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Rabbit swap?

shel20

Alpha Buck
Hi if u have read my posts iv been bonding two male unneutr 10wek and 16 wek bun, things are goin well no fight just mounting and cuddling! but everyone is sayin they are likely to fight in the future...so should i swap him now for a female before he gets settled?
i dont want to take him back to pets at home and i dont want to move them into a big hutch together from inside cages in a month or two when i move house and find one day they have hurt each other? shall i find someone on here who amy take booby in exchange for a female?
i intend to neuter alfie my older one asap but am just really getting worried about they relationship changin in the future and at my house they will have to live together???help im gettin stressed!
 
I think as long as you get them neutered asap they should be ok. We have two brother's living together who got on just fine before they became part of our group.
 
I would get them both neutered as soon as possible by a good vet, as chances are if one is left unneutered they will fight.

I fostered two young boys for Caroline (bunnyrun) last year and had them neutered as soon as their balls dropped [they were probably 12 or 13 weeks old]. They were fine to stay together but I would not have kept them together if they hadn't both been neutered, and it's only a matter of time before your two become hormonal.

As for swapping him, I personally would never take an animal back to a pet shop to swap for another, regardless of the situationg. Plus if you do get a girl you should get her spayed anyway before you introduce and allow healing time, and it is a much bigger operation for girlies.You may have to contemplate whether or not you can afford the time and money to house them separately and if you would be prepared to bond them with a spayed female each if they end up having to be split up long term.
 
I agree with what the others have said on this thread. I personally, if they show any signs of fighting would separate them now before it gets nasty and you cant reintroduce them.

I ended up in this situation with my neutered boys. I never introduced them until they were both neutered but probably didnt wait long enough (3 weeks for one of them the other had been neutered months), and they fought very bad. They dont forget a fight either, so be very very careful.

They now have a spayed wifeybun though :D

It is essential that you get them both neutered as soon as possible before fighting begins. Unneutered boys will fight, its inevitable really.

Even if you did swap which i dont think is a very good idea by the way, you would have to wait until the male had been neutered at least 6 weeks before you can introduce them to the female, otherwise you will end up with many many many more rabbits, which is not a good thing.
 
well thats it they are both unneutred now and are getting on great, the older is much more interested in bobby the younger, bobby just tends to ignore all the humping and nipping alfie (the older) does, so if they are gettin on now do u think there is a good chance of them being friends when neutred? wen can i gat them done? whens the earliest and will i need to keep them seperate while they heal and will thet not make them loose thier bond?
 
if Bobby has 'bits' :oops: when hes 12 weeks old you could take them both to be neutered together. if im honest i dont think anyone would really swap a boy rabbit for a girl one on here since Alfie is un-neutered for the risk of 'accidents' happening :)
 
I would get the oldest one neutered now, but you might have to wait a few weeks for the youngest one. I would suggest taking them both to your vets for a check up to see if they are ready.

The problem you may have at the moment is if they do start to fight before they are neutered, if for example the little one gets fed up with the others attention the likelyhood is that they will continue to fight once they have been neutered

Good luck
 
ok thanks for the support..ill get alfie done asap and prob take bobby along too to see how long he needs to wait. I think im gonnna persivere with it as no problems so far and seem to like one another, so after castration they might be even friendlier, to be honest im only worried as i really need them to live together space wise, and plus i want them to have company! and i cant afford 2 more female buns! its funny my spare cahs used to go on clothes and going out but now i love spendin it on fun thigs fro them to do and eat, they give me soo much pleasure! i had buns when i was a child and never appreciated them i dont thinku do when ur young! Now im 22 and can definatly giv them all the attention they need!
 
I adopted a pair of brothers who had been brought into rescue aged 6 months old, unneutered - they were neutered same day as each other and recovered together, and got on really well, probably because they weren't split up for anything - not even neutering :)
 
aw thats lovely..brotherly love! will the humping stop when the neutering is done? poor bobby will be goin mad if it keeps on..!
 
yeah it will eventually stop, but not instantly - they're still fertile and hormonal for a couple of months after the op. - you will just have to check them over every day for signs they've been fighting, and book them in ASAP for neutering - because once the younger ones testicles have appeared, he will likely turn on his older friend and tell him to *** off - which is when the problems start as once they've fallen out, they are very unlikely to make friends again, even on some neutral ground - and they will try and kill each other, so keep watching and checking for the young ones testicles, and get them booked into a good vets same day for the snip :)
 
how do i look for testicles?? sorry im a bunny newcomer when it comes to stuff like this..will they be visable or under the skin???
 
I have no idea - mine were ready neutered I'm so pleased to say :lol: Maybe start another thread asking how to check for nuts? Bound to be lots of people here who know, just not me :)
 
Best way to check for testicles is to have a good grope :lol:

I found turning them on their backs in your lap so they're supported against your lap and torso is best (head against torso) so it's easy to see their nether regions.
Sometimes they're obvious, two testicles, sometimes, particularly with fluffier buns you have to have a feel. You should feel either side of the anus two raisin sized lumps in slightly wrinkled loose skin (scrotum). It's not too hard as you'll know as soon as you see/feel them what they are.
The bigger they are the better.
My buck Otis dropped at just over 11 weeks old, but was castrated at 13 weeks once they had grown a bit.
 
Please even if you only neuter the older bun to start of with make sure that he takes his younger friend with him to stay at the vets with him on op day. You must not split them before during or after neutering so where ever one goes the other must also go.

You will only run in to problems if you split.:shock:
 
ok well iv cheacked! alfie defo has them and bobby too but very small! gonna take them next week together and spend the rest of this week supervising further bonding so hopefuly wil have a head start after neutering! thanks for all the advice guys!!! by the way..tonight they were both sat muchin hay side by side in the litter tray and happened to start munchin the same piece of long hay.....until there little noses met in the middle! it was sooooo cute i coudnt stop laughin..a true lady n the tramp spagetti moment!! ha ha ha
 
That's fab they both have testicles. Definately get them done together and you have got a really great chance that they'll stay friends :D
 
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