I think my baby bunnies are STRESSED.

[CookieNCream]

Yup! Panther's outside. And so are other wild animals like raccoons and coyotes (my dad saw one)! Eeech.

I will get to the vids by this week if I can. And also a blog! Yipee!

I'm home-schooled, and because of Cookie and Cream I couldn't get much work done this week. I mean seriously, if you havedifferent tasksduring the day and:rabbithopat night, how can you possibly do school work? Hehe. I can't tell that to my home school teacher, though. :sosad

 

[CookieNCream]

im starting a new post about this new problem. thanks~!

 

[bluebird]

Cute video,I give new pet owners a bag of food and an instruction sheet with my phone number and email.I instruct them too call me if theres any problems.I explain the switching food to them.im sure most people think im trying too bore them to death with my long speech but my rabbits are my babies.bluebird

 

[TinysMom]

I do the same thing....I tell them I'd rathe rhave them call me at midnight and wake me up and say, "my rabbit isn't eating" or "my rabbit has diaherrea"...than to call me at 9 am and say,"Can I buy another rabbit 'cause my rabbit died?"...

I want to make my instruction sheet better and am thinking about doing up brochures on vista print to hand out to my customers!

Peg

bluebird wrote:

Cute video,I give new petowners a bag of food and an instruction sheet with my phone number and email.I instruct them too call me if theres any problems.I explain theswitching food to them.im sure most people think im trying too borethem to death with my long speech but my rabbits are mybabies.bluebird

 

[pamnock]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet,but I wanted to be certain it got covered. Young bunnies can become sexually mature as early as 12 weeks, so it's important to determine their sex soon and separate them if necessary, or you'll end up with many more bunnies!

Pam

 

[Haley]

Good point, Pam. I know we mentioned that earlier in the thread, but you will want to have Cookies and Cream sexed very soon (or at least separate them to be sure).

 

[CookieNCream]

I talked about this with my mom today, and she doesn't seem to see the point of having them fixed. And I can't afford to separate them right now because they are very close to each other(or at least that's what I think ).

I told my mom that they should be fixed because (and her counter "arguments"):

1. They will reproduce like crazy
"I don't mind".

2. They have a risk of cancer
"Pshhh"

3. They will spray urine and become violent
"So what?"

Yeah...:XIf they have babies, I'm not quite sure how to take care of them yet but I know some people who would want bunnies.

My biggest hope is that they are both girls (because if they are both guys they might fight) and don't become TOO violent at puberty.

 

[Haley]

Oh wow! Seriously, take a look around our rabbitry right now at all the younger members who have had accidental litters. Its very discouraging.

Not only do you risk the health of your doe and her babies by breeding if you have no experience, there are so many bunnies out there who need homes desperately. Its not responsible to even consider breeding unless you are serious about it. Even if you did let them mate once, if you didnt separate the dad from the mom right after she gave birth, you would have a new litter on your hands every 30 days for as long as you keep them together! So were not just talking one litter of babies.

Would your mom at least consider letting you get them to a vet or a breeder near you to sex them? Some vets wont charge very much just to have a look real quick. Then at least you would know.

Or, have you seen the NIC condos a lot of us have built for our bunnies? Mine cost 35 dollars and its huge. You could easily separate one of those into 2 cages until you know their sexes.

Seriously, work on getting her to at least have them sexed. Then once you know their sexes you can talk about spaying/neutering later on. Ifit is a boy/girl pair at the very least you could have the boy spayed to save money.

 

[naturestee]

Add this arguement: They'll reproduce so quickly that the girl's health could be threatened.Rabbits can breed again immediately after they give birth, meaning that they're feeding babies and growing more babies at the same time. It can take a serious toll on their health.

It's really important that you get them sexed soon. Some shelters offer low-cost spay/neuters for rabbits, so it's good to call them up and ask. My local Humane Society will spay/neuter a rabbit for only $30 if you qualify for the program.

NIC cages are a great, inexpensive option if you do need to separate them. Here's a thread with lots of examples.
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=15348&forum_id=21

 

[CookieNCream]

I called two animal hospitals near my home.

Hospital #1

Sexing: $50 each
Neuter: $147.60
Spay: $107.25

Hospital #2

Sexing: Free, but if need to see the doctor $26
Neuter: $215
Spay: $200

That's no where near what I can afford. What should I do...should Ijust separate them after getting their sex checked from hospital#2?

 

[Haley]

yeah, I would just have them sexed for now. At then you know if theres even going to be a problem. If you have 2 boys,they will probably fight as they mature, but its definitely something thats more managable than a litter of babies!

I would get them sexed and go from there. As Naturestee said, see if there is a humane society or rabbit rescue around you who does spays/neuters cheap. You can call them and say you have some bunnies who need to be altered and you cant afford it. Maybe someone can pointy ou in the right direction.

Feel free to pmme if you need any help. Im proud of you for being such a responsible owner. Youre doing a good job hun!

 

[CookieNCream]

I just called an animal hospital that's a bit further out (11 minutes on yahoo maps), and this is what I got:

They don't do the neutering, but they do the spaying for $55.
And I can sex them both for $28!

That's $83, which I think I have enough of.

Or, I could go to the hospital #2, get them sexed, and if they are girl/boy I will take them to hospital #3 to get one of them spayed. If not, I will just let them be

That's only going to cost me $55 unless the #2 says I need a vet to sex them. (They said they don't know for sure)

Wow, I'm so happy right now I found a cheaper place. The lady there sounded so nice.

I don't think my babies are yet 12 weeks old; maybe 8 weeks or so. I have something important going on for the next two weeks, (but if I finish early thats good), and I will take them to the hospital #2 for sexing.

 

[aurora369]

Here's an argument for your mom.

How many baby bunnies is she willing to have around?

An average doe with have 3-8 babies in a litter. And they have no heat cycle and are able to get pregnant IMMEDIATLY after giving birth.

So, babies reach sexual maturity at about 4 months. Girl gets pregnant at 5 months. First litter, lets say we'll do an average of 5 babies per litter, at 6 months. So now you'vegot 5 babies, and since dad will still be in the same cage she's now pregnant again.

So by 7 months, litter #2 comes, so now you have to take litter #1 away from mom and put them in their own cage and keep them for another month till 8 weeks old before finding them homes.

Meanwhile mom gets pregnant again, and another 5 babies on the way.

I can almost garauntee it will take a minimum of 3-4 months to find homes for the first litter of babies. So now you need two cages for boys/girls from the first litter, and a new cage for the 4week old babies to grow up in.

So you've now got three litters in three months, so 15 babies.

Now, momma is most likely going to be very sick as having babies is very hard on her, and she needs to go to the vets for an infected uterus. That's going to cost about $200 for vet visits and medicine, and the only way to save her may be to remove the uterus(spay), so that's another $100.

In the end it's cheaper to get them spayed/neutered. You don't have to buy extra cages (about 4 of them maybe more), you won't have to worry about birthing complications which means a costly trip to the vets.

There's a reason there is a saying "Breeding like rabbits".

I have a feeling she's not willing or prepared to house and feed that many rabbits.

I would also definitly try to get a hold of some shelters or rescue groups and see if any of them offer a spay/neuter program at reduced cost.

--Dawn

 

[undergunfire]

Do you have any bunny rescues near you? There is a bunny rescue in Pheonix, AZ who neuters and spays for $40 each.

See if you can find a rescue in your town or try calling HA's like suggested!



- Amy

 

[CookieNCream]

I agree with all of you!

Oh and hospital #3, I meant neuter, not spay...I mean, whichever is for the boy rabbit...I still am confused. Spay=boy, no? Or is it neuter=boy.

I am defnitely going to get them sexed in about a week or so and also get one of them spayed (neutered?) if they are of different genders.


and oh yeah, no bunny rescues. not even for dogs and cats, really.

 

[undergunfire]

Spay is for female. Neuter is for male.


Have got they any hay yet?



- Amy

 

[CookieNCream]

Nope. The new Pestmart will open on the twelfth.

 

[aurora369]

CookieNCream,

I know that you are on board with the spay/neuter thing. I was just trying to give you some ideas on reasons to talk to your mom about.

Perhaps you could convince her her to read some of what has been said on here?

I know it's hard to convince a parent of something they don't know very much about. Perhaps by providing her with some educational material, it will be easier to convince her?

--Dawn

 

[undergunfire]

How long have they been without hay? Can you find some at grain stores?


- Amy

 

[CookieNCream]

I don't think my mom will object at the spay/neuter if I'm paying for it (with the money I EARN) and if I give up on getting a puppy.

I've always wanted a puppy, but I really don't think it's a good idea to get one right now, for I have Cookie&Cream to adore/worry about.

I don't know any grain stores near here.

You see, I don't know anyone besides myself who has a rabbit. I mean, around my area.


-edit-

Oh, I got them last Wednesday, and assuming that they had hay before,they have been without it for about a week and two, three days.