Give away or sell babies?

My little baby rabbits are all doing fine and are now hopping round with there mums in and out of the hutches.

I know they won't be ready to be rehomed till there 8 to 10 weeks but my thoughts are starting to turn to what to do with them.

I don't feel fight charging for my 15 little mistakes but on the other hand i do think that if people are willing to buy them then there more likely to keep and love them. Also my daughters want to buy another hutch for there girls and it would give them the money to get one.

What do you think, sell or give away?

You need to make sure you educate and home check any potential owners. Ideally neutering/spaying and vaccinating and maybe even rehoming them as bonded pairs, would be preferable, although not necessarily feasible.

You can advertise them on the RIN section here. You can advertise them anywhere and anyway you like as long as you home check and make sure accommodation and the home is appropriate.

If you rehome them without the home check and just to anyone, then, eespecially if they are free, they will either go to homes where they will be neglected, or homes where they will be fed to snakes (this happens a lot with rabbits who are 'free to good home').

In fact, when advertising them, you don't even need to state anything about price or anything, just look for a specific type of home.

Be warned though, rehoming rabbits is exceptionally slow (both in rescues, and also apparently in pet shops and private individuals) because of the ecomonic climate.

Sell for a reasonable price. Ie: a low amount to just help you cover some of the costs for food, hay etc. You could perhaps ask a £5.00 donation towards costs.

The price shouldn't really matter as long as you inspect homes etc and see that they are set up correctly. And obviously have them perhaps sign something to say if they can no longer care for the rabbits for whatever reason, they are to bring them back to you.

Price doesn't really matter since you'll need to home check.

I'd say $10-$15 fee

Ow my god, fed to snakes. Looks like we could be keeping 15 rabbits.
No way i'm letting any snake eat my babies.

If you rehome responsibly then there is no reason for that to happen

If you want any tips of rehoming and in particular, home visits, then you're more than welcome to drop me a PM and I'll give you as much info as I can (I do all the rabbit home visits for the local RSPCA).

I would agree with everyone else, that it is vital you home check any potential owners and make sure you give them information on rabbit care, maybe print out a hand sheet for them?
I think it would be ok to ask for a small amount of money as then they are more likely to be serious about wanting to care for the rabbit if they are willing to pay.
I would also be inclined to say that you would like to go and see the rabbit after a month to make sure you are happy with how it is doing and settling in to its new home, but thats just me.

I would vaccinate and possibly neuter (you dont want them ending up as breeding rabbits to make a quick buck) before rehoming and then sell them for a fee that covers some of this cost, like £30 if vaccinated, £50 if neutered as well.

Theres always a risk when giving animals away for free. If someone cant afford to pay for a pet, can they really afford the vet care?

Definately homecheck.

You might want to get in touch with your local rescues, they may have someone come in looking for something of your buns description, and if they havent any to suit then they could pass your details on.

Also, start saving now for another setup, as you'll need to separate the boys soon. Personally I would take all babies away from mum at 12 weeks, and have the boys neutered at 12 weeks, the girls soon after. This means that the babies can stay bonded, which is good as you'll be rehoming them mainly in pairs.

nessar said:

I would vaccinate and possibly neuter (you dont want them ending up as breeding rabbits to make a quick buck) before rehoming and then sell them for a fee that covers some of this cost, like £30 if vaccinated, £50 if neutered as well.

Theres always a risk when giving animals away for free. If someone cant afford to pay for a pet, can they really afford the vet care?

Definately homecheck.

You might want to get in touch with your local rescues, they may have someone come in looking for something of your buns description, and if they havent any to suit then they could pass your details on.

Also, start saving now for another setup, as you'll need to separate the boys soon. Personally I would take all babies away from mum at 12 weeks, and have the boys neutered at 12 weeks, the girls soon after. This means that the babies can stay bonded, which is good as you'll be rehoming them mainly in pairs.

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Yes, that's a really good point. The boys especially could start fighting at around 12 wks. so it would be a good idea to get them neutered before rehoming them because the new owners may not neuter them soon enough.

nessar said:

I would vaccinate and possibly neuter (you dont want them ending up as breeding rabbits to make a quick buck) before rehoming and then sell them for a fee that covers some of this cost, like £30 if vaccinated, £50 if neutered as well.

Theres always a risk when giving animals away for free. If someone cant afford to pay for a pet, can they really afford the vet care?

Definately homecheck.

You might want to get in touch with your local rescues, they may have someone come in looking for something of your buns description, and if they havent any to suit then they could pass your details on.

Also, start saving now for another setup, as you'll need to separate the boys soon. Personally I would take all babies away from mum at 12 weeks, and have the boys neutered at 12 weeks, the girls soon after. This means that the babies can stay bonded, which is good as you'll be rehoming them mainly in pairs.

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If you leave it this long be exceptionally careful because the boys could already have made mum pregnant again. I personally would be looking to separate the babies no later than 9 weeks (and earlier if the boys bits drop) and then separate genders at 10 weeks (again, earlier if the boys bits drop).

I know of a lady who had a seven week old buck impregnate his mum. Personally speaking, I have had boys neutered at 11 weeks, and when they are neuterable, they are already fertile too.