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Teenage hormonal rabbits. Advice needed re neutering please.

R

rachel

New Kit
I'm sure this issue has come up before but I couldn't find any directly similar thread. I would be grateful for views on how to proceed. We have two new rabbits. brother and sister, 14 weeks old today. They are outdoor rabbits. They both have good natures. They are easy to handle and have been getting on well until the last few days. He now will not leave her alone and constantly chases her around, often at speed and sometimes with aggression. Sometimes he growls and twice he has taken a chunk of fur from her back. He is evidently dominant and as well as running away from him she sometimes cowers in submission. She does not generally seem receptive to his advances and does her best to escape him. At other times especially when they are in the hutch they seem to get along fine and they groom each other.

I think I was a little naive in hoping they would just get along fine until they are both neutered. I intend to have them both 'done' , and when they got their jabs, the vet advised getting them both done together at 5 months. I suspect I can't wait that long as its another 6 weeks.
Do I:
1. Separate them until they are both 5 months and get them fixed together. A bit tricky as we only have one hutch at present.
2. Get him done at 4 months and her at 5 months. Which would presumably mean a prolonged period of separation too. How long I would like to know?
3. Find a vet who will do them both at 4 months? Mine wants to wait 5 months for her.
4. Something else?

Thanks in advance for the wisdom of your collective experience.
Rachel
 
rachel said:
I'm sure this issue has come up before but I couldn't find any directly similar thread. I would be grateful for views on how to proceed. We have two new rabbits. brother and sister, 14 weeks old today. They are outdoor rabbits. They both have good natures. They are easy to handle and have been getting on well until the last few days. He now will not leave her alone and constantly chases her around, often at speed and sometimes with aggression. Sometimes he growls and twice he has taken a chunk of fur from her back. He is evidently dominant and as well as running away from him she sometimes cowers in submission. She does not generally seem receptive to his advances and does her best to escape him. At other times especially when they are in the hutch they seem to get along fine and they groom each other.

I think I was a little naive in hoping they would just get along fine until they are both neutered. I intend to have them both 'done' , and when they got their jabs, the vet advised getting them both done together at 5 months. I suspect I can't wait that long as its another 6 weeks.
Do I:
1. Separate them until they are both 5 months and get them fixed together. A bit tricky as we only have one hutch at present.
2. Get him done at 4 months and her at 5 months. Which would presumably mean a prolonged period of separation too. How long I would like to know?
3. Find a vet who will do them both at 4 months? Mine wants to wait 5 months for her.
4. Something else?

Thanks in advance for the wisdom of your collective experience.
Rachel
Click to expand...

Hi Rachel

Welcome to RU :wave:

I would separate them now, as although your doe may be too immature to get pregnant, it isn't worth taking the risk of her having babies at such a young age.

I would keep them in pens side by side until they have both been neutered and healed up. I would get the male neutered at four months subject to his plums having dropped and your vet being happy, and remember that he will still be fertile for 3 - 4 weeks post neuter. I would not spay your female earlier than 5 months, as it's a big operation. She will then need a further 10 days or so to recover completely.

So all in all, once the male is castrated, then female spayed, they should be on track to get together a couple of weeks after her op. Did the place where you got your rabbits from not explain all this to you? I ask this because you only have one hutch ..... can you improvise something safe for one of them?
 
My understanding is that the risks of General Anaesthetic are linked to the size of an animal (the smaller the animal the higher the risk) so the vet advising to wait until 5 months could be linked to how big your doe will grow by 5 months. Given that that will be several weeks away yet then keeping them together is risky if he's started attacking her. There are other RU'ers that are more experienced and will give advice, but from what you've described it sounds risky to keep them together, so another hutch / separate area will be needed to keep her safe.
 
I'm pretty confident that they are one of each Tonibun.

I think they will need splitting up now as you say. Then I shall book Chewy (the buck) in for his op for 4 months. I guess that way he can have his 3-4 week separation whilst I wait for Lily to get to 5 months. I think the vets advice to wait until 5 months is general rather than specific to her. I have only met them once when they got their jabs and whilst they seem good, I would be happy to take recommendations on local vets if anyone is local to me? I am in North West Leeds, also near to Bradford.

They have a two level hutch so I can remove the ramp, block the hole and make a second sleeping/weatherproof area downstairs. They will have to take turns in the run. Not ideal but it will be fine for a while. They are destined for a shed but I am waiting on some building work to be completed at the end of this month before it can go up.

I didn't get much advice from the breeder to be honest and none about housing/neutering. I thought I'd done my research in choosing a mixed pair but its obviously not as straightforward as I had hoped!
 
rachel said:
I'm pretty confident that they are one of each Tonibun.

I think they will need splitting up now as you say. Then I shall book Chewy (the buck) in for his op for 4 months. I guess that way he can have his 3-4 week separation whilst I wait for Lily to get to 5 months. I think the vets advice to wait until 5 months is general rather than specific to her. I have only met them once when they got their jabs and whilst they seem good, I would be happy to take recommendations on local vets if anyone is local to me? I am in North West Leeds, also near to Bradford.

They have a two level hutch so I can remove the ramp, block the hole and make a second sleeping/weatherproof area downstairs. They will have to take turns in the run. Not ideal but it will be fine for a while. They are destined for a shed but I am waiting on some building work to be completed at the end of this month before it can go up.

I didn't get much advice from the breeder to be honest and none about housing/neutering. I thought I'd done my research in choosing a mixed pair but its obviously not as straightforward as I had hoped!
Click to expand...

It would be best if you started another thread with "Vet recommendation near Bradford and North West Leeds" as the title, in Rabbit Chat, and then it will get noticed and you'll get more replies than here :D
 
I had both my boys done at 16 weeks but I was certain 1 was a girl so was the vet until the day of the op I took in as 1 of each and came home with 2 fixed :lol: boys :D

My Dumplings was holding onto his plums :lol: where Casserole was proud of his :shock:
 
Mrsmcarey said:
I had both my boys done at 16 weeks but I was certain 1 was a girl so was the vet until the day of the op I took in as 1 of each and came home with 2 fixed :lol: boys :D

My Dumplings was holding onto his plums :lol: where Casserole was proud of his :shock:
Click to expand...

:lol: They sure keep us on our toes :thumb:
 
Hi Rachel, we are in South Leeds but use calder vets who are very good. We see Shona and Lindsey only who are the bunny specialists.
 
hannah said:
Hi Rachel, we are in South Leeds but use calder vets who are very good. We see Shona and Lindsey only who are the bunny specialists.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your post Hannah (and everyone else). I have gone to HollyHouse Vets in Moortown, Leeds on the basis of another recommendation. The nurse I spoke to seemed very knowledgeable and we are booked in today with one of their more experienced vets with Chewy. I have separated them for now and we are also buying a run extension so they don't have to take turns whilst they are apart. Hopefully we are all sorted.
 
rachel said:
Thanks for your post Hannah (and everyone else). I have gone to HollyHouse Vets in Moortown, Leeds on the basis of another recommendation. The nurse I spoke to seemed very knowledgeable and we are booked in today with one of their more experienced vets with Chewy. I have separated them for now and we are also buying a run extension so they don't have to take turns whilst they are apart. Hopefully we are all sorted.
Click to expand...

What a great outcome. Its so good to see someone taking such good care of their rabbits. They are lucky to have found you.
 
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