Confused Newbie here

:wave: Hello - As the title says I'm new to your forums. We have recently bought two Netherland dwarves for my daughter who's 9. We have a buck and a doe (Cody and Petal aged 11 and 12 weeks respectively) however I'm confused about spaying Petal. The breeder from whom we bought the rabbits said we could have Petal spayed immediately but when I rang a vet to arrange this they said she had to be at least 5 months old and I note in your FAQs section that you concur with this however I thought she is classed as an adult at 4 months and can reproduce at that age! Should we be separating our rabbits?

Also, we've noticed that they get on very well in the hutch together however when we let them into the house they sometimes run at each other, but heads, nip and jump on each other. Why do they do this?

Sorry if I sound really dim but have never owned a rabbit before. Thanks in advance.

Hi :wave: I'm not able to help with your question but wanted to welcome to the forum. I'm new this week as well x

:wave: Hello. I joined this week too.

We've got a boy and a girl too, they were kept apart until both were 'done'. Didn't wanted any unwanted baby buns!

As for the odd behaviour indoors, all I know is that girls can be terrotorial, so you might want to try bringing the boy in first, might help!

Hello:wave: Its your buck that will need to be neutered, as soon as his bits have dropped. (anytime from now)
You can take him to your vet and they can check if his "man plums" have descended. He needs to be done asap otherwise your buns will need to be separated to avoid any accidental litters.
Bucks can be fertile I believe, from 12 weeks old, and though Does mature a bit later 16 weeks or so I think, there are exceptions.
Good luck!

:wave: They do need to be split up at 12weeks as they will breed - nethies and other small breeds mature earlier than bigger rabbits so make sure you split them up this week! You will find some vets with a lot of experience can spay rabbits young, but finding a vet that knows much at all about rabbits is a challenge in itself, so you will most likely have to wait till she's 5 months old.

When you get your boy neutered, which can be done at 4 months by an experienced vet, you must keep him away from her for 8 weeks after the op, as he will still be fertile during that time!

Welcome to the forum :wave: ...and everyone else whos new:wave:

Good luck with your new bunnies xx

Hi, and a big welcome to the forum:wave:
The behaviour your bunnies are displaying is typically hormonal, and I'd advise you to seperate them before a serious fight breaks out. Your buck can be neutered at an earlier age than the doe but bear in mind that he can remain fertile for 6(and in rare cases 8weeks after the snip! The doe can be done at 5-6 months though some vets will do it slightly earlier if the circumstances are right. They can be put together again after there is no worry about the fertility of the male.
Please don't feel awkward about asking questions here. There is no such thing as a Silly question Rabbit ownership is a very steep learning curve and everyone of us here was a "newbie" to start with.:lol:

Welcome to the site,

the behaviour is normal but they will neep to be seperated now. keep them in cages where they can see eachother and tht way when you rebond, you should find it abit easier...

xx

Hi :wave:
When I adopted my last trio of girlies my 9 year old decided that the youngest one was "hers", so I made her pay towards the adoption fee.
So far she's probably spent a grand total of 30 minutes with "her" bun in the 5 or so weeks we've had them!:evil: I hope your daughters' interest lasts longer!!:lol: :lol: Although I s'pose like me, you knew you'd be the true bunny mum to yur new arivals:?
Fortunately, I love all creatures great and small so I've "reclaimed" her from my daughter, and she's lost her donation :lol: :lol:

and don't forget that you probably need an inch or two between their cages else you may find your bun gets pregnant through the bars

Thank you for all your replies. My husband built our hutch and it has two floors so Cody is now a ground floor resident and I've removed the ramp so he can't venture up to Petal's floor. Unfortunately they can't see each other but there is nothing else I can do to separate them. We have an appointment with a vet at weekend, originally it was for them to have their vaccinations, but I'm hoping that Cody can be booked in soon to be done.

Once again, thanks.