Help! Inbred bunnies! Should I cull?

Love your rabbit
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

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

ChristIsKing

New Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2023
Messages
4
Reaction score
2
Location
Maine, USA
Hello everyone! I am new here, and so grateful for this community.

So....I have a bit of a problem. A year ago i got my kids two Holland Lops for pets. They were both siblings, and both females. Well, it turns out, one was a boy, because we had a surprise litter in the hutch! Our female did a wonderful job raising them, and they all survived. They are now super healthy and happy rabbits, but they are inbred (again, parents were siblings). We kept a few from the litter, and they have not had any health issues yet, are very active, have beautiful coats and a wonderful personality. Well, a few weeks ago, my son, by mistake, let one of the inbred bucks, in with his mother (the original female.) He very promptly got him out, and he could only have been in there for about a minute unsupervised, but the deed was done, and now she is making a nest. So, her next litter is going to be very inbred! (Inbred buck bred with mother). Are the kits going to be very unhealthy? Will i not be able to find them homes? or is it not quite as big of a deal as i am thinking? I hope this makes sense, and sorry for the long post!

I have been beating myself up all morning. I feel so bad for letting this happen!

Thanks so much to any help.
 
It isn't ideal, and I would not breed siblings on purpose, but it's not such big of a deal with rabbits. All those breeds were created through line breeding, and a lot of negative stuff got bred out that way, but keep an eye out. So no, it isn't likely that they'll be unhealthy, inbreeding is a quite misunderstood topic.

From owning intact rabbits myself I can tell you that they'll find a way again, and again, and..., I now have double barriers in every direction (like, a fence I have to step over, and a self closing gate after that), but still it happens, they find a way. "Breeding like rabbits" isn't just a saying.
I would have either the does spayed or the bucks neutered if you don't plan to breed. It gets a real problem when does get older, getting pregnant then can become a real emergency (had an emergency spay done on a 7yo doewith a stuck kit...)
 
Last edited:
Preitler said:
It isn't ideal, and I would not breed siblings on purpose, but it's not such big of a deal with rabbits. All those breeds were created through line breeding, and a lot of negative stuff got bred out that way, but keep an eye out. So no, it isn't likely that they'll be unhealthy, inbreeding is a quite misunderstood topic.

From owning intact rabbits myself I can tell you that they'll find a way again, and again, and..., I now have double barriers in every direction (like, a fence I have to step over, and a self closing gate after that), but still it happens, they find a way. "Breeding like rabbits" isn't just a saying.
I would have either the does spayed or the bucks neutered if you don't plan to breed. It gets a real problem when does get older, getting pregnant then can become a real emergency (had an emergency spay done on a 7yo doewith a stuck kit...)
Click to expand...
Thank you so much! You helped more than you could know. You relieved so much of my worries!

Yes! I absolutely want to get them spayed. But, around here, its about 600$ per bunny! plus a four hour drive, and as much as i would like too...cant afford it right now.

Thanks again for your help!
 
If you don’t plan on breeding, why not spay/neuter? There’s health benefits for doing so.
just asking..
 
Jennifer1111 said:
If you don’t plan on breeding, why not spay/neuter? There’s health benefits for doing so.
just asking..
Click to expand...
I appreciate your comment! :) I would absolutely like to fix them, but seeing as it is 600$ for both, i unfortunetly can not afford that at the moment. plus, there are no vets in a four hour radius that will do it.
 
Catlyn said:
Where in the world do you live that the closest vet is 4 hours away? Even here in sparsely populated northern europe the closest good ones are no more than 3 hours away. I didn't think that the american coastline would be that sparse as well. What a surprise.
Have you checked Rabbit Vets Near Me | House Rabbit Society vet listings?
Do you think that this site might help? 33 Rabbit, Sugar Glider, Ferret Veterinarians - Maine
Click to expand...
I was kinda wondering that too. Even here where I live in Hicksville, USA my closest vet is an hour away. 🤷‍♀️
I will add that some humane societies offer low cost spay/neuter for rabbits if your vet is too costly for your income. That might be worth a quick Google too.
 
I'm kind of desillusioned about the US, here i have at least 5-10 vets to chose from within an hour drive, the next good one 5 minutes away. And although not cheap, a far cry from what many vets seem to charge in the US. Neutering a doe here is 150€, E.C. treatment with 5 days of antibiotica and infusions, over the weekend, about the same. Most I ever paid was 300€ for an emergency spay of a 7yo doe with a stuck kit on a weekend. I'm still amazed that someone even picked up the phone.

I say some vets, my sister works in an animal clinic in Massachusetts and there it isn't that bad. 600$ for a neuter sounds ridiculous to me, but it's about business, you charge what enough people are willing to pay, there is an optimal point for max. revenue. Here, the whole menatlity, work ethics etc. is different. Obviously, this all starts with the education system.

Anyway, there indeed might be more cost effective options, as mentioned above.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top