Hello, several months ago I found myself in possession of three female baby rabbits. It's a long story but the short version is it was after Easter and they were in dire need of rescuing. I call these girls siblings but they are mixed breeds and all different. They are, however, pretty much the same age. One is all white and just a tad larger, one is white with dark brown spots, one is a really and truly odd mix of a rex and a lionhead. Tan and white. That one had curly rex hair as a baby. Now she has a half hearted sea captain's beard and a fuzzy neck and random long wispy hairs along her belly. Truly a mutt rabbit, but cute as a button.
I grew up raising rabbits and was happy at the thought of picking it up again, but we always kept our rabbits in separate cages or hutches and I don't feel that's necessarily the best way to go, so we built a large house for them all and they were doing well until the last week or two. Two of them are not letting the rex one out into the cage area at all.
Their house has a caged in area and a sleeping, boxed in area. I have not seen the rex one out in the cage in about two weeks. If she comes out, she is chased back in. The cage is where all of the food and water was placed but now I am having to put food and water in the sleeping area so she doesn't starve. This can't continue but I don't have another house for the odd one out right now. It took weeks and all of our spare lumber to build the one we have.
When I had rabbits years (and years) ago we never spayed or neutered, nobody did. Rabbits lived in individual hutches and that was that. I realize that some of this might be helped by spaying, but I am in sticker shock at the $350-400 price quote from my vet. Each. My vet told me they were not big or old enough to be spayed all summer but now I am concerned about spaying them and them recovering outside, even though their house doesn't ever go below feeezing (we have a means of heat). All of that is new to me, as I said. I would like to have them spayed but I need to find something a lot cheaper than $400 per rabbit.
My issue is how to fix the entrapment of the one rabbit. Should I try to bond the other two to her? How would I even do that? Or should I alter their house and make two separate houses so the singleton can have her own space? Or should I not bother tehing to do any kind of trip bonding unless/until I can swing three spays? This is an alarming issue. She can't spend the entire winter trapped in her own house but I really have no idea how to proceed. If anyone has any insights I would surely appreciate it. I have never kept three rabbits in one house before, I did two (a mother and daughter) and they did great, even unspayed. This, I have no idea if it is fixable. Thanks!
I grew up raising rabbits and was happy at the thought of picking it up again, but we always kept our rabbits in separate cages or hutches and I don't feel that's necessarily the best way to go, so we built a large house for them all and they were doing well until the last week or two. Two of them are not letting the rex one out into the cage area at all.
Their house has a caged in area and a sleeping, boxed in area. I have not seen the rex one out in the cage in about two weeks. If she comes out, she is chased back in. The cage is where all of the food and water was placed but now I am having to put food and water in the sleeping area so she doesn't starve. This can't continue but I don't have another house for the odd one out right now. It took weeks and all of our spare lumber to build the one we have.
When I had rabbits years (and years) ago we never spayed or neutered, nobody did. Rabbits lived in individual hutches and that was that. I realize that some of this might be helped by spaying, but I am in sticker shock at the $350-400 price quote from my vet. Each. My vet told me they were not big or old enough to be spayed all summer but now I am concerned about spaying them and them recovering outside, even though their house doesn't ever go below feeezing (we have a means of heat). All of that is new to me, as I said. I would like to have them spayed but I need to find something a lot cheaper than $400 per rabbit.
My issue is how to fix the entrapment of the one rabbit. Should I try to bond the other two to her? How would I even do that? Or should I alter their house and make two separate houses so the singleton can have her own space? Or should I not bother tehing to do any kind of trip bonding unless/until I can swing three spays? This is an alarming issue. She can't spend the entire winter trapped in her own house but I really have no idea how to proceed. If anyone has any insights I would surely appreciate it. I have never kept three rabbits in one house before, I did two (a mother and daughter) and they did great, even unspayed. This, I have no idea if it is fixable. Thanks!
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