i have a question concerning baby rabbits under six months

[kmtangelkrystal]

hi all, long time no see!

i'm proud to anounce that both babies lived and they are soo cute, i will try to get pictures for you guys to see!

but in the meantime... the two are under three months and i was most assured both were male but it turns out they aren't and how did i come to find this out? well lets just say an odd thing i've not read about nore have i seen before.

i was heading out to go apply for jobs from the help wanted adds in the paper and cody (my hubby to be) was takeing care of the baby rabbits so i could get an early start. no sooner was i a few feet away from the house, i hear cody calling me back. "is that normal" he asked and pointed towards the cage, and what do i see? foof, the white baby from missy's litter was on top of (dash) the brown baby humping him. "well it has to be a dominance thing they aren't used to the new cage territory yet" i said almost sure that had to be it, because i know that rabbits on average reach sexual maturity at six months not three, so to reassure cody thats what it was i went and did a gender check and long and behold there was a slight difference. i checked a second time and sure enough foof was a boy and dash was a girl ( its back to lilly). so i thought i would consult with the rabbitrey forum thread to see what this could mean.

on a sideline i was wondering if anyone could tell me the average cost of getting both genders fixed? i'm hoping to get a job soon and i'm moving to an environment that is the best for my animals and i would like to keep the twins together and nice, not to mention i'm not in a good position to raise more litters of rabbits.

i appreciate the feedback everyone!

 

[kmtangelkrystal]

they will be three months as of next wensday ^^

 

[mistyjr]

Some rabbits can be bred at 4-6 months. You need to seperate them before they have babies and brother , sister breeding/litters isnt good. So i would seperate before they have babies. Hopefully it did not happen yet...

 

[kmtangelkrystal]

i am moveing in my new place at the end of next week and the hutch i have now is to small for the two of them so i will be getting my home built modified. quick question though, the cheapest i can get them fixed is 75 for a female and 45 for a male, and the vet was clear it could kill them, and even though i should i don't like the odds of one of my little ones dieing so, as i said i'm getting my big hutch modified so they won't be able to be near eachother. i heard that if a male is held with exposure to a female, once he becomes sexualy mature he will get aggressive, is that true? and is there something i can do to help keep that from happening?

 

[whaleyk98]

Thats not true. All my bucks are housed in the same vacinity with females and they are very sweet.

 

[MyRabbits]

I am surprised that you can get they spayed and neutered for such a low cost. I am concerned that the vet is not doing everything in the safest way possible for the rabbits. The best I have been able to get has been $130 for a neuter and $170 for a spay. I would inquire more into exactly what the fee provides for and check with other vets who may be a little more but do a few more safety precautions for which they may charge.

 

[kmtangelkrystal]

MyRabbits wrote:

I am surprised that you can get they spayed and neutered for such a low cost. I am concerned that the vet is not doing everything in the safest way possible for the rabbits. The best I have been able to get has been $130 for a neuter and $170 for a spay. I would inquire more into exactly what the fee provides for and check with other vets who may be a little more but do a few more safety precautions for which they may charge.

oh wow, i didn't know it was a low cost. irregardless if he hadn't of told me it was fatal i would have gotten them fixed on my first pay check or i would of asked my mom for help with it and paid her back when i got a first pay check, but now that you say that i see if i really want to get it done i will have to drive to kansas city. =/

the vet i talked to is the most trustworthy vet and the best in town. they caught the other local vet useing water instead of medicine before and i have no idea how he didn't loose his licence. there is one off of the highway but they won't do surgeries, their main focus is for injections and meds, they always refer customers back to the place i called.

what a bummer, well, on the bright side, i got a new hutch for the rabbits, i gave my buck and doe a better home and when i get the job i can save back so much each pay check to spoil my babies. (thats my nickname for them...lol)

 

[RabbitLover94]

There's a risk when neutering/spaying any animal, not just rabbits. I got my male rabbit neutered to keep him with his sister. You don't have to spay the female if you don't have the money; neutering the male is enough. You just have to be sure to keep them seperate for another month since there can still be live sperm inside them. If you do go get them neutered, be sure to keep feeding them, even if the vet tells you to not feed them. The reason they tell you not to feed them is because there's a risk that the animal will throw up during surgery and suffocate; however, this cannot happen with rabbits since they cannot throw up.

 

[kmtangelkrystal]

well i don't have the money right now and they are a week away from three months, i'll just seperate them, its nice to know they won't get mean though because my female looks like kane(first lionhead) and he died during the winter R.I.P. and as much as i love the way i felt when they were born i don't think the place i'm moveing to will like a litter of seven. not to mention they are brother and sister.

sadly i found out why my doe started bleeding really bad after the brithing. cody didn't tell me that another buck of mine, fidget had gotten to her, she had both horns fertalized and that explains the litter being so small and the other two kits dieing. foof is definately a mix because he looks like fidget (british himilayan) and lionhead. so he might get bigger than his mom but he is just the most cuddlyest rabbit you could meet! i love them so, and when i have my job i don't have to hear that i can't take them to the vet if they need to go because i relying on my parents to have the compassion like i do about them. if its not a cat or dog it dosen't go and that will be their final words. on a sidenote though, they aren't neglected, they have fresh water every five hours or so and they have foods and veggies all the time. sorry no one accused me of anything but from my last few posts i wasn't in a good place to take care of them and i've spent all my graduation money on them. so they are happy buns

 

[elrohwen]

Remember that rabbits need a vet who is experienced in doing surgery on rabbits. A vet can be perfectly good for dogs and cats, but this doesn't mean he or she should be operating on rabbits. A good rabbit savvy vet will have a very high success rate with spays and neuters and it isn't particularly risky at all. I'm guessing your vet isn't experienced with rabbit surgery and is trying to warn you of that. Ask how many spays and neuters he has done on rabbits. If it's less than one per week, find an exotic vet to do it.

Also, most rabbits are sexually mature before six months (at least the little ones). My boy had his boy bits at 8 weeks. They need to be separated now as having a litter at her cage would be very dangerous.

 

[woahlookitsme]

RabbitLover94 wrote:

There's a risk when neutering/spaying any animal, not just rabbits. I got my male rabbit neutered to keep him with his sister. You don't have to spay the female if you don't have the money; neutering the male is enough. You just have to be sure to keep them seperate for another month since there can still be live sperm inside them. If you do go get them neutered, be sure to keep feeding them, even if the vet tells you to not feed them. The reason they tell you not to feed them is because there's a risk that the animal will throw up during surgery and suffocate; however, this cannot happen with rabbits since they cannot throw up.

If a vet tells you to not feed your rabbit for the surgery DO NOT USE THAT VET. They will probably use the wrong anesthetics too.