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Last august I saved a bunny....

22 11:31:59

Question
Last august I saved a bunny. The first thing I did was take her to a vet as she ill. And as soon as she got better I got her fixed. On the vets advice I got her a companion almost right away. I introduced them in nuetral territory the first couple of times. Munchkin (the first bunny) was a bit aggresive towards Pipsqueak. But Pip is quite submissive and and within a week they cuddled.

Late dec I found myself saving another neglected rabbit. A female which I also took the vet and had her checked over and fixed. I kept her in sight of the other two bunnies so they were all aware of each other. But it made Munchkin very angry. When she couldn't find a way to get to the new bunny(Franny), she turned and picked on Pip.  I had to move the new bunny out of direct sight. Everytime I moved her back it was with the same results.

Eventually, I introduced just Pip and Franny. Pip immediately groomed her. But she was uneasy and started running and he started chasing her. When I caught Pip and put him back with Munchkin she attacked him. Maybe because he had Frannys scent?

It has been weeks and it's not getting any better. Yesterday I purchased a new, big cage and let Franny and Pip explore it...they fought. And again when I tried to Pip back with Munchkin it was a disaster. Now Muchkin refuses all food and keeps turning her bum towards the other two when she sees them. (They are all seperated in their cages but within sight. )

Any idea on what I can do next?  It went from Munchkin and Pip living together to having 3 seperate homes which can't last as I live in very limited space. I only took the first bunny in as she would have died otherwise. And than of course I quickly came to adore her. How do I get them to get along?  

For the record, Pip is also fixed. And when Munchkin has attacked him she has been vicious and draws blood.
Dyana

Answer
You can find some information here - http://www.rabbit.org/journal/4-4/tough-bonding.html  However, since they do fight when you have them together, you may have to try some uncommon tricks.  One would be to put vanilla extract on each of their noses when they are together so they can only smell it, not each other.  You can also try moving them from cage to cage, so that they are surrounded by the smell of the other rabbits.  

Have you tried taking them all on a car ride together in a box or carrier?  

Another possibility is that they may never get along together, in which case you might consider rehoming Franny, and hope that Pip and Munchkin will eventually get back together.

These situations are never easy, and it's going to take a lot of work if you want all 3 of them to live together (or even live in 2 groups).

You might also try posting to Etherbun to see if anyone has ideas at http://fig.cox.miami.edu/Faculty/Dana/ether.html

Good luck, this is a difficult situation and the bunnies aren't making it any easier!

Kim