Male neutered female not...opinions??

[betty_jack]

Alot of people say that its not a good idea to have abonded pair consisting of a neutered male and an unneutered female.

What is the generall thought around here? when i've had rabbits before like this i didn't have problems but can it be conected to the size of there living area? i.e lots of space happy to share it?

Any idea's because i'm not keen on putting my new bun through surgary.....bad experiance with other bunthey love eacother at the moment and only met on friday!! although i must add that the rabbit i have had for 4 years is beyond tame and is just brilliant, more interested in food than anything else and i just cant imagine what new bun could do to upset him. he even trys snuggling with my mums cats when i go look after her house when shes on holiday!! the cats aren't so keen!

Anyway any thoughts?

 

[JadeIcing]

How old is the female? For females a spay helps reduce the risk of cancer.

 

[Happi Bun]

I think the problem people foresee in having a neutered male and intact female is when she reaches sexual maturity her attitude towards him could very likely change. It seems to be more common than not for females to become aggressive and territorial when intact. Generally speaking, bonding is easier when the two rabbits are both altered. Also, the health benefits of spaying [size="-1"]are usually worth the small risk of surgery. Intact female rabbits are at high risk for developing reproductive cancers; which spaying virtually eliminates.


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[betty_jack]

ah yes i have heard about that too, do you just need to neuter before they reach a certain age for that?

She is only 9-10 weeks now, my little baby still

Thing is when my first bun got neutered all her problems started from there and i don't want that again

 

[betty_jack]

sorry didn't see the last post before replying..

so do you think i should wait a while to neuter or do it sooner because i dont want to break there bond between them if i send her off for surgary?

also i did want her to have one litter, just to complicate things!! mainly because i would like a couple more buns and my friend with another lionhead wants another bun that is the same colour as my female so wants to mate her male with my female.

But obviously i dont want to do anything to reuin the bond olthough like i say my fist bun is very very nice to anything...



Just clear things up i keep saying first bun second bun so that i dont confuse anyone, my male is called betty and my female is called jack :?

 

[Happi Bun]

You are going to have to wait until your female is old enough for the surgery; so not until she is 5 to 6 months old. While females do sexually mature at 4 months of age, most vets like to wait a month or two longer.

 

[JadeIcing]

Also you could break the bond by having her have babies. Some females get very territorial. She would have to have the litter at around 6-7 months and definately before a year.

It could also break when she hits her teen years.

For the breeding part I would post in the rabbitry.

 

[betty_jack]

so do you think i will be able to spot changes in her and act on them asap or could her changes just ruin there friendship, by the way they are already full time together, i know i know naughty of me but they are so happy and have so much space

 

[JadeIcing]

It could be gradual or it could happen over night.

 

[betty_jack]

teen years? i thought average age was about 12, am i wrong. would nice if i am

 

[Happi Bun]

They could be getting along so great right now because your female is just a baby.
She isn't viewed as a threat right now.

 

[JadeIcing]

It can happen from 8wks(early) to 6mnths. Each bun is different.

 

[marcelle03]

I believe it is the best idea to spay or neuter your bunny. I put off spayingmy doeand she kept urinating everywhere and being messy. Then, I learned that it can reduce their risk of reproductive cancers, which about 80% of rabbits get. Spaying or neutering can increase their life span by up to two years! The recovery after surgery isn't the most fun, but they bounce (or hop) back quickly.

 

[betty_jack]

This is good advice, i shall continue some questions in the breeding area :biggrin2:

 

[aurora369]

Here's my two cents on the scenario (well, maybe more...)

I would personally get the little girl spayed once she's about 5 months old. If the bond between the bunnies is still strong, you can take the male with her to the vet's office so there is less of a chance of fracturing the bond. I had a 10 week old male bonded into a trio, and that's what I did when he went for a neuter.

You have to remember that even when a bunny is spayed or neutered, they still go through their "teenage" years, it is just a reduced hormonal reaction. I have found that all of my bunnies (fixed or unfixed) are more energetic, not as good with litter boxes, and in general, more "puppy" like. Once they reach about a year to a year and a half, I have seen them all calm down and become wonderful bunnies. The spayed and neutered bunnies do have reduced attitude during their teenage years.

However, I would personally still get all of my bunnies spayed or neutered. Overall it's better for their health and I also feel for their mental health as well. Unless the rabbit is in an active breeding program, they are not getting bred when they are hard wired to constantly be breeding. I can only imagine how lust crazy they must get.

The first couple of female rabbits I got, I bred. I lost the first one about two weeks after her first successful litter and even though I got the second girl spayed after a couple of litters, she died very suddenly at four years old. So, if you do plan on breeding your little girl, you need to be prepared for the chance that she could die or have complications that can effect her for the rest of her life.

After my botched breeding attempts, I decided to start fostering for a rescue instead. I volunteered to take in pregnant and nursing rabbits. I would care for them until the babies where about 3 months old. Personally, if I got the itch for little baby bunnies again, I would call up my closest rescue and start fostering again. And as a foster, you get first dibs on the rabbits, so if you fell in love with any of the babies you could adopt them and some of your friends could apply to adopt them as well.

--Dawn

 

[betty_jack]

I've never heard about been able to foster before, not sure if there is any rescues in my area. how would i find out about this?

 

[aurora369]

If you have a local RSPCA (I believe that's what they are called in the UK), you can call and ask them. They would know if there are any local rescues in your area or you may be able to foster directly for them.

I had a wonderful time fostering for a rescue. I only stopped because I was starting keep too many of them and I ran out of space.

--Dawn