What is the ideal age to sterilize your rabbit?

[Alice the Rabbit]

Hello!
I am just a little bit curious. I really have to ask, at what age should i sterilize a rabbit? I am asking just because some vets do that at 4 months of age, while others do that at 6 months of age. I am wondering what is the ideal age to sterilize your rabbit? And if i am alredy here writing this, I am wondering if there is any "rule" what vegies are best to start with.

Alice and Sara.

 

[Eve84]

When the hormones haven’t kicked in yet between 10-14 weeks

 

[helena]

It is riskier to do it on a 4 moth rabbit, so most vets prefer 6 months. A rabbit can become pregnant at 3 weeks though so you would have to seperate male and female until after they get fixed. As for veggies, carrots, apple, strawberry, and banana are great treats. They can have 1-2 tablespoons of treats per day. As for leafy foods, dandelions, parsley, cilantro, a little lettuce and kale are okay but not much.

 

[Blue eyes]

It is different for males and females. For males, it is typically after the testicles drop. Males are generally done at an earlier age than females. For females, they are generally done anywhere from 4-6 months of age.
Mostly, though, it is going to depend on your particular vet and when he feels comfortable doing the procedure. He is the one that will let you know how early he feels it is safe to do. The earliest he is willing to do the procedure is a good time to have it done. Waiting just gives those hormones opportunity to have negative influence.

Introducing veggies means starting with only one type at a time. Anything on the "safe for daily feeding" list would be a fine choice for starters. Choose one and offer a tiny bit on day 1. Next day, offer a bit more of the same. This is done for several days. If all goes well, that's green #1 that your bunny tolerates. Then it is on to the next green.

Once you've gotten a variety of greens checked off, you can alternate those how you like. The ultimate goal you'll be working towards is 2-4 cups of fresh greens daily. Treats (fruit or carrot) can wait until bun is used to those daily greens.

At the following site you'll see a list of greens safe for daily feeding and a list of which ones should be limited to a couple/few times per week max.
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/greens--veggies.html

 

[Preitler]

Well, things are a little different here, quite some males also get neutered before they hit puberty, it makes bonding with other males easier, and their behaviour isn't that much influenced by those experiences of puberty.
It really depends on the vet, when he's comfortable to do it. Size of the rabbit imho plays a role too, since the bigger the easier to dose the narcotics, and easier to find the relevant parts. I got my doe fixed when she was 5 or 6 months.

Veggies, well, can't tell much about that, in winter I feed some cabbage, kale, topinambur (great garden plant, if you have the space), and some carrots additional to the hay, as said above,introduce everything slowly if they didn't grow up with it, and wait until they are about 4 months, or so, before starting to add new stuff to their diet, and keep an eye on their poop when doing so.
I feed, whenever available, fresh forage or whatever they graze themself. I'm in the lucky position to have lots of marten and foxes around in our small valley (there are drawbacks to that too) - and no wild rabbits, that makes forage much more safe regarding Myxo or RHD.

 

[Alice the Rabbit]

It is different for males and females. For males, it is typically after the testicles drop. Males are generally done at an earlier age than females. For females, they are generally done anywhere from 4-6 months of age.
Mostly, though, it is going to depend on your particular vet and when he feels comfortable doing the procedure. He is the one that will let you know how early he feels it is safe to do. The earliest he is willing to do the procedure is a good time to have it done. Waiting just gives those hormones opportunity to have negative influence.

Introducing veggies means starting with only one type at a time. Anything on the "safe for daily feeding" list would be a fine choice for starters. Choose one and offer a tiny bit on day 1. Next day, offer a bit more of the same. This is done for several days. If all goes well, that's green #1 that your bunny tolerates. Then it is on to the next green.

Once you've gotten a variety of greens checked off, you can alternate those how you like. The ultimate goal you'll be working towards is 2-4 cups of fresh greens daily. Treats (fruit or carrot) can wait until bun is used to those daily greens.

At the following site you'll see a list of greens safe for daily feeding and a list of which ones should be limited to a couple/few times per week max.
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/greens--veggies.html

thank you for that it really helps

 

[Diane R]

I would say it depends on the situation, i.e. whether you have a single bunny or a pair. If you have a single bunny, males can be neutered as soon as testicles descend, normally around 12 weeks. If you have a single female bunny, they can be spayed at 16 weeks but if they are on their own I would wait until 6 months. The most important thing is to find a good rabbit vet to do the neutering.

 

[Alice the Rabbit]

I would say it depends on the situation, i.e. whether you have a single bunny or a pair. If you have a single bunny, males can be neutered as soon as testicles descend, normally around 12 weeks. If you have a single female bunny, they can be spayed at 16 weeks but if they are on their own I would wait until 6 months. The most important thing is to find a good rabbit vet to do the neutering.

I have a single female. She just turned 3months, so i didn't want to hurry with sterilizing anyway. I am not home a lot lately because of the work and i'll also have to get to school in two weeks. Many times bonding crossed my mind, but i'll wait with that because i still don't know what personality she will have:/

 

[Diane R]

I have a single female. She just turned 3months, so i didn't want to hurry with sterilizing anyway. I am not home a lot lately because of the work and i'll also have to get to school in two weeks. Many times bonding crossed my mind, but i'll wait with that because i still don't know what personality she will have:/

Fine to wait until 6 months then. Then wait another 2 months before attempting to bond with a neutered male. Good luck!

 

[Alice the Rabbit]

Fine to wait until 6 months then. Then wait another 2 months before attempting to bond with a neutered male. Good luck!

Thank you