friends??

[sam]

hi i have a large female rabbit 9mths old and i got another rabbit medium size 3mths for company for her well i put them together and the female rabbit fought i dunno how to get them to be friends??

any1 know what i should do???:bunnydance::bunnydance:

 

[aurora369]

Is the 9 month old spayed? If not, she will need to be done.

Female unspayed rabbits have very high hormone levels which make them cage aggressive, and very hard to bond.

The bonding process should only be started once both rabbits have been fixed.

I would suggest reading up on rabbit bonding in the Rabbit 101 section:
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12072&forum_id=17

You basically need to get the rabbits adjusted to each other, by putting cages next to each other. The do bonding sessions on neutral territory, then move to non neutral territory once all aggression is gone, then move to supervised locking in cage together, and finally, after all that work, you'll have bonded bunnies.

You should check over you bunnies very carefully to make sure no one was injured. Rabbit fur is hard to see cuts and scrapes through, so search very carefully.

--Dawn

 

[sam]

thanks for the advice i will try that

although i dont wanna get her spayed just yet:bunnydance:

 

[aurora369]

I would be very cautious of trying to bond unaltered bunnies.

Do you know 100% what the sex of the young rabbit is?

It only takes 30 seconds for a female bunny to get pregnant (and rabbits have no ovation cycle, so they are always fertile), and a boy only has to be 3-4 months old.

--Dawn

 

[sam]

Star is a boy he's 3mths i might breed them when he's older

but was told they couldnt breed yet so i wasnt worried about letting them be together untill they started fighting

 

[naturestee]

If he's 3 months old, he might be old enough to breed. Lots of small breed rabbits (and some larger breeds too), are fertile at 3 months and sometimes even earlier. You need to separate them ASAP!

If you do want to breed them (which I really don't recommend unless they are purebreds of the same breed, you have researched a lot, and you can afford the vet bills from birth complications and caring for the babies), you can not keep them in the same cage! A female rabbit can breed immediately after giving birth. If this happens, you will have to wean the first litter earlier than recommended (4 weeks instead of 8) and the doe will be severely deprived of nutrients because she will be nursing while she is pregnant. It can also be dangerous to leave the male in with the kits. I might be wrong, but I think they sometimes kill the babies.

If you really want your first bun to have a friend, it will either have to be another girl or you'll have to spay her or neuter the boy. Otherwise those two should only be near each other when they're put together for mating and that's not much of a friend. And since it's difficult to bond intact rabbits, spay/neuter is really your best option.

 

[sam]

naturestee wrote:

If he's 3 months old, he might be old enough to breed. Lots of small breed rabbits (and some larger breeds too), are fertile at 3 months and sometimes even earlier. You need to separate them ASAP!

If you do want to breed them (which I really don't recommend unless they are purebreds of the same breed, you have researched a lot, and you can afford the vet bills from birth complications and caring for the babies), you can not keep them in the same cage! A female rabbit can breed immediately after giving birth. If this happens, you will have to wean the first litter earlier than recommended (4 weeks instead of 8) and the doe will be severely deprived of nutrients because she will be nursing while she is pregnant. It can also be dangerous to leave the male in with the kits. I might be wrong, but I think they sometimes kill the babies.

If you really want your first bun to have a friend, it will either have to be another girl or you'll have to spay her or neuter the boy. Otherwise those two should only be near each other when they're put together for mating and that's not much of a friend. And since it's difficult to bond intact rabbits, spay/neuter is really your best option.

i have them in separate cages as i dont want accidents i have a run for them and i had them together for 5seconds and the female fought with him and i split them up i wont let them go together as what u said cos i think there too young to breed

 

[MyBoyHarper]

I fully agree with naturstee. Before breeding rabbits, you really need to know what you are doing. You need to make sure you have plenty (and I do mean plenty) of money to cover vet bills if they should arise, costs for extra food, bedding, ect., along with lots of knowledge of breeding rabbits. It's definitely not something to go into lightly, or without much knowledge of the process.You also need to have plenty of room to house the rabbits. These means spare space, spare cages, ect., in order to seperate the mother from the father, and the females from the male kits.

 

[naturestee]

Another forum member recently had a doe that was accidentally impregnanted by a 9 week old male. My girl Mocha hit puberty at 3 months and was spayed at 4.5 months. My vet said she had perfectly formed, fully functional sexual organs. And girls usually develop a little later, too! Your male is not too young to be fertile!

Most breeding info and experienced breeders recommend keeping genders separate after 8 weeks of age, 12 weeks is the longest I've ever seen allowed. No offense, but I think you really need to do a lot of research before you commit to breeding your rabbits. Ask questions in the Rabbitry section. There's some really experienced breeders here. Join the ARBA and read their handbook. Also, this thread gives some good basic info to start with.

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=5541&forum_id=8

 

[sam]

i dont intend breeding them for a long time they are way too young

i have plenty of cages as dad makes them and a huge place to keep them we have a couple of acres of land for them to play and vet bills/food billsare no probs,

i am studying all about it b4 i even try and do this

i guess we all have to start somewhere

 

[BunnyFofo]

I personally don't think you should be back yard breeding. If you are still living at home, then you are probably young and I would not suggest breeding. Why are you breeding them anyway? Are they both the same breed and up to the standard? Why make a bunch more bunnies when they arethousands out there that need homes already?

If you are breeding just so you can have "cute little bunnies" I would re-think it. Also, are you not worried about the risk that breeding will put on your pets? If you love your bunny female, she could die in birth, or the babies could, due to complications. Please leave breeding up toexperianced breeders, who have jobs and a purpose for breeding.

Just my oppinions...

 

[Spring]

Please, and I say please do not breed your rabbits!

Especially when they are two different breeds, you can have complications. Breeding is something that needs a lot of thought, planning, and energy and is a very serious matter. I would not risk the health of your doe, especially since she is getting older. Since she is a pet, what do you doif she dies giving birth? I wouldnot suggest breeding a pet because there is such a risk to the mother and babies.

I don't know if you know this, but there is a huge over population with rabbits. The litter that you may plan just gives less of a chance for rabbits at shelters to be adopted. There are tons of healthy, friendly, rabbits that get put down daily because they can't find homes for them, and introducing a litter of new crossbreeds that may end up in the situation will just make the whole problem worse.

Please try to reconsider. Even after this, you still want to breed maybe go and check out some rabbit shows and ask breeders/judges about starting to breed. I would not breed your large female and medium sized male, because there isn't really a market for cross breds. If you want to breed rabbits responsibly, it is very time, money and energy consuming.