Does anyone own a bun thats not fixed?

[OakRidgeRabbits]

I suppose we will have to agree to disagree. For every pet owner, experience shapes our opinion and knowledge. In many cases, like the one presented, our experiences are vastly different - and that is okay! Such is the reason I stand by my suggestion that the answer is never "obvious."

 

[Watermelons]

Reminder to keep it friendly please folks.

 

[honeybunnies]

Hi,
I have a buck & 2 does at the moment that all live in the house with me in enclosures.
My buck is 12mths old & he never sprays his urine & is a very friendly bunny.
My 2 does are mother & daughter. Mum is 12 mths & daughter is 4 mths & they get along very well so far. An over abundance of pure breed rabbits is not a problem where I live, so I want to breed them from time to time, so I don't plan on getting mine altered.

 

[briennap]

I have a 2 year old female Rex who is not spayed and she is absolutely perfect, I haven't come across any problems regarding her attitude.

 

[Imbrium]

Hi,
My 2 does are mother & daughter. Mum is 12 mths & daughter is 4 mths & they get along very well so far. An over abundance of pure breed rabbits is not a problem where I live, so I want to breed them from time to time, so I don't plan on getting mine altered.

A word of warning - your younger bunny probably hasn't reached sexual maturity yet; once she does, she and her mom may start fighting since they're not spayed (and even with spayed rabbits, F/F bonds are the most volatile). Also, from all I've heard, it's best for breeding does to be kept separately, especially if/when they have kits as one doe might kill the other's kits. If you choose to continue housing them together, please keep an eye out for signs that they've been fighting (like clumps of hair pulled out) and be prepared for the possibility that you may have to separate them on short (or no) notice in the future - rabbit fights can be vicious or even deadly.

Also, given that the lifespan of unaltered females is half that of spayed females, you might reconsider the decision not to spay them once they're a few years old (ie when it's about time to retire them from breeding anyway). If they've already got early-stage ovarian or uterine cancer by then but it hasn't spread, getting them spayed is often enough to eradicate the cancer (since the ovaries and - with most vets - the uterus are removed during a spay). Spaying them when they're retired could add many years to their lives while still allowing you to breed them for quite a while .

One other thought on breeding... while it can certainly be easier to find homes for all the kits reasonably quickly if you only breed one of your does at a time, you might consider breeding the mom as well when you breed the daughter for the first time. First (and sometimes second) time moms can fail horribly - rejection is somewhat common. Since the mom has obviously raised a litter already, breeding them together provides a "fail-safe" in case the daughter rejects her first litter.

Hand-raising kits successfully is nearly impossible to do; your best chance (by far) of saving a litter when mom just won't feed them is to have another doe (who is nursing a litter of her own at the time) play "surrogate". Adding kits from a different mom to an existing litter and getting that doe to feed all of them (even if the litters are as much as 1-2 weeks apart) almost always succeeds - having the surrogate option could spare you the heartbreak of losing an entire litter of kits.

 

[Imbrium]

(Just got caught up on the earlier pages of this thread)

This thread has been helpful for me as well! My american white male isn't neutered and he's 8 months now. He's not very aggressive but I've been reading some things about cancer that are kind of scary! Does anyone have any reccomendations about this? Is it likely for him to get cancer?

While there can potentially be medical benefits to getting males fixed, neutering is more about behavioral issues and/or wanting to make it safe to bond the male with another bunny.

From what I've heard, neutering can supposedly reduce reproductive cancer risks in males... however, the inherent risk of reproductive cancers in unaltered males is extremely low to begin with. In other words, realistically, neutering probably only reduces the already-low risk of reproductive cancer by a percent or so at best. The majority of vets and pet owners agree that it isn't really medically prudent to neuter males (the way it is with spaying females).

As long as you can tolerate whatever hormonal behavior your male rabbit displays (if he displays any), there's honestly no NEED to get him neutered unless you want to bond him.

 

[pani]

I'm planning on getting my Felix neutered as soon as I can - hoping to avoid too many behavioural problems, personality changes, and urine sprays! I'm also considering getting another bunny friend for him sometime in the future, so I'd like to have him neutered in case I do, to avoid any aggression or surprise kits.

To me, it's not really a question - I knew I'd get him neutered as soon as I did a little reading up on it. Of course, like many have said it's completely up to you, and several members here do seem to raise their buns happily in their natural state. :}

 

[honeybunnies]

Thanks Imbrium for the info. I will keep a close eye out for any aggression & will definately separate them if I see any trouble brewing!
At this stage they still groom each other & lie & sit together which is really nice to see :hug2:

 

[selbert]

I'd say every rabbit is completely different but if you're new to rabbits then you've done the best thing which is to go to a rescue centre. It's funny, pretty much all rabbits in rescue centres in England are neutered.
I'd personally say to get your bun neutered, or adopt one that is. It means that you don't have to risk bad litter problems, behaviour issues etc that you can't predict by just going to the centre.
Plus when you get another one (you say you won't but how can you resist another? To see them all cuddled up!) it's definitely best! It is possible to bond same sex unsexed rabbits, but it isn't a breeze! I would say, to make things easier for yourself and the rabbits, get them fixed.
But that's just me, I'm sure whatever you do the bunny will be happy (and that's what counts )

:brown-bunny

 

[Imbrium]

Thanks Imbrium for the info. I will keep a close eye out for any aggression & will definately separate them if I see any trouble brewing!
At this stage they still groom each other & lie & sit together which is really nice to see :hug2:

Yeah, they're SO adorable when they're snuggled up and grooming . I caught Nala grooming Gaz yesterday, which is *very* rare! (It's almost always the other way around).

 

[RabbitLuvercx]

None of my rabbits are fixed at the moment but as soon as i save up enough money they will be getting fixed because i don't like how much higher the risk of cancer is :'( In my opinion you should get her spayed so she can live longer and have a much lower risk of cancer ^-^

 

[3willowsbunny]

We are getting a Flemish Giant mix baby in 2 weeks, I already have money set aside for his/her neuter or spay. My last two buns were unspayed unneutered, my female did die of ovarian cancer (according to her vet), my male was a sprayer, due to that the husband was hesitant (for 15 years!) to say go ahead and get another bunny. I know way more about rabbit care now than I did then and this new bunny WILL be much better off right out of the gate from my other two due to all the reading I have been doing. This board is also a fantastic resource!! My new bunny thanks you all!

 

[che]

Codi isn't spayed yet. Got her about 1.5 weeks ago. She's booked in to be spayed at the start of March.

The idea of putting her through that scares me, but not as much as the thought of her getting cancer at a young age.

If there are any behavioural benefits, that would be even better, but she's a friendly and relaxed bunny already so I don't expect big changes - she likes to nibble, but in just over a week we've learnt her habits and managed to bunny-proof properly. She's also pretty reliably litter trained, but that could do with a bit of improvement so it'd be nice if that gets better.

 

[lovelops]

Chico and Chica are not fixed. Brooke and Lady are. Chica is too high stressed. The last time we went to the vet it stressed her out big time. She is laid back, relaxed will sit in her basket and chill. Her brother Chico is hyper but was hyper at 3 weeks .. .so that is his personality. I don't think I'm going to get them fixed because it's just too much stress on them both. The vet said that as well.

Vanessa