What is best to do for my buns??

[gabriella.lunt]

Hello everyone, I'm new here! I'm looking for some helpful advice please. I have my two beautiful buns Pandora and Bumble, they are bonded sisters and neither are fixed at the moment. In afew weeks I am getting a little boy brother for them, as I would love to have some baby buns at some point! But I am going to be keeping them separate and worry that he will be lonely. Do I just get them all fixed so they can live happily together and have no babies in the future? Or do I get another (fixed) companion for him? Or will he be okay with just the smell of them nearby and have supervised social time with the girls? Any friendly advice here is welcome. Thanks x

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

Hi, welcome to the forum!

I personally would recommend just getting all three of them fixed so that they can be bonded and live happy pet lives.

While it is great to watch baby bunnies grow up, it can be a little harder than expected and rabbits are over-populated at the moment. The babies only stay babies for a few months and then they’re adults and you would want babies again (not you specifically, just generally).

If you do plan on breeding in the future, I recommend breeding purebreds - or breeding to better a breed, not just because you want kits. I wouldn’t recommend breeding your bunnies (the loo and the nethies).

also: how old are your buns at the moment?

 

[gabriella.lunt]

Hello! Thanks for your reply! I think this is definitely the conclusion that I am going to come to, spaying is much better for their health and I want them to live happily together. Like you say babies are the sweetest but I am not an expert and would probably be out of my depth with them.

Just out of interest why wouldn't you breed a lop and a nethie?

The girls are 16weeks and the boy is 4weeks (not getting him until September)

 

[Catlyn]

Welcome to the forum!
I will also ask, how old are the siblings? You saying that they get along nice means they're pretty young.
Why would you want to have babies in the future? Do you mean to fix and keep
taking care of them all? If not, i would highly suggest you not to breed your buns at all, because shelters are already overcrowded with bunnies and kitties and puppies, all looking for caring homes just because their parents' owners had an "oopsie" litter or bred just because they wanted to see the kits and pups grow. Neither of them is a good option, which still leads to a bad solution. There are more abandoned and homeless pets than there are good homes for them, so please think twice before adding on to that problem.
If you then do decide not to breed, i wouldn't think that the boy bun is needed in the sisters' bond at all- the sisters know each other well and if they get spayed at 5 months or depending on how soon the vet will do it, the sooner the better, they will have a higher chance of keeping that bond stable and strong, and then you wouldn't want a third wheel clogging the system.
Your sisters are adorable, but if you don't plan on breeding them for breed betterment as Apollo's slave said, please don't do it at all. They wouldn't care either way but they really don't need to have kits before spay.
If you want to see all sorts of critters grow up, and take care of them without actually having to worry "what happens if they're no longer as young as cute", then i suggest going to the local pet rescue and shelter to see if you can volunteer in helping the animals!

 

[Catlyn]

Hey, we replied at the same time!
Why wouldn't you breed a lop and a nethie?
It wouldn't make any sort of purebreed creature. It wouldn't fly for rabbit shows. Also, depending on the size of the buns, if the lop is big(say the dad,) it could cause major inconveniences for the mum. The kits could either grow totally lop, totally up, helicopter or anywhere in between.
They would make okay pets with some funny little tweaks. Other than that, not much good for anything else. And we already know where we can get pets without having to breed them.

I rescued a french lop mix whose ears go up and lop alike. He controls them on his own. I'll attach some pics for clarity down below.

 

[gabriella.lunt]

Aww what a sweet bun!! I see what you mean about his ears, all adds to the cuteness I'm not interested in showing my rabbits, I just want to be a good bun-mum but anyway I've literally just booked my girls in for their spay before their little brother gets here. So the only thing I'm hopeful for now is that they get on nicely! Thanks so much for your advice, really appreciated x x

 

[Catlyn]

Where are you getting the little brother from?
If you can, it would be better if you decided to leave him to where he is now. As i said before, your girls are nice and cuddly to each other, now have a spay time (when is it?) And will thus mist likely keep their bond. If you bring in a 2-nonth bun later, he will higly likely break the girls' bond, and he too needs neutering at 4-5 months when testicles descend to avoid any beginnings of hormonality. By that time the girls will have had a strong bond, and bringing in the boy then will break everything, and you'd be back to square one. The girls are doing fine now as they are, i wouldn't risk bringing in a third bun.

 

[gabriella.lunt]

1st Sept is the spay date and I dont get the little boy till mid Sept sometime. I appreciate your concern for their bond but it's something I would really like to try and if it doesn't work then I will separate them x

 

[Catlyn]

All right, i was just glad to be of assistance. Hope everything goes smoothly!

 

[Diane R]

1st Sept is the spay date and I dont get the little boy till mid Sept sometime. I appreciate your concern for their bond but it's something I would really like to try and if it doesn't work then I will separate them x

Remember to keep the new boy separated until at least 8 weeks after the last one has been neutered before attempting bonding. The girls should go to the vet together for spaying and should not be separated.

 

[Aspen’sbuns]

1st Sept is the spay date and I dont get the little boy till mid Sept sometime. I appreciate your concern for their bond but it's something I would really like to try and if it doesn't work then I will separate them x

Hey there!!!!

People often will say wait until all buns are neutered before beginning bonding, however I don’t necessarily agree with that. I think it makes it easier in the long run with bonding, if all bunnies meet when there are still babies! I would definitely get your girls spayed, (make sure they go to the vet together!) but when your boy bun comes home, I would let him settle in, and then begin bonding.

I wouldn’t aim for an actual full time bond though when he is still a baby, I would just recommend the three buns being able to play with each other (in a large neutral area) each day! I would still keep them seperate at night though.
Once the boy begins to get nippy and isn’t so much a baby anymore, that’s when I wouldn’t let them play anymore, and then take the boy to be neutered. (Once you don’t let them play together in the day anymore, make sure they live close by, so that they still see and smell each other every day)

It’s a long process; longer than to if you were adopt from a shelter, however it means you are able to have all the buns