Recently adopted babies...

[ddrahan]

I recently adopted to adorable babies...a brother and a sister. They are about 8 weeks old...and just adore each other.. When will it be a good time to seperate them and prepare them for spaying and neutering without breaking there bond?

Thank you for any input, Darlene

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

They should be separated no later than 12 weeks of age. To be honest I've separate them at 10-11 weeks. A doe can get pregnant then and a buck can breed with a doe at 12 weeks. It's very hard to avoid breaking the bond, sorry to tell you that. They should not even be allowed out together for supervised play dates because all it takes is a blink of an eye and the doe could be pregnant. A doe should not be bonded with a buck until 2 weeks after the surgery to allow for time to heal but a buck may be fertile up to 6 weeks (I believe) after a neuter.

Also, I'd be very cautious housing 2 young rabbits together. When they hit the 'teen years' they may fight and have to be separated. It happens when even one is only going through the teen stage and the other is a mature adult but 2 bunnies with ragging hormones is worse. Theywill most likely fight for dominance.I never even bonded my doe and buck until the youngest was 11 months old to ensure there would be no hormonal problems. And trust me, it can change in the blink of an eye. I had my 2 rabbits happily bonded as babies, they were inseparable! But one day the younger challenged for dominance and out of the blue they were fighting to kill. I dread to think what would have happened had I not been home.

I don't mean to scare you, but you should be well aware of the risks of keeping 2 young rabbits together. I never advise nor will I ever keep a pair together unsupervised thatboth arenot over 11 months old.

 

[aurora369]

I would get in contact with a rabbit savvey vet asap.

With the foster babies I have now, I got the boys neutered at 10 weeks, just before the testicles decended. That way they didn't have to be seperated.

Boys will mature earlier than girls (girls normaly 3-4months), so if you work closely with a vet, you can sometimes avoid seperating.

But I would seperate at 12 weeks if the boy hasn't been neutered by that age.

The girl can be spayed once fully grown, as the vet can't see the organs to take them out untill fully sexually mature, normaly around 5-6 months (longer for bigger breeds).

--Dawn