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Speckisky

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May 27, 2020
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Hello everyone! I hope y'all are having a good day/night.
I'll cut to the chase; I adopted a super cute boy recently, and I've got questions!

1. I'm 99% sure he's a unneutered male. /Should/ I neuter him, though? He's never once been aggressive (as far as I'm aware) and he does well with my two cats. (I let him free roam, and yes, he's perfectly safe! I've monitored them prior to him being allowed to permanently stay out of his cage, and the cats do tolerate him. (One has swatted once or twice, but he barely batted a eye at it.)

2. Is there anyway to tell what breed he is, or how old he may be? I adopted him from my cousin who adopted him from someone else, so there's a lot I'm unsure of when it comes to him.

3. Should I occasionally shave the bottom of his feet? I have a house that has no carpet whatsoever (besides a small one in the living room where he's situated) and I occasionally see him struggle with grip.

Thanks in advance y'all! Martin's so far been a lovely boy who loves to explore and rub his face on things (and push boundaries with his new cat friends!)

image0.jpg
 
1. Personally I would not neuter him. Any surgery can be risky in rabbits, moreso than dogs or cats, and if he's the only rabbit and isn't having temperament issues, well, why fix what isn't broken?
2. He is a probably a mixed breed without papers, but from his structure he looks like a commercial breed, or at least partially. He isn't dark enough to be a pure new zealand red; maybe a new zealand red crossed with a fawn flemish giant? He looks very similar to the golden palomino breed but that is a very rare breed, that you wouldn't just stumble upon as a pet.
3. Do not shave his feet! Rabbits don't have paw pads so the only thing protecting their feet from getting sore hocks is the thick layer of fur. They can't grip on some floors at first but I've found that after a while they learn how to do it better.

Good luck with him, he looks pretty
 
1. Personally I would not neuter him. Any surgery can be risky in rabbits, moreso than dogs or cats, and if he's the only rabbit and isn't having temperament issues, well, why fix what isn't broken?
2. He is a probably a mixed breed without papers, but from his structure he looks like a commercial breed, or at least partially. He isn't dark enough to be a pure new zealand red; maybe a new zealand red crossed with a fawn flemish giant? He looks very similar to the golden palomino breed but that is a very rare breed, that you wouldn't just stumble upon as a pet.
3. Do not shave his feet! Rabbits don't have paw pads so the only thing protecting their feet from getting sore hocks is the thick layer of fur. They can't grip on some floors at first but I've found that after a while they learn how to do it better.

Good luck with him, he looks pretty

1. That's completely fair! What should I look out for, temperament wise? I've so far only heard one foot thump, which I hope is a good sign as I've almost had him for two weeks now!
2. If it's of any help; I'm from Canada, Ontario to be specific! I'm not sure where he could've came from, but I do live near a very rural area where there's lot of farmers and breeders, so that could be a clue? It's only a matter of time until I get too curious and ask the original owner, honestly.
3. Thank you! Can I ask about clipping their nails? I'm not worried about my floors, but I wouldn't want him to be uncomfortable.

Thank you! He's super cute, and I'm happy to have rescued him.​
 
1. You don’t need to neuter him, he sounds like he’s been doing well. If you want to bond him, you should get him neutered though.

2. You can ask a rabbit-savvy vet if they have any ideas about his breed and age.

3. Don’t shave his feet. As SableSteel said, rabbits don’t have any padding to protect their feet like dogs or cats do. You can cut their nails though.

He’s a very handsome boy! And it sounds like he’s got a brilliant temperament
 
Hello everyone! I hope y'all are having a good day/night.
I'll cut to the chase; I adopted a super cute boy recently, and I've got questions!

1. I'm 99% sure he's a unneutered male. /Should/ I neuter him, though? He's never once been aggressive (as far as I'm aware) and he does well with my two cats. (I let him free roam, and yes, he's perfectly safe! I've monitored them prior to him being allowed to permanently stay out of his cage, and the cats do tolerate him. (One has swatted once or twice, but he barely batted a eye at it.)

2. Is there anyway to tell what breed he is, or how old he may be? I adopted him from my cousin who adopted him from someone else, so there's a lot I'm unsure of when it comes to him.

3. Should I occasionally shave the bottom of his feet? I have a house that has no carpet whatsoever (besides a small one in the living room where he's situated) and I occasionally see him struggle with grip.

Thanks in advance y'all! Martin's so far been a lovely boy who loves to explore and rub his face on things (and push boundaries with his new cat friends!)

image0.jpg
Hi!
What is his weight? He looks also a bit like Palomino to me
https://www.petguide.com/breeds/rabbit/palomino-rabbit/
Do you know how long your cousin had him? And before your cousin?
Rabbits usually sold at 8 weeks of age until then they need to stay with their mother as they rely on mother's milk so petshops usually have babies 8-10 week old, until that age it is illegal selling babies, at least in most countries.
The reason why I am asking is that rabbits can live up to 10-14 years, large breeds a bit shorter up to 7 years, and they are babies until 4-6 months depending on breed, young adults until about 1 year and after that they are stable adults. From about 3,5 to 6-8 months depending on breed since large breeds mature later it's their teenage phase and they can behave as teenagers peeing everywhere, digging, being aggressive, territorial, humping everyone/thing, spraying urine on walls and you etc, that's why even single male rabbits get neutered mostly at that age. Or if people want to get another rabbit as a companion it is essential that you neuter your rabbits and wait 2 months after that before you introduce them to each other and start bonding process, because otherwise instead of one angel rabbit you can get two little demons fighting for dominance and marking all your (their) territory with urine and poos. Or if the other rabbit is a female they will produce 4-14 new rabbits every months.
That's why rabbits get neutered (females spayed).
So if your rabbit is older than 8 months and he is good with his toilet and behave good, not marking his territory with urine and you have no plans on getting a friend for him, I'd say there's no need neutering him at all. I have two unneutered male rabbits one is 2 years and a half and other was found in a cardboard box on street so it's hard to guess his age but he is with me for one year and a half and i think he was under 6 months when I adopted him. Both are excellent rabbits and very good toilet habits, very tidy rabbits but they are housed completely separately and never meet each other, and when they are out I change rugs so they can't smell other rabbit so don't feel need to mark their territory. They are both absolutely great and they are very happy as singles so no plans neutering them (this is also quite expensive).

So if your rabbit is older than 8-12 months it is likely that his character is already what it is and if there's no other rabbit around he won't change probably.

Why are you only 99% sure he's an unneutered male? If you can see his testicles you'd be 100% sure, if there's no testicles but he has penis he's either neutered or he's a baby under 4 months of age. In neutered adult male you usually can't see signs of surgery there's just no testicles but penis still there. If it's a female there will be different shape of her genitalia and no testicles. So just go ahead and check if he has testicles he's not neutered, otherwise he is.

Do not shave his feet, as people already commented above rabbits are uncomfortable on wood floor but if you shave them he can get sore hocks you don't want it. If he doesn't pee outside his litter box you can have low pile rugs so he will be comfortable with them.

You do need to clip his nails once a month or 6 weeks, depending on an individual rabbit, sometimes more often you will see. You need to do that because when nails get too long it is not good for his posture, also h can break them or chew them etc. You trim them with cat clippers as in video posted above. If you got cats you got it. If you are unsure you can do it yourself you can go to a vet and they will do it for you it will cost you.

If you decided to visit a vet make sure before you go they have experience with rabbits, since most vets know very little about rabbits and there's no much help in many situations, you still have to pay money for your visit though.

Here's a list of rabbit-savvy vets, scroll down for international vets and you will probably find one close to your location.

https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
Now is good time to talk about his diet and his toilet box and his housing, please give us some more pics and we can discuss :)

Welcome to the forum hopefully you like it we are usually quite friendly :)
 
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Hi!
What is his weight? He looks also a bit like Palomino to me
https://www.petguide.com/breeds/rabbit/palomino-rabbit/
Do you know how long your cousin had him? And before your cousin?
Why are you only 99% sure he's an unneutered male? If you can see his testicles you'd be 100% sure, if there's no testicles but he has penis he's either neutered or he's a baby under 4 months of age. In neutered adult male you usually can't see signs of surgery there's just no testicles but penis still there. If it's a female there will be different shape of her genitalia and no testicles. So just go ahead and check if he has testicles he's not neutered, otherwise he is.

Hello!
Unfortunately at the moment I'm unsure on weight; I'll try and find that out for you, though! (I can take more pictures?)
And while I'm pretty sure he isn't neutered, the 1% comes from my own doubt as I've never had a rabbit before, so I'm still learning.
As for how long my cousin had him.. I don't believe for long, no more than a few months. As I mentioned above, I might try and reach out to the original owner and see if I'm able to get in contact with them, which will hopefully tell me more about him/his history!

 

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