anyone knowledgable on bonding 2 baby bunnies

[hapixbuni]

ok sorry if this has been talked about before, I havnt had a chance to read through all the other threads, but I was wondering if someone could give me advice on how to bond 2 baby bunnies. Iv heard that young bunnies, under 12 weeks are easy to but Im still a bit confused..

At the moment I have a 6 week old holland lop named Icarus. I really wanted to get him a mate from his litter but the rest were all spoken for already. So I am getting a female lionhead from a breeder come july 7ish. She will be 6-7 weeks and Icarus will be about 8-9 weeks. Yes I do plan on getting them fixed but not til they are of age (around 3-4 months right?).

Is there any special precautions I should take when introducing them? Should I bring Icarus with me when I go to pick her up and place them in the same carrier, would that help or hinder the process? Once home should i put them both in Icarus cage and just keep an eye on them?

Thank you.

 

[prettylupin]

If you leave an unneutered male and female pair together beyond 12 weeks, and possibly earlier, you are going to run the risk of having a pregnant rabbit. Some buns reach sexual maturity earlier than others and it can happen very quickly.

You would be best advised to keep them separate until they are both neutered and healed and start your bonding at this point. There isn't much point bonding them for two weeks as they will need to be separated again anyway to prevent unwanted pregnancy and separation in itself is traumatic for a rabbit.

Have you thought about getting a female bun from a rescue instead of a breeder? That way you could have your little boy castrated as soon as his testicles drop and then find a lovely girl from a rescue for him who may already be spayed and vaccinated to save you the trouble and expense. :wave:
It would also help free up a space in rescue for which they are much in demand with so many unwanted bunnies in the world

 

[tintin]

I agree with the above. I wouldn't introduce them only to separate them later. When our two males (litter mates) got to adolescence they became very aggressive, and I would think there is a good chance your rabbits could hurt each other if they are together when their hormones kick in, plus the risk of pregnancy. If they are bonded and then fight, it might make bonding them after the spey/neuter harder.

I would have your boy neutered as soon as you can and look for a speyed female from a rescue - they may even bond them for you. Cost of speying/neuter is around £50 each so you could save quite a lot too, and the rescue will have an idea about the new bunny's character.

We got ours from Pets at Home, but I wish we had gone to a rescue. If you really want a baby rabbit, rescues have those as well, so no need to go to a pet store or breeder at all.

Where abouts are you? People will point you to a rescue if you give your location.

 

[hapixbuni]

whats the youngest age you can neuter a male rabbit?

 

[janice]

whats the youngest age you can neuter a male rabbit?

It depends on how sexually mature the rabbits are and also your vet, with males you need to wait until the testicles have dropped into the scrotal sac which can be as early as 12 weeks in some rabbits and with others 16 weeks onwards. Males can be fertile even if the testicles have not dropped.

Some vets insist on waiting until a female is 6 months, others will neuter them when a female weighs 1kg, this obviously depends on their size. For clarity you would need to discuss this with your vet.

An observation from your posting - while rabbits are weaned from feeding from their mum by 6 weeks, they should not be removed from their mum until they are 8 weeks old. A good breeder will not sell rabbits at 6 weeks old.