8 week old bunnies

[Sam30]

Hello I have a few questions regarding my 8 week old bunnies. I picked up today a male and female holland lops both 8 weeks old. I have read that bunnies cannot get fixed until they are between 4-6months of age. Would it be ok to keep them together to make them a bonded pair or should I waiting until they are fixed?

 

[Preitler]

You can keep them together for another 1-2 weeks or so, then you need to seperate them or you will be wading in baby bunnies up to your knees before they are 4 months old.

I would keep them with each other in sight, but do not underestimate their ability to climb and jump. If he get's neutered first he'll have to be kept seperate for another 3-4 weeks to become infertile for good. The doe might need some days alone after her spay to heal up properly.

Over here, some vets do neuter bucks early, before puberty hits, starting at 8 weeks. This has several advantages, like never learning hormonal buck behaviour, no seperation necessary, no risk of surprise litters, etc. But for whatever reason that doesn't seem to be popular in the US, as far as I know?

 

[Sam30]

You can keep them together for another 1-2 weeks or so, then you need to seperate them or you will be wading in baby bunnies up to your knees before they are 4 months old.

I would keep them with each other in sight, but do not underestimate their ability to climb and jump. If he get's neutered first he'll have to be kept seperate for another 3-4 weeks to become infertile for good. The doe might need some days alone after her spay to heal up properly.

Over here, some vets do neuter bucks early, before puberty hits, starting at 8 weeks. This has several advantages, like never learning hormonal buck behaviour, no seperation necessary, no risk of surprise litters, etc. But for whatever reason that doesn't seem to be popular in the US, as far as I know?

Thank you! I will keep them separated and call around to see if I can find a vet that will do it sooner because we don’t want anymore bunnies .

 

[Nancy McClelland]

They will breed, so, you need to keep them separate. All of mine are in hutches that are 4 inches apart--they were neutered at 4 months--males, so it was way easier.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Males can start testosterone production at 10 weeks, correct?

Our US rabbit-savvy DVM did neuter our rescue males at 3 months of age or as soon as those boy balls were descended.

For females, our savvy DVM suggested 5 1/2 months. In the rescue network there are cases of abandoned buns constantly reproducing. In certain cases, rescue workers will opt to sp/euter sooner.

Gender fairy visits happen also. Our duo-dwelling dutch pair from an old-technology farm were pulled in time from their filthy wooden hutch. Our DVM did the boys with their visible balls immediately. They were cute snuggling as youngsters but it didn't take long for the dominance and mounting behavior to begin.

https://web.as.miami.edu/hare/spay.html