40 years since I last had a bunny

[Kushy26]

Hi

We live in the UK and we are soon to pick up our new family members 2 does and a buck from the same litter.
It’s been a long time since I last had bunny’s and am new to the vaccination and neutering of them.
When do they need to be visiting the vet and how expensive is it going to be ??
You help and advice will be greatly appreciated.

thank you K

 

[zuppa]

Hi

We live in the UK and we are soon to pick up our new family members 2 does and a buck from the same litter.
It’s been a long time since I last had bunny’s and am new to the vaccination and neutering of them.
When do they need to be visiting the vet and how expensive is it going to be ??
You help and advice will be greatly appreciated.

thank you K

Hi, what age are they now?
Where will they be housed, indoors or outdoors?

 

[FuzzyWabbit]

When do they need to be visiting the vet and how expensive is it going to be ??

Congrats on the new members! The cost depends on where you live.

 

[zuppa]

Hi, what age are they now?
Where will they be housed, indoors or outdoors?

They can be vaccinated immediately (Myxomatosis + RHD 1-2, suggested new vaccine introduced last year single shot for 12 months protection see link

>> First single shot vaccine launches for three main rabbit diseases)

Neutering usually starts from min 4 months for boys and min 6 months for girls, girls are much more expensive than boys.

You can see if there's any rabbit-savvy vets on this list close to you (there's UK vets as well), you can call a few clinics and ask your questions. Some clinics offer up to 10% off when you bring 2 rabbits for neutering, so ask them as well.

List of rabbit-savvy vets see link

>> Vet List | House Rabbit Society

You won't be able to keep your rabbits all together until they are all neutered and about 6-8 weeks after that. Girls could probably stay together until they become hormonal and start fighting for dominance over territory, then they will need to be separated immediately, but boy must be separated from them when he is max 9-10 weeks, or he will become very hormonal and will start humping them/spraying urine and peeing and pooping all over the place, he will be very stressed because there's females nearby. From about 14 weeks old females can get pregnant so don't experiment with that, just prepare separate setups and keep them so boy can't see or smell the girls at all

 

[Kushy26]

Thank you.
They are 7 weeks currently so next weekend we shall collect them.

They shall be outdoor rabbits and I have two separate hutches for them.

I shall give the vets locally a call and see what prices they quote.

Im sure there shall be many questions posed in the coming weeks!!

 

[Diane R]

Don't go to just any vet. Most vets know very little about rabbits. Find a rabbit vet here: Rabbit Friendly Vet List. It is possible to keep them together BUT you must neuter the male as soon as testicles descend (normally around 12 weeks) and ALSO spay the does at 16 weeks. If you cannot do this you have to separate them. Get them vaccinated as soon as possible. This page shows what you need for outdoor housing: Outdoor Housing

 

[Diane R]

You would be so much better off, much less grief and £££, if you adopted a neutered, bonded pair (or trio) from a rescue centre...

 

[Donna Standar]

Here in Alberta canada, I paid 225 for my girl and 125 for my male buns. Prices vary in all countries

 

[TreasuredFriend]

A lot has changed in the past 40 years with regards to our lovable companion pets. My advice at the moment is to be dang sure you aren't housing the purported-to-be-gendered-correctly girls together and ... "oops", one girl turned out to be a male, hence teenage girl is pregnant.

Get established with a rabbit-savvy vet as quickly as possible. For welcoming rabbits into your guardianship, a DVM visit helps establish records and please bring a fecal sample along in case your vet will want to check for parasitic infections.

I like this site for education info on how to bond with your new family members. Rabbits Indoors.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/
Also be sure you've got a protected environment for your three. Stories abound of malicious humans wanting to injure, harm, or steal another's pet. There's a lot to learn from your last guardianship of rabbits 40 years ago, a lot has changed to benefit their longevity and optimal health.

Please tell us about your first bun or bunnies if you wish to.

Medirabbit.com is also an educational medical forum.

 

[Catlyn]

If you are planning on spaying/neutering your new family members, i reccommend what @Diane R said and if you can, give up on getting baby rabbits, it is much better, cheaper and easier to go to a rabbit shelter and get a duo/trio from there. There are plenty of homeless, fixed and bonded bunnos waiting for new homes, if you do have the option to adopt, it would be much better that way. You also need to take into consideration that generally speaking, siblings from the same litter all need to be separated from one another when they reach puberty to avoid fights and injuries. Also, there is no guarantee that those siblings would bond.
It really is much easier to give up on the baby rabbits and get a bonded group from a rescue.