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Age to seperate babies?

H

Hells

Warren Scout
I've done a few searches and read the existing threads, so apologies for repeating info!

I am collecting 2 new bunnies on Saturday, they will be exactly 8 weeks old. Mum will be left with 4 babies and the 2 I choose will be coming home to live together with me indoors.

From the 6 babies I will be choosing a boy and a girl as I've read that is the best partnership :p My question is when / how late can I leave it to seperate them and put them in seperate cages?

Boy (no name as yet!) will be neutured once his bits drop :oops: and then I plan to reintroduce them, or should I hold back on the reintroduction until the girl has been spayed too?

Look forward to your comments and advice. Promise I will post pictures once I have them. There will be 2 left in need of homes if anyone local is interested.

Thanks
Hells :lol:
 
It depends on what you want to deal with, but as soon as you get them, I would seperate them. That way there will be no accidental litters, and no sad bunnies when they get seperated for neuters and spays :D
Males drop at about three and a half months old, but they will get hormonal before that time. Once the male has dropped, get him neutered ASAP for the best results (Less spraying, less attitude, etc.)
The female should be done when she is older, usually 4-6 months of age (leaning towards the 6 months, the surgery is riskier on younger rabbits) and given some time to adjust before bonding. Then you can start to introduce them once they have both been done :D

xxx
 
Don't tempt me.... :shock: ... I'm in your area!!!

I have no idea about your question I'm afraid, I'm keeping my 2 apart until Sooty is done! But then they are not siblings and I got them at different times. Sooty was 4mths yesterday and I've had him since he was 8wks and Holly is around 3mths I think and I've had her since mid Dec.

I'm sure someone will have the answer fro you on here. I just wanted to say hello as we're in the same neck of the woods!
 
Hi Sue Sooty and Holly

Yep, we are local!

I'm not quite sure how I am going to manage to choose just 2 and leave the rest behind...
 
Hells said:
I'm not quite sure how I am going to manage to choose just 2 and leave the rest behind...
Click to expand...

It's really hard!! I had to get my kids to choose when we got Sooty as I couldn't decide and would have had all of them!! :?

Have you got everything ready for them? Do I take it you have 1 cage for them both?
 
The age they become fertile can depend on the breed - small bunnies mature faster. I think 10 weeks is about the earliest.

Boys can be castrated once their testicle drop which is usually about 4 months. Unfortunately they can still be fertile for several weeks after the op so it's abit of a wait until you can put them back together.

Best wishes,
Tamsin
 
Thanks everybody. When we visted the bunnies at 5 weeks old my boyfriend picked one up and didn't want to put it down, so we will probably have that one and one other. I'm so excited.

At the moment I've got an indoor cage, which I think I'll keep them both in together for their first week.

That will give me a week to decide whether to buy another indoor cage and then buy a new dog crate once I house them together again or whether to just get the dog crate now for one of them and throughly clean it so it is neutral terrority once I put them back together. Decisions decisions...
 
Speaking as someone who got caught early on with a surprise litter (I was very ignorant about buns then :oops: ) I would def split them asap - Pip(who I thought was a girl) sired a litter at under 4months old :roll:
But keep them so they have contact with each other. ie with just wire in between, so when you put them back tog you should have no trouble :D
 
I separated Taz and Maisie at 12 weeks, Taz is being castrated tomorrow, my vet woudnt do him before 5-6 months regrdless of when his bits dropped, so just check with the vet if keeping them separate for 2-3 months will be hard :wink:
 
I wouldn't put them together until they were fully matured or you'd asked a vet for advice :roll:

Feels slightly silly now after your PM, you're from Soton too!!!! :wink: :oops:
 
Hiya,

Firstly congrats on getting the new bunnies! I'd suggest keep them separately but together - by that I mean perhaps in a cage with a partition, or in separate hutches and a puppy pen with partition to play in together but without physical contact. I'm saying that because it'll be easier when you come to bond them if they're already used to each other's smell.

As for reintroducing them, wait at least 4 weeks after the castration before you reintroduce them as it'll take time for all his hormones to settle down.

Good luck!

AMETHYST
 
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