Rowan
Well-Known Member
Hi everyone
I found this forum yesterday and I think it's great .
I've read most of the last few pages of posts and was really enjoyingit til I read one that said rabbits should be separated out at eightweeks, everywhere else I'd come across said twelve and now I'm in a bitof a panic and need advice.
I've always been a cat person and until very recently all my knowledgeand focus on animals has been on cats and what I knew about rabbitscould have been written in the sentence 'People keep rabbits in cagesthat are much too small and I disagree with the whole thing'
But on some mad impulse I ended up with four baby rabbits which weredestined for a pet shop at six weeks, I was really angry and upsetabout it and something just snapped inside meso I said mydaughter and I would take them, she's wanted a rabbit forever and I'vealways said no, but she's nearly fourteen now and wonderful with allanimals. We went home and finished her floor (we live in an unfinishedhouse - it's a long story) and built, after much thought and designwhich happened when I should have been sleeping, a four storey verylarge indeed rabbit palace on one side of her bedroom filled witheverything we could think of toamuse and delight rabbits,cardboard boxes with holes, digging boxes, telephone book, ramps, rockpiles, toilet rolls, apple logs, wicker basket, hay, food, water, softtowels to lie on and so on. We got them home at seven weeks which wasthe earliest I was prepared to take them from their Mum, though theirpoor litter mates had gone a week earlier to pet shop hell, and theyloved their new home. Within a couple of hours they were doing binkiesinside it, racing round like mad things and dancing all over it. Theywere just as happy when they were let out into my daughter's room,pirouetting everywhere.
Now to my worry. I have two males and two females, I've found a rabbitfriendly and knowledgeable vet, 40 miles away as opposed to the 1 and ahalf miles away that my cat vet is, who will neuter and spay them whenthey're old enough, and my plan had been to keep them together untilthey were twelve weeks and them separate them till after theiroperations before slowly reintroducing them into a group. From what I'dread it's the dwarf rabbits who mature earliest. My lot are all verycrossbred and look more like wild rabbits than any other breed, thougha bit more golden. Bunberry is black all over but the other three,Harebell, Selkie and Tarragon are golden brown with blue bits. I'mguessing they'll all be about wild rabbit sized when they're grown astheir Mum is. I'm also guessing this means they count as medium sized.What age does this mean they're likely to be mature? Bunberry andTarragon are the boys by the way and Harebell and Selkie are the girls.At the moment they all lie together in very happy bunny heaps and don'tseem to have any interest in sex, I don't want to have to break them upbefore I have to, but I absolutely don't want unwanted pregnancies:shock:
Any help would be very welcome
Thanks
Kate
I found this forum yesterday and I think it's great .
I've read most of the last few pages of posts and was really enjoyingit til I read one that said rabbits should be separated out at eightweeks, everywhere else I'd come across said twelve and now I'm in a bitof a panic and need advice.
I've always been a cat person and until very recently all my knowledgeand focus on animals has been on cats and what I knew about rabbitscould have been written in the sentence 'People keep rabbits in cagesthat are much too small and I disagree with the whole thing'
But on some mad impulse I ended up with four baby rabbits which weredestined for a pet shop at six weeks, I was really angry and upsetabout it and something just snapped inside meso I said mydaughter and I would take them, she's wanted a rabbit forever and I'vealways said no, but she's nearly fourteen now and wonderful with allanimals. We went home and finished her floor (we live in an unfinishedhouse - it's a long story) and built, after much thought and designwhich happened when I should have been sleeping, a four storey verylarge indeed rabbit palace on one side of her bedroom filled witheverything we could think of toamuse and delight rabbits,cardboard boxes with holes, digging boxes, telephone book, ramps, rockpiles, toilet rolls, apple logs, wicker basket, hay, food, water, softtowels to lie on and so on. We got them home at seven weeks which wasthe earliest I was prepared to take them from their Mum, though theirpoor litter mates had gone a week earlier to pet shop hell, and theyloved their new home. Within a couple of hours they were doing binkiesinside it, racing round like mad things and dancing all over it. Theywere just as happy when they were let out into my daughter's room,pirouetting everywhere.
Now to my worry. I have two males and two females, I've found a rabbitfriendly and knowledgeable vet, 40 miles away as opposed to the 1 and ahalf miles away that my cat vet is, who will neuter and spay them whenthey're old enough, and my plan had been to keep them together untilthey were twelve weeks and them separate them till after theiroperations before slowly reintroducing them into a group. From what I'dread it's the dwarf rabbits who mature earliest. My lot are all verycrossbred and look more like wild rabbits than any other breed, thougha bit more golden. Bunberry is black all over but the other three,Harebell, Selkie and Tarragon are golden brown with blue bits. I'mguessing they'll all be about wild rabbit sized when they're grown astheir Mum is. I'm also guessing this means they count as medium sized.What age does this mean they're likely to be mature? Bunberry andTarragon are the boys by the way and Harebell and Selkie are the girls.At the moment they all lie together in very happy bunny heaps and don'tseem to have any interest in sex, I don't want to have to break them upbefore I have to, but I absolutely don't want unwanted pregnancies:shock:
Any help would be very welcome
Thanks
Kate