bully bunnys?

Question
i bought 2 "male" dwarf lop rabbits about a 6weeks ago at the age of about 10weeks. they are now 16weeks and i have since been told by a friend that she thinks they might be girls or possibly one male and one female. they do tend to "get friendly" with each other but equally as much as each other so i don't know. however, the main reason i have contacted you is that the day before yesterday i aquired a baby bunny rescuee. he is 10weeks old and has a lovely little character. however, i tried to introduce them all in the garden and the fur went flying. i'd read that it might be difficult but will they ever like each other?! if it is a lost cause i may have to find a new home for the little'un. can you give me any advice please??

Answer
Hi Sian

Well the first thing you need to do is be absolutely sure the 2 original one's are bucks.  If not you are going to end up with unwanted babies.  

Here is a site that tells you exactly how to check

http://www.debmark.com/rabbits/sexing.htm

The biggest problem I see is that they are still to young to be neutered and un-neutered males rarely ever get along.  Then you go and try to introduce a 3rd and the other 2 may feel that bunny is going to take away some of the love they are receiving from each other.

Don't give up because it can be done.  Your 16 week old boys should be able to be neutered at about 20 - 24 weeks.  They should become less hormonal a few weeks after the surgery and be more accepting of other rabbits.

The baby will probably have to be kept separate for now but when he is old enough he can get fixed also.  Another big problem is that the older bucks were probably able to play in the garden before and they consider it theirs.  Then all of the sudden a stranger appears and they become territorial.  That is why it is so important to introduce them in a place where none of them have ever been.

I guess you have a slight conundrum on your hands.  It would be far easier to find the baby a new home while it is still young and cute but if you tough it out you may be able to bond them eventually.  That is going to have to be your decision.  I would follow the steps on these web-sites and see what happens.  Try taking all 3 of them for a car ride and see if they turn to each other for comfort before you go through your bonding sessions.  Just make sure someone else is driving so that if they fight you can separate them.

It is really difficult to bond un-neutered bucks.  Almost nearly impossible but just recently I rescued 2 un-neutered bucks that were completely bonded and it actually shocked me.

Try the sites I have listed and see what happens.  One will even give you a phone number to call for assistance.

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/behavior/bonding-tips.html

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/behavior/expect.html  (has phone # with bonding experts)

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/behavior/bonding.html

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/introductions.html

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/2-5/ever-be-friends.html

I hope some of this information helps.  I plan on writing out my own success stories but just haven't had the time.  I can tell you though that I use every tip that is in these articles.

Good luck with your little ones and remember that even if you can't bond the little one he could eventually get a mate of his own.

Thank you for caring so much about rabbits.

Pam