Advice on bonding a trio

This will be a bit long, so bare with me.

I have one old rabbit (Piko M, 11 years in February) and on October 14th acquired two young (Len M/Rin F, 5 months now) to be his companions for the rest of his life. I know the age difference isn’t ideal, but long story short it just worked out that way.

The young rabbits are litter mates. They were living in the same pen for one week before being seperated into pens in what I’ll call Room 1. The pens were next to eachother in an L shape with about a foot in between. In order to let Rin out, I’d have to put Len in his connected crate and let Rin run through his pen.

I’ve never seen any signs of aggression between them. Rin will try to ask for grooming between the pen bars, but Len doesn’t quite get it. I’ve seen them flopped next to eachother against the bars.

They were separated before hormones kicked in. Rin was spayed November 10th and Len was neutered December 15th. Piko has been neutered for 10+ years.

At the moment, Len and Rin are living in side by side pens in Room 2. I no longer have to let either run through the other’s space to be let out. However, they’ll have to be moved back to Room 1 soon.

Piko is in Room 3, where all the rabbits will be housed together eventually assuming all goes well. If it doesn’t, Piko will stay in Room 3 alone and Len/Rin will stay in Room 1, assuming they still get along. If they don’t I’ll figure something out.

I have a bathroom that is a small neutral space none of the rabbits have been allowed in. There’s a hallway connecting it, Rooms 1-3 and the living room. Len/Rin have been allowed in the hallway separately. Piko has been allowed in the hallway and living room. However, he hasn’t been in the living room since we set the Christmas tree up in mid December.

I plan to introduce them in the bathroom, gradually increasing the amount of time they spend together each day. Then I’ll move to the shared territory of the hallway, then the shared living room, then finally Room 3.

I don’t want to do any stress bonding because of Piko’s age. He just had bloodwork done in November and it was completely fine. However, I still want to avoid stressing him as much as possible.

My question is, would it be better to re-solidify the bond between Len/Rin first, then introduce Piko, or should I try bonding all three at the same time?

If I do re-solidify Len/Rin first, should I start by letting them out together in Room 2 or wait until they’re back in Room 1? I’d rather not use the bathroom with just them, as it’s the only neutral space I have.

Also, when do I start this? I was thinking January 12th because it’ll be about a month past Len’s neuter and I’ll be off work the 12th/13th to watch them. Should I wait an extra week to play it safe?

by FantasyFanVII