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Keeping bonded brother and sister together pre-neutering - How Long? (advice please)

spinecho

spinecho

Warren Scout
Hi,

I'm new to both this forum and keeping bunnies!

Please move this post if I've put it in the wrong section!

As explained in this post http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?446647-Hello-from-Essex! my children are the happy owners of 2 now 13 week old mini-lops - a brother and sister.

They've settled in very quickly and are used to being handled as they were hand-reared. They give hours of endless fun and are forever running around and binking!

The breeder we bought them from at around 10 weeks said that Thumper was a buck and Clover a doe. However when I took the bunnies for their vaccinations and health check the next day, the vet thought Thumper was also doe and instructed me to bring the bunnies back when they were around 12-13 weeks.

This I did yesterday and a locum vet looked at them.

I was not very satisfied with this vet as she didn't seem to know much about bunnies, so a veterinary nurse with more experience had a look and confirmed what the breeder thought - Thumper's a buck (although his testicles have not yet descended).
The vet then went on to scare the daylights out of my children by saying that we should immediately separate the bunnies into different hutches and runs and that they wouldn't neuter Thumper till he was six months!:shock:
I was told by the breeder that we could safely have him done at around 16 weeks (4 months) - is this correct?

Of course I want to get Thumper neutered ASAP and this leads me onto my questions!

  • At what age can I get Thumper neutered?
  • Currently they are still sharing a hutch and run and Thumper (buck) has so far shown no over "interest" in Clover (doe) other than grooming and wanting to be together.
    Should i separate them immediately? If so, how can I ensure that they will stay bonded?
    If not immediately, then how long are we "safe" to allow them to share?
  • Once Thumper has come back from the vet, how long should we keep the bunnies separated until he's recuperated?
  • Will they immediately bond again as they are brother and sister once Thumper is safe to go back with Clover? I don't want to keep them separate forever!!

Many thanks for your time and apologies for the long post!
 
Last edited:
spinecho said:
Hi,

I'm new to both this forum and keeping bunnies!

Please move this post if I've put it in the wrong section!

As explained in this post http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?446647-Hello-from-Essex! my children are the happy owners of 2 now 13 week old mini-lops - a brother and sister.

They've settled in very quickly and are used to being handled as they were hand-reared. They give hours of endless fun and are forever running around and binking!

The breeder we bought them from at around 10 weeks said that Thumper was a buck and Clover a doe. However when I took the bunnies for their vaccinations and health check the next day, the vet thought Thumper was also doe and instructed me to bring the bunnies back when they were around 12-13 weeks.

This I did yesterday and a locum vet looked at them.

I was not very satisfied with this vet as she didn't seem to know much about bunnies, so a veterinary nurse with more experience had a look and confirmed what the breeder thought - Thumper's a buck (although his testicles have not yet descended).
The vet then went on to scare the daylights out of my children by saying that we should immediately separate the bunnies into different hutches and runs and that they wouldn't neuter Thumper till he was six months!:shock:
I was told by the breeder that we could safely have him done at around 16 weeks (4 months) - is this correct?

Of course I want to get Thumper neutered ASAP and this leads me onto my questions!

  • At what age can I get Thumper neutered?
  • Currently they are still sharing a hutch and run and Thumper (buck) has so far shown no over "interest" in Clover (doe) other than grooming and wanting to be together.
    Should i separate them immediately? If so, how can I ensure that they will stay bonded?
    If not immediately, then how long are we "safe" to allow them to share?
  • Once Thumper has come back from the vet, how long should we keep the bunnies separated until he's recuperated?
  • Will they immediately bond again as they are brother and sister once Thumper is safe to go back with Clover? I don't want to keep them separate forever!!

Many thanks for your time and apologies for the long post!
Click to expand...

Hi!!! I had my boy neautered at 14 weeks and I didn't separate my 2 mini lops atall, apart from when he went to the vets for the op!
As soon as I brought my boy back , I put his sister back in with him.. I thought that maybe having his sister with him would help his recovery and in my opinion it did!!
Hope this helps :)
 
Sparkle1 said:
Hi!!! I had my boy neautered at 14 weeks and I didn't separate my 2 mini lops atall, apart from when he went to the vets for the op!
As soon as I brought my boy back , I put his sister back in with him.. I thought that maybe having his sister with him would help his recovery and in my opinion it did!!
Hope this helps :)
Click to expand...

Hi Sparkle1,

Many thanks for your reply and for putting my mind at rest!

Does anyone else have any experience/views on my queries?
 
Being honest I ended up seperating my two brother and sister at 11 weeks. Normally with mini breeds they do tend to mature quickly so please be careful. My are both indoor so had a crate and run set up next to each other so they could still smell and see each other.

My man went in to be neutered at 16 weeks. Being honest I do think 14 weeks is a little early but always go on the advice from your vet and being honest I would try and find some one who is a little more rabbit savvy.
My girly got neutered at 6 months and this went fine. Again I know some vets are willing to do this at 5 months if needed but I wanted to wait.

I left them a further 2 weeks for their hormones to calm down and it was easy re-bonding them! And they are the soppiest little couple ever:) hope this helps xx
 
Ruthyjones89 said:
Being honest I ended up seperating my two brother and sister at 11 weeks. Normally with mini breeds they do tend to mature quickly so please be careful. My are both indoor so had a crate and run set up next to each other so they could still smell and see each other.

My man went in to be neutered at 16 weeks. Being honest I do think 14 weeks is a little early but always go on the advice from your vet and being honest I would try and find some one who is a little more rabbit savvy.
My girly got neutered at 6 months and this went fine. Again I know some vets are willing to do this at 5 months if needed but I wanted to wait.

I left them a further 2 weeks for their hormones to calm down and it was easy re-bonding them! :) hope this helps xx
Click to expand...

Thanks RuthyJones89!
Our bunnies are outdoor, rugged types!
I'm swaying towards separating them until Thumper has been neutered in a couple of weeks and putting them in a run separated by chicken wire so they can see and smell each other but cannot get to each other!

Just another question to the bunny gurus; what's the consensus on getting the doe spayed at a later date as well?
 
Last edited:
I've just gone through this scenario with a brother and sister. The boy was neutered at 15 weeks, (a but later than some cases) but this was because he was quite small and there was no sign of testicles and there had been no sexual activity that I had been aware of, so I didin't separate them. The girl has just been spayed at 5 months. This is earlier than I would normally like to do it but she was digging like mad when I let them out so hopefully neutering will curb this behaviour somewhat.

The female spent the first night on her own indoors then as she was doing so well I put her back outside with her brother the next day and watched them on and off for an hour or so but everything was fine.

If you do decide to separate them rebonding can be easy or not. It really depends on the personality of the rabbits, especially the doe as during the separation period the doe will reach puberty and may become territorial or opinionated, but like I said this might not happen. But it is a risk.

Brother/sister bonds are normally really close.
 
Hi there fellow Essex person. :wave:

Males can usually be neutered as soon as the testicles drop, which is around 14-16 weeks. Waiting until 6 months to neuter a male bunny is a little over-cautious and it sounds like the vet doesn't have much rabbit experience so I'd either try to see a different vet at the practice or our members should be able to recommend a rabbit-savvy vet if you tell us which part of Essex you're in.

Cancer rates in unspayed female bunnies is very high (about 80% I think), and unspayed does can be very territorial too, so I would definitely advise to still get Clover spayed in due course as well.

I'm not too sure on safe ages etc - Alfie was already neutered when we got him a partner so I didn't have to worry about that side of things. :oops: If you keep them together then they can both be taken to the vets when Thumper goes for his neuter and they can be kept together while he recovers; the same would go for when you get Clover spayed. If you do split them then you would need to reintroduce them on neutral territory, just as you would with a new bond. There are some threads in the bonding section that explain that in more detail.
 
Thanks for the helpful replies!!!

KarenM - I didn't realise you could keep the bunnies together when they go into vets - I'll look into that.
 
It helps to maintain the bond as they can come home smelling very different after a vet visit.

It does depend on the vet though; some prefer just the one bunny in so that they can monitor eating and pooping. That's sometimes been the case with my two so then I've taken them both to the vet in the same carrier, brought the bunny home who isn't staying in, and then taken that one back to the vet when it's time to bring the other home.... if that makes sense.... :oops::lol:
 
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