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2 rabbits from same litter advice needed

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Paul1972

New Kit
We have purchased 1 rabbit but really would like 2 from the same litter , they are currently 5 weeks old so have 3 weeks until we get our 1 home we have bought a female , can anybody please help / give advice as we really would like 2 but are really worried about fighting not being able to live together etc as this has happened to us many years ago when we had 2 boys , who fought and then had to spend there lives separately , so can somebody please help us with some expert advice , as to what sex to get to go with our girl ( another girl or boy ) and what to do regarding separating getting them neutered etc , I have bought an 8 foot by 6 foot shed and am currently building ramps platforms etc for our bunny , and we hope that she could share all this with another , any advice help would be greatly appreciated , thank you in advance

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I have no experience in this. But there are a lot of people on this forum who know about it. I am sure you will get the help you need. :)
 
KCG said:
What does finger crossed mean? :shock:
Also you're welcome :)
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Hoping that we can get 2 and that they live happily ever after and not like the 2 boys we had before who fought and fought !!

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Paul1972 said:
Hoping that we can get 2 and that they live happily ever after and not like the 2 boys we had before who fought and fought !!

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Oh, I understand. Now I thank you. :lol:
 
The best pairing for success is a spayed female and neutered male :) However it can be tricky, the male can be neutered as early as his testicles develop or around 4 months but the female needs to wait until 6 months to be spayed and then there's recovery time and the male will remain fertile for a number of weeks after his op. So buying 2 at the same time can be tricky as there may be a time you'd need to keep them separate, it would be especially important not to let them breed since they'd be siblings. Another option would be waiting until your girl can be spayed and then adopting an already neutered boy from a rescue once she's recovered.
 
Liz47 said:
The best pairing for success is a spayed female and neutered male :) However it can be tricky, the male can be neutered as early as his testicles develop or around 4 months but the female needs to wait until 6 months to be spayed and then there's recovery time and the male will remain fertile for a number of weeks after his op. So buying 2 at the same time can be tricky as there may be a time you'd need to keep them separate, it would be especially important not to let them breed since they'd be siblings. Another option would be waiting until your girl can be spayed and then adopting an already neutered boy from a rescue once she's recovered.
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Thank you [emoji106][emoji106]

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I would agree that the safest way is to get a neutered male from a rescue down the line - especially from what you describe of your set up - I doubt you will have any problems being able to adopt.

With the litter mates issue. I have a couple of brother-sister pairs - all four are from the same litter. I collected 2 from a not very nice environment that were from an accidental litter (then went back for another 2 a week later because I couldn't get them out of my head!). With both pairs the male and female were kept together throughout. The male was neutered somewhere around 12 - 14 weeks (I forget as it's 2 years ago). They were kept together then the female neutered around six months old. Both pairs are very happy together.

I have just taken in a pair of mini lops (free to whoever can collect them quickest, as kids got bored) that I'm not sure of the age but around 12 weeks that are male and female. The male is booked for neutering on Thursday but will stay with his sister. There is no hormonal behaviour yet. She will be neutered at around 5-6 months. Hopefully they will stay friends as the previous pairs did.
 
Brother/Sister pairings are usually very happy. The biggest problem is sexing them accurately when they are so young. Their future home sounds lovely for 2 Bunnies.
 
Bunny Buddy said:
I would agree that the safest way is to get a neutered male from a rescue down the line - especially from what you describe of your set up - I doubt you will have any problems being able to adopt.

With the litter mates issue. I have a couple of brother-sister pairs - all four are from the same litter. I collected 2 from a not very nice environment that were from an accidental litter (then went back for another 2 a week later because I couldn't get them out of my head!). With both pairs the male and female were kept together throughout. The male was neutered somewhere around 12 - 14 weeks (I forget as it's 2 years ago). They were kept together then the female neutered around six months old. Both pairs are very happy together.

I have just taken in a pair of mini lops (free to whoever can collect them quickest, as kids got bored) that I'm not sure of the age but around 12 weeks that are male and female. The male is booked for neutering on Thursday but will stay with his sister. There is no hormonal behaviour yet. She will be neutered at around 5-6 months. Hopefully they will stay friends as the previous pairs did.
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Thank you [emoji106]

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tonibun said:
Brother/Sister pairings are usually very happy. The biggest problem is sexing them accurately when they are so young. Their future home sounds lovely for 2 Bunnies.
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Thank you getting excited now but still not sure what to do [emoji51]

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@bunnybuddy when you got your brother / sister pair did you separate them at all or did they stay together permanently?? Even when they were spayed / neutered ??

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Paul1972 said:
@bunnybuddy when you got your brother / sister pair did you separate them at all or did they stay together permanently?? Even when they were spayed / neutered ??

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Never separated except briefly at the vets while each had surgery for the time of the surgery and until conscious enough to cope with a companion.... Less than a few hours in total.
 
Paul1972 said:
Thank you so much

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I was just returning to stress that you would need to know that you had a vet that would be happy to work in this way before being sure of having littermates and working this way. I must admit I was really shocked when the vet said that they could stay together. As I use two vets I registered each pair of rabbits with separate vet practices and they both independently suggested working it this way - but a lot won't. A lot will insist that they should be separated at about 10 weeks, and you would need a vet prepared to work this way to be able to do it successfully. They also know that I'm a very experienced rabbit owner and would recognise hormonal behaviour quickly - Joel started spraying a week ahead of his booked neuter so we swiftly moved it forward to the following day!
 
Bunny Buddy said:
I was just returning to stress that you would need to know that you had a vet that would be happy to work in this way before being sure of having littermates and working this way. I must admit I was really shocked when the vet said that they could stay together. As I use two vets I registered each pair of rabbits with separate vet practices and they both independently suggested working it this way - but a lot won't. A lot will insist that they should be separated at about 10 weeks, and you would need a vet prepared to work this way to be able to do it successfully. They also know that I'm a very experienced rabbit owner and would recognise hormonal behaviour quickly - Joel started spraying a week ahead of his booked neuter so we swiftly moved it forward to the following day!
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Oh I think I understand basically both rabbits went to the vets and then when awake the companion was put straight in with the other ??

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Bunny Buddy said:
Never separated except briefly at the vets while each had surgery for the time of the surgery and until conscious enough to cope with a companion.... Less than a few hours in total.
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We did this with my mini lops, got them at 8 weeks, male was neutered first around 12 weeks, they were never separated. Then female was spayed around 5 months and they stayed together for that too. So we never had any bonding issues... That didn't work out tho with my rexes [emoji38] and that was a nightmare..

The safest option is to get the female bun, and get her spayed when she's 6 months, then adopt a young male bun that's already neutered from a rescue I think. But it can be done the other way, you'd just have to be prepared for separate accommodation, and then also bonding them when they're ready [emoji51]
 
The down-side of getting just a female first then waiting until she is spayed before getting a male is that females become very territorial and so it could be difficult to introduce another Rabbit, male or female, into her territory. I have had a few young pairs, brother and sister, kept them together until about 12/13 weeks then had the boy neutered. If the Vet won't do it this early, you would have to separate them until boy is neutered, then wait for 6 weeks before re-introducing him to his sister. They usually re-bond fairly easily. If this sounds too scary for you, the best way is to get a male first then when he is neutered and healed get a female to go with him. If she is a baby they can be bonded straightaway and she can be spayed at 6 months and should be able to go straight back in with him. This can help in her recovery, having him there.
 
Easiest option is to get a ready bonded, neutered and vaccinated pair from a rescue.
 
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