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## Guest (Jun 15, 2011)

Just thought I'd add I now have a bonded group of 5, a trio and maybe another single (will know for certain on Sunday )


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

Ive bonded a few now, and was told that if they draw bloodt to remove?

Tried the water bottle originally..

can they be ok to retry after blood? ive tried 4 times now re-introducing her x


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## Guest (Jun 16, 2011)

mstori said:


> Ive bonded a few now, and was told that if they draw bloodt to remove?
> 
> Tried the water bottle originally..
> 
> can they be ok to retry after blood? ive tried 4 times now re-introducing her x


I've bonded 2 rabbits into a group after blood was drawn (Ella managed to jump into Heather's area and took part of her ear with her )
This was them yesterday








Have you thought about sending them off to be bonded?


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

Ill keep persevering then. Do yours seem ok now?

My 4 were quite happy together until i put them in their hutch and they had already been a bonded trio, so I was only adding the boy. Would be worried that if i sent them away the same thing would happen as they had been fine in the crate.

Plus I dont have transport and no family or friends that could help me, so transporting 4 bunnies an issue.


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## Guest (Jun 16, 2011)

How long did you keep them in the crate for?
Was the hutch completely neutralised?
What did you use to neutralise?
Am I right in thinking it is the 2 girls that are having issues?
(sorry just questions that popped straight into my head)

Heather and Ella are still great together (although the bond is still young I don't predict any issues) and they have moved to their permanent area with the others of the group. 

(Just a quick disclaimer I would never advise moving as quick as I have with a group bond but I know my rabbits and they were ready and at risk of breaking the bond because they were fed up of being in a small space).


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

B3rnie said:


> How long did you keep them in the crate for?
> Was the hutch completely neutralised?
> What did you use to neutralise?
> Am I right in thinking it is the 2 girls that are having issues?
> ...


They girls have always been together (mam and 2 daughters) and the boy is the dad. They were in the crate for about 3 days with no issues but I couldnt keep it up any longer. I couldnt even get in sitting room (weve had to move to a teeny house which is why getting them all bonded was really important) and it had already been out for 2 weeks
I cleaned the hutches out with jeyes fluid a few times as they were indoors recovering from the neutering. I then used some cleaning fluid used it stables (been trying to google it but cant find it k or v or something?)

the issue is with 2 girls..sasha starting on georgia, no one else and georgia doesnt retaliate. I can take sasha out and all are fine, but she thumps and growls, so i have had to remove georgia

Before bonding georgia was my troublesome girl, always nipping us humans, so i thought i may have issues with her (plus when the girls free roamed and the boy was in the run she never gave him a second glance, whilst the other 2 girls would groom him through the bars) Sasha is special because we think she may have a brain injury.

If you can think of anything I havent thought of id really apreciate it. Ive never had this issue before
Tori x


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

are the girls spayed? how long have they been spayed for?


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## Guest (Jun 16, 2011)

By the sounds of it you might have increased their space too quickly, when you put them in the hutch did you give them access to their run straight away?

(I know what you are on about with the disinfectant v...... but after 3 days of no sleep from bonding I can't think of the name offhand :lol: )


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

all 3 girls spayed and boy neutered, all done on the same day, in april. I was concerned about if they would be sore after ops etc, but vet told me that after 10 days to try bonding slowly. As everything seemed ok, (and ive just checked it was actually about 16 days not 10) and there were no fighting, i kept them together for a few days. All was fine until they went in hutch.

Ive been worried I didnt give it long enough after ops, for them to recover, but vet seemed to know what she was talking about and she breeds bunnies.

They have a 2 story with a run in the middle and another hutch at the other end, and the 3 were always on the bottom or in the run, and georgia was always on the top. If she tried to come down sasha will chase her pulling fur ou, grunting and its not like other bondingd ive seen or done..

just seen other q.. yeah i gave them just the one double hutch with run, then after the first incident added the other hutch to the other end


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## Guest (Jun 16, 2011)

mstori said:


> all 3 girls spayed and boy neutered, all done on the same day, in april. I was concerned about if they would be sore after ops etc, but vet told me that after 10 days to try bonding slowly. As everything seemed ok, (and ive just checked it was actually about 16 days not 10) and there were no fighting, i kept them together for a few days. All was fine until they went in hutch.
> 
> Ive been worried I didnt give it long enough after ops, for them to recover, but vet seemed to know what she was talking about and she breeds bunnies.
> 
> ...


Right I now see your problem.
After a spay you need to wait at least 3/4 weeks to let them heal because mounting (normal bonding behaviour) can cause internal sutures to rupture, but I always recommend waiting 6/8 weeks after a neuter so that all the hormones can die down before starting to bond.

I would give them all another 4 weeks to forget everything that has gone on and then try again but this time when you move them back outside I would just give them the hutch for a few days and if everything is going well then allow them the run, and then if they are still happy after a few more days I would open up the second hutch for them. :thumbsup:


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

thankyou so much!! will try that.. should i bath them or spray the deodorising spray i have on them? x


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## Guest (Jun 16, 2011)

mstori said:


> thankyou so much!! will try that.. should i bath them or spray the deodorising spray i have on them? x


I wouldn't bath them tbh, you could try the spray if you want but I've not had to use anything like that before


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

B3rnie said:


> Right I now see your problem.
> After a spay you need to wait at least 3/4 weeks to let them heal because mounting (normal bonding behaviour) can cause internal sutures to rupture, but I always recommend waiting 6/8 weeks after a neuter so that all the hormones can die down before starting to bond.
> 
> I would give them all another 4 weeks to forget everything that has gone on and then try again but this time when you move them back outside I would just give them the hutch for a few days and if everything is going well then allow them the run, and then if they are still happy after a few more days I would open up the second hutch for them. :thumbsup:


^ this exactally :lol:

i wouldnt bother bathing or spraying in all honesty, could cause more issues then good when their own scent comes back


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

going to try again tomorrow.. fingers crossed  thanks for all the help x


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

hazyreality said:


> Let me know how you get on
> 
> *Heidi*


its not going well.. i have an issue. Sasha wont tolerate georgia at all, despite living happily together before op..

lara and lightning love georgia and sasha so i took sasha out (for a night and put georgia in) and georgia is now terrified whenever the other 2 get close. They tried to clean her yesterday and she freaked! running into walls in her panic.

I had left it a while before trying again, dont understand why sasha will just suddenly lunge for georgia.. arghhh!!

so i can have george, lara and lightning together

or

sasha, lightning and lara together

sasha and georgia together seems a no so far..

BUT lara and lightning absolutely adore each other so dont want to do it as 2 pairs..

this was NOT the plan lol


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

hmm, I think it is gonna be a perserverance thing. Gypsy is a cow, she will lunge and box at the others when I am bonding, she looks really aggressive and will do anything to keep the others away but I just keep spraying with water and telling her off, eventually she gets the idea and settes down. 
The new girl Jana was terrified of the older rabbits, she was running like a loony up and down the crate even if one of the little ones went near her, so I put her and Marley in a carrier for about 15mins so she couldnt run away and she realised that Marley wasnt so bad. 
I also told Jana off for stamping her feet when the others came near with a quick squirt because she was upsetting the others, and it was causing scuffles.

I would try putting Sasha and Georgia in a medium/large carrier and take the 2 of them for a car ride. Dont worry about the others being with them at that point. If you can get them to deal with each other, then they should be able to deal with the other 2 being added later on. 
I had to keep Darwin and Rascal on their own away from everyone else because they had a big fight before I realised Darwin was a boy and they remembered it! They were causing chaos. I bonded those 2 together first (in a 2.5ft cage) for about 24hrs and once they had calmed down, I put them in the same area as the others(seperate cages) until they settled again then in with the other 4 at the time. 

I think you stand good chances of getting them together, you just have to try different techniques 

*Heidi*


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

thanks, I will try them in a carrier. I dont have a car but can put them in my daughters old buggy and take them for a walk .. might get some strange looks like 

Will deffo keep trying, just was concerned just how scared georgia is, which is strange considering she lived happily with zero incidents with lara and sasha since being born (same as strange sasha is now causing trouble)

I just want to see them all happy together. As a last resort i could get another boy bunny from someone who wants to rehome, but he is old, and didnt want to bond and then him die 

thanks so much for your help x


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

mstori said:


> thanks, I will try them in a carrier. I dont have a car but can put them in my daughters old buggy and take them for a walk .. might get some strange looks like
> 
> Will deffo keep trying, just was concerned just how scared georgia is, which is strange considering she lived happily with zero incidents with lara and sasha since being born (same as strange sasha is now causing trouble)
> 
> ...


Your welcome 
If you think of it as a pair bonding then a 4 bonding it seems alot less daunting 
The walk may do a good job if you dont mind the funny looks!
Also sitting them next to or on top of a washing machine on spin cycle is another one 

*Heidi*


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

i spent ages trying to get sasha to tolerate geeorgia. Lighting and lara couldnt care less who was with them haha.. they are the most laid back buns ever, although lara isnt keen on hugs  lol

I knew that my daughters buggy would come in handy again at some point, just expected it to be for a human rather than a furbaby, but they are worth the funny looks 

I think Ive been too lucky so far as never had a failed bonding.


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