New babies

Hello, I have just recently acquired to baby (8wk old) rabbits from a friend of a friend who had an accidental litter. They have a few rabbits who have the run of a walled in garden, but the male had unbeknown to them until it was too late, burrowed under the fence to the ladies :O

They had 8 in total so i have rehomed 2 girls. They are called Bella and Travis I plan to keep them as house rabbits, currently in an indoor cage in my bedroom but once settled they can have run of the bedroom.

I wonder if you can advise on what age to have them vaccinated (and also do they need to be done even as house rabbits?) and at what age can I have them spayed? I believe to keep them happily together into adult hood they should be spayed? They are x lionhead x lops

I also have 4 dogs which I am in the process of enforcing the 'leave it' command and 'go and lie down' hee hee. If anyone has any tips on how to de-sensitise dogs to rabbits do let me know x

I have posted some pics below

Bella




Travis

Rabbits cannot be neutured until they are at least 6 months old, males need to be done as when they get their hormones they can become territorial,aggressive and will kick their back legs up and wee in your face,this includes biting when you put your hand in their home to feed them, i had a male like this years ago and he was a good biter.

Females also become territorial but less aggressive (in some cases) if you aren't planning on breeding a female then the female rabbit needs to be neutured aswell, unbred females have a high risk of developing uterine cancer by the age of 5yrs old if they aren't neutured.

hope this helps.[



QUOTE=Bella&Travis;5485689]Hello, I have just recently acquired to baby (8wk old) rabbits from a friend of a friend who had an accidental litter. They have a few rabbits who have the run of a walled in garden, but the male had unbeknown to them until it was too late, burrowed under the fence to the ladies :O

They had 8 in total so i have rehomed 2 girls. They are called Bella and Travis I plan to keep them as house rabbits, currently in an indoor cage in my bedroom but once settled they can have run of the bedroom.

I wonder if you can advise on what age to have them vaccinated (and also do they need to be done even as house rabbits?) and at what age can I have them spayed? I believe to keep them happily together into adult hood they should be spayed? They are x lionhead x lops

I also have 4 dogs which I am in the process of enforcing the 'leave it' command and 'go and lie down' hee hee. If anyone has any tips on how to de-sensitise dogs to rabbits do let me know x

I have posted some pics below

Bella




Travis



[/QUOTE]

Hi :wave: They're very cute How old are they?

Are you sure they are both girls? I would have a competent vet take a look and make sure, if one is a male then you don't want any babies so would have to separate until neutering/spaying and leaving it 6 - 8 weeks before re bonding, but that is if they have been mis-sexed.

Spaying at around 6 months but it varies in different vet practices Not only will it prevent fights and having to re bond, it eliminates uterine cancer risks. If you don't have them spayed then they will fight, too many pent up hormones and the need to protect their territory.

Vaccinations are important even for indoor buns as you could bring myxi/VHD into the house on clothes, shoes ect.

When they have run of the room, beware of wires and things like that as they look tasty to rabbits sometimes! Your could then fill their indoor cage with hay and they may start using that as a litter tray :wave: When spayed, they will be easier to litter train

Dogs and rabbits. It may not be the dogs that are a problem but they are predators and rabbits are prey, they could sense the dogs and become stressed which can make them ill. Just keep them separate

Don't give any veg yet, wait until they are around 6 months then introduce slowly Hay is the most important thing :wave: also food wise, if they are on a muesli mix, when they are a bit older and have settled, move them VERY slowly onto a pellet food (Science Selective or Burgess Exel are used a lot on here) so they can't selective feed :wave:

Thanks for the very helpful replies. They are only 8weeks! Dogs are not bothered when they are in the cage just get interested when i have them loose in the bedroom. Last night was their first night and the slept soundly, only woke me up once while drinking out the bottle. Was told it was a boy and a girl (planned to get the neutered anyway) but my friend is a vet nurse and she had a look today and says they are both definitely girls

They are very sweet and inquisitive love them already

Bella&Travis said:

Thanks for the very helpful replies. They are only 8weeks! Dogs are not bothered when they are in the cage just get interested when i have them loose in the bedroom. Last night was their first night and the slept soundly, only woke me up once while drinking out the bottle. Was told it was a boy and a girl (planned to get the neutered anyway) but my friend is a vet nurse and she had a look today and says they are both definitely girls

They are very sweet and inquisitive love them already

Click to expand...

:thumb: just keep an eye on the pooches if you have any more questions just ask :wave: we'll be more than happy to help with them I found that all 4 of mine prefer drinking from a bowl a heavy ceramic bowl mind! :lol: because they find it easier and more natural to drink out of bottles can be a bit of a struggle but my outdoor pair have only recently had a bowl and they drink a lot more might be an idea to have a bowl and bottle for them

They are so sweet!

It looks like all your questions have been answered already, but do feel free to ask if you have any more.

Keep us posted with how your new little ones get on, we love to see photos on here!