To do or not do do?

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

DazedAConfused

Active Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2005
Messages
26
Reaction score
0
Location
, ,
Hi, I am an owner of a Mix rabbit.. I think sheis lop/dwarf? Pet shop said she was a netherland dwarf but Ican tell the she looks nothing like that.. My best conclusion bylooking at the features of different rabbits is that she is a lop/dwarfmix.. She is small maybe 2.5-3.0 (little more or so) and around a yearold.. (here ears are not lopped but they seem to want to lopand she has the fuzzy between her ears)

I have had her for about 7 months first time owner and have read up oneverything about her, even to breeding her, and how to take care of thebabies.. I have spent many many hours just researching everything thereis to know about rabbits..

Her name is Sable.. I am having quite a bit of a dilemma...My S/O (significant other) wants to mate her and sell the babies forextra money, around the neighborhood, to good owners of course, I am ananimal lover all the way.. I think that is why I am having thisdilemma.. It is hard for me to hand over an animal to anyone butmyself, because I know they willbe good care in my hands..But we already have 3 dogs and 2 cat plus Sable.. In a residentialarea..

I am though considering between breeding her or getting her anotherfemale (which I am going to have the place I buy the other at, makesure she is a female, considering that they lied about her being fullblooded)..

I don't have much time to give her all the cuddling that I can, and bythe pictures that I have seen nothing really can replace that rabbit torabbit cuddling.. So I have been thinking of getting anotherwithin the next week.. The problem is male/female..

If I do decide to mate I would sell them for around $10 dollars todecent homes only, and if that does not work I will keep the firstlitter and get the male neutered... (S/O is good with is hand and toolsso he can build decent cages for them, and we have an extra room in thehouse, and a big rabbit hutch outside)

I just basically need advice on what to do.. I am in a toss up, on thisone and either way I would love to get her a cuddle buddy..



If I do breed her what kind of bunny would you recommend as she is a mix, (dwarf) can you breed average sized with dwarf?



Please all your opinions will help me, (please don't be afraid to behonest) as I have pondered over this for a few weeks now and can't cometo peace with either one.. :)


 
the thing to always have in the back of your mindis a mom could have still borns, which are hard to get over it, and youcould even lose your female. My female just had 4 kits, all seems well,and i am SOO grateful that none were born still. I hope they all stayhealthy, momma is a good mom, and she takes care of the babys. it is avery rewarding experience, but selling babies doesnt even begin tocover how much food they consume, even before the babies are weaned themomma eats 3 bowls of food a day, and i cant imagine when the babieseat food too, whoa, lol HEHE, theyre precious and beautiful, and i lovethem. My babies are 2 days old, if you want to breed them, gofor it, but be careful about the momma and babies, be prepared tointervene if momma abandons them.


 
well.. if your S/O just really wants to makemoney, i dont think rabbits are the way to go.. all of thefood, care, possible vet visits are probably going to add up to morethan what the babies are going to fetch you.. so unless you truly havea love for them and the money doesnt matter, i wouldnt do itpersonally. you're not going tobe making 'extra' money, justmoney to keep on caring for her ;)

andif you're not even sure what breed she is, or what herbackground is, how can you breed her and sell her babies to people? didyou receive anything from the pet store with a contact number for herbreeder? i'm sure an actual breeder will pop up and saysomething ;) but for me, if i wanted to breed bunnies, i'd want tobetter the breed, not just make money and possibly have mistreatedbunnies :(
 
Personally, I would not breed mixed littersbecause they are not show bunnies and stuff for people. Thereare so many rabbits in rescues and shelters that need homes.Like cats and dogs really.

If you have a purpose (like showing, 4H, things like that) it's great!If you have a group of people already wanting babies and stuff that'sok too.... but still, not what I would do .... I would send thosepeople to get already born babies or rescues.

Read my thread about "HOW ... " from today. It'sheartwrenching to see pure rabbits and mixed thrown in a small cage,all cooped up and being sold.....

It's also hard to go into a shelter and see 10 beautiful bunnies whoused to have a home and then they decided it was too much work orwasn't the pet they expected.

There are days that I have to force myself to sit and let Bo out to run and I am a devoted and loving "mommy".....

Personally, I would go to a shelter and get an already neutered orspayed bunny for your girl and be done with it. If you don'thave time for the one bunny, you wouldn't have time for a littereither. You have to keep them for like 10 to 12weeks. Those little buggers get busy! and you could have 1 or10 or so....

I hope you don't see my post as hard or critical. I'm justtrying to tell you my view of it and stuff and what I would dopersonally.
 
Welcome to the forum DazedAConfused,

As you posted, "being an animal lover all the way", in my opinion, Iwould hold off bringing more babies into the world. I wouldtake time to do more research, and be very sure about your decision,and try not to do anything on impulse. Good luck with yourdecision.

Edit: Give Sable a hug for us.

Rainbows! :)


 
A rabbit can be a purebred dwarf and still notexhibit dwarf characteristics. You may want to read the page on my siteabout the dwarfing gene,http://www.geocities.com/suzysbunnees/dwarfgene.html

I've had purebred dwarfs who weighed up to 3 1/2 to 4 pounds. They just lacked the dwarfing gene.

Many dwarfs will show a lot of fur between the ears if they carrythe Max Factor gene, too, so that isn't a deciding factor, either. I'vealso seen dwarfs whose ears were nearly horizontal, this wasn't a mixbreed, merely poor ear carriage.

As for getting Sable a companion bunny, you may want to considerthat Sable may bond more to the other bunny and completely loseinterest in being your companion.

As someone else pointed out, every time we breed our dwarf does,there is the chance they may not survive the birthing. It's a chance wetake. If you breed a full size rabbit to a dwarf doe, in my opinion, itwould most likely kill her trying to have the babies or you would havea whopping vet bill for a cesarean.

If you get another doe, you must introduce them very slowly andcarefully, rabbits are territorial and she may try to kill thenewcomer.

You may want to just give her some more toys to keep her from being bored, and let it go at that.

Suzy


 
NO!!!!! do NOT breed her just to makemoney!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and don't usuallybreed crossbreds for any reason.

if you do have babies DO NOT go shopping them around theneighborhood. people will buy on impulse and those rabbitswill end up in shelters, making the animal rights activists go crazyand make life hard on resposible breeders, possibly they cantake away our passion and then where wouldwe be.

i feelvery strongly about this PLEASE DO NOT BREED YOUR RABBIT get her spayed instead to prevent "accidents"
 
Thank you all for your input... I have hadmany of the same opinions that you all have.. I justalso have an S/O in the other ear yanking every once inawhile...



I think that I will probably stick to the same sex (and be careful withintroduction), as I know, being an animal lover, therearemany rabbits that need homes.. I have experienced it with kittens, farto many times that I would like to recall, (even though Iloved every single one) and each and every time whenit came to placing them with another home it broke my heart in 2,because they would not be with me anymore!! (safe an secure, in my eyes)

S/O is set on breeding her, but I am more for getting her a snugglebunny.. I wish I had more time to spendwith her, and I seethis as a better option..



Should I take her into the place that I am going to get the other onefrom, and try to pair them up that way (same sex, that is) or should Ijust pick one out and hope they get along.. As I said, I will probablytake her in with me, and have her sexed, (to make sure) at the sametime as I am (or she is) picking out her snuggle bunny.. Is there a wayto go about this to cause less fights (maybe damage) in the longrun.. Also, even after they get along, should there always bea separate cages, or will I be able to eventually put them in the samecage..



She is a friendly enough bunny and seeks attention, (I don't thinkshe would cause problems) but I am not surehowshe willreact to the a new bun in the house..
 
Hi and welcome,

It's definitely a lot easier to be sure they like each other if they'reintroduced first, that's a really good idea and a lot of shelters andrescues have that option.

Another thing to consider is that if she isn't spayed she's going to beshowing hormonal and territorial behaviour far more than if she is andthat can make her much harder to bond. Have you considered having herspayed first? Then she will be much more likely to have a happy bondingwith whichever sex you choose (and a neutered male is often the easiestbonding to a female :)).Maybe you could take your s/o to theshelter to see how so many rabbits end up - if they're lucky:(- a lot just end up neglected, dead or abandoned in thestreet :(.

Good luck whichever way you decide.

Kate
 

Latest posts

Back
Top