Normal or did I make a VERY big mistake??

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Melmo

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My babies will be nine weeks old tomorrow afternoon and from what I have read they can start to breed at twelve weeks. Yesterday I separated them so Boys are in one enclosure and Girls in the other. But Daddy is trying to hump them all. Have I made a very big mistake sexing them or is this normal behavior?
I have Daddy closed off so he cannot get to them until I figure this out because God knows the last thing I need is more bunnies. I feel horrible closing him up like this but I’m terrified not too. He cannot stay shut away in this little cage any longer than today. He is so angry with me that he thumps every single time I walk past him.
 

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I’m new at this, so I could be wrong, but it sounds like dominance behavior in daddy.

That said I’ve heard it is a good idea to separate adult bunnies (except the mother) from baby rabbits. there is even a video on YouTube that has a pen full of rabbits (adult and baby) and one of the adult rabbits casually breaking the spine of one of the infants that ticked it off.
 
I’m new at this, so I could be wrong, but it sounds like dominance behavior in daddy.

That said I’ve heard it is a good idea to separate adult bunnies (except the mother) from baby rabbits. there is even a video on YouTube that has a pen full of rabbits (adult and baby) and one of the adult rabbits casually breaking the spine of one of the infants that ticked it off.

My female Angora was the dominant one and she was fixed. I can’t count how many times she “violated” my cat! Yup, my cat! I called the vet and made absolute sure she was a SHE and not a HE that had leftover hormones! Nope, she is just the alpha of the house!
Interestingly, either sex bunny can/will hump another. Her brother, also neutered, will hump her or whatever is nearby when he hears food coming and is happy about it. This is the only time he does this and he has been fixed almost 3 years.
Lastly, I have a little 3 pound Dwarf Lionhead. She is an adult and fully grown- just mini. She, too, has been fixed quite some time and she will hump the face of the bigger bunnies. I guess she wants to show them who is boss!
There are many reasons and WAYS they will hump another (or another animal/object). Sexing rabbits can be VERY hard so I would have a vet double check their sex. If you are right, the dad may just be showing some dominance OR hormonal if he is in view of the lady bun. Good luck!
 
Hi, no you did good sexing them they needed to be sexed and boys separated from girls, mistake was to let them together with their father, because he can impregnate girls and fight with boys. So he should stay separately. Or is he neutered? How long ago if so?
And where is their mother? Girls could stay with mother for another couple months or weeks, boys can be kept together for a few more weeks then you will need to keep them all separately as they will fight. Some breeds can start fighting/breeding earlier, even from 10-11 weeks, girls can get pregnant at 14 weeks but also depends.
 
May I ask how many babies, girls and boys do you have, are you going to keep them all or going to find them homes?
 
Oh heck. He is on the other side of her. But they have been that way since the night before she had her babies. He has never really tried anything until now with his boys. I don’t have enough space to separate anymore. So hell now I don’t know what to do.
 
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May I ask how many babies, girls and boys do you have, are you going to keep them all or going to find them homes?
have eight babies. Four of each. I would like to keep one boy and one girl so as Thumper and Willow are not alone.
 
They have always only been a wire wall away from each other. Never has he done anything but investigate the other side. I know he does want over where she is but honestly there has been no overt contact between them. If there had been I would be about to have another litter already.
This is all that has ever separated them other than the ten minutes they had together that brought about my eight beautiful babies.
 

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May I ask how many babies, girls and boys do you have, are you going to keep them all or going to find them homes?
Yes I am going to find them forever homes. Which is stressing me beyond belief. I want them to go to homes that will love and care for them the way we have. I cannot imagine my babies with someone who will stick them in a cage and ignore them. They are such lovable little guys that get so much love and attention.
This is the type of attention they love.
 

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Personally, I wouldn’t allow the buck with the young ones. If he’s going after them it will stress them out, and stress is a big cause of death in youngsters. You can put the girls with their Mom, as long as they get along. Give the buck some separate out of the cage time, by himself, until you can figure something out.
 
Of course you want best for your rabbits and their babies, as I understand this is your first experience with babies so I just want to clarify some things here.

Firstly, your rabbits (parents) are not neutered/spayed, so they must be kept separately all the time, as you said you don't want more babies. The only way you can keep them together is to fix them both or at least one, who is more sexually active, after that after about two months after surgery you can try bonding them in some neutral territory, like bathroom, where they both never been before. It could take a few days to few weeks, after they are bonded they can live in the same enclosure/playpen etc, you have a very nice area for them, it's a pity that they can't play together.

Secondly, you say you want to keep one boy and one girl for each so they don't feel lonely. I'm afraid you won't be able to house father with son, babies are babies only until 3-4 months after that they will start fighting and marking their territory if there's another male rabbit. So you will have to neuter them both (and wait 4-8 weeks after that) before you can keep them together and there's no guarantee they will bond, two males are harder to bond than male and female.

So now is good time to start looking for good new homes (for boys at least), because if they are 9 week old you only have 2-4 weeks before they will start demonstrating their hormones, believe me it could be very challenging if you have 4 boys and father you will have to keep them all separately, no kidding, they will start spraying walls and marking everywhere with their urine because they will see and smell other males around. They will start circling and humping each other showing dominance then they will start fighting and can even kill each other. Also it will be more difficult to rehome them because they will be acting like teenagers, imagine someone is coming to meet them and they are spraying walls there and thumping and humping your hand and other rabbits. Now, between 8 and 10 weeks is best time when they show how sweet they are.

Girls can stay with their mother for a few more months, but also some females are very territorial and when they are 3-4 months there also can be fur flying and peeing on your lovely floor and walls, it depends of course, some are calmer and can tolerate each other until 5 months sometimes you can even bond mother with one of girls, but can be disastrous as well. Especially when it is your first experience.

Sorry for painting it all so dark but babies are changing really fast, best would be neuter your male asap and rehome babies before they start acting as teenagers, so you have 2-4 weeks from now. Try rehoming boys first as you will need too many cages to keep 5 males separately.
 
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Of course you want best for your rabbits and their babies, as I understand this is your first experience with babies so I just want to clarify some things here.

Firstly, your rabbits (parents) are not neutered/spayed, so they must be kept separately all the time, as you said you don't want more babies. The only way you can keep them together is to fix them both or at least one, who is more sexually active, after that after about two months after surgery you can try bonding them in some neutral territory, like bathroom, where they both never been before. It could take a few days to few weeks, after they are bonded they can live in the same enclosure/playpen etc, you have a very nice area for them, it's a pity that they can't play together.

Secondly, you say you want to keep one boy and one girl for each so they don't feel lonely. I'm afraid you won't be able to house father with son, babies are babies only until 3-4 months after that they will start fighting and marking their territory if there's another male rabbit. So you will have to neuter them both (and wait 4-8 weeks after that) before you can keep them together and there's no guarantee they will bond, two males are harder to bond than male and female.

So now is good time to start looking for good new homes (for boys at least), because if they are 9 week old you only have 2-4 weeks before they will start demonstrating their hormones, believe me it could be very challenging if you have 4 boys and father you will have to keep them all separately, no kidding, they will start spraying walls and marking everywhere with their urine because they will see and smell other males around. They will start circling and humping each other showing dominance then they will start fighting and can even kill each other. Also it will be more difficult to rehome them because they will be acting like teenagers, imagine someone is coming to meet them and they are spraying walls there and thumping and humping your hand and other rabbits. Now, between 8 and 10 weeks is best time when they show how sweet they are.

Girls can stay with their mother for a few more months, but also some females are very territorial and when they are 3-4 months there also can be fur flying and peeing on your lovely floor and walls, it depends of course, some are calmer and can tolerate each other until 5 months sometimes you can even bond mother with one of girls, but can be disastrous as well. Especially when it is your first experience.

Sorry for painting it all so dark but babies are changing really fast, best would be neuter your male asap and rehome babies before they start acting as teenagers, so you have 2-4 weeks from now. Try rehoming boys first as you will need too many cages to keep 5 males separately.
Thank you so much. Unfortunately I do not have the 600 each it will cost to Nuter and Spay them. This breaks my heart because I really wanted to keep my Fabio. He is such a beautiful and super sweet boy.
Getting them homes that will truly love and treat them the way do is stressing me so much. I do not want my babies stuck in a cage being neglected. I guess that is my issue to deal with though. Again Thank you for your honesty. God bless
 
If your willing to make the 2 hour and 45-minute drive there is a low-cost spay-neuter clinic in Henderson Ky. They do spays for rabbits for $45 probably a little less for neuters. The vet that does it is Dr. Julie Gray from Evansville, In. And I believe she is an exotic vet but she has done several thousand spay neuters on rabbits. She does them all for the Vanderburg Humane Society. Its called Snipz. You will have to message them on Facebook about the price for Neutering.
 

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