I know there's some bunny people out there, and just wondered if you could give me some advice.  I have a young blue mini-lop buck who I think needs a little bunny friend, but I can't afford to have him neutered at the moment.  Is there any alternative??  OH says rabbit pie!!............NOT FUNNY!

If you can't afford to have him neutered I don't think you should be looking at the expense of a 2nd Rabbit (that will also have to be neutered).  JMO :)  The only other option would be to get another rabbit and another cage to have close together but that would cost more then a neuter. :)

Just give the little one extera time with you.

TBH the cost of keeping a rabbit is minimal (compared to the outlay of £60 for neutering).  He has plenty of interaction with me, the dogs love him, and even the parrot talks to him, he also has lots of wild bunny friends who play around his cage, but that makes me feel even worse cos he just sits watching them longingly! This is starting to sound pathetic now, and people will think I'm bonkers, but I feel awful when I see him sat by himself!

I have seen a neutered female for rehome so wondered if he would live happily with her without the need for castration?

Just to reassure myself - you say wild rabbits get near him; he's fully vaccinated against myxo and VHD isn't he?

yes, he's up to date on both

:-)

An ideal friend for your bunny would be a guinea pig :)
I used to keep lop earred bunnies, and paired them off with guinea pig friends, there is no worry of unwanted bunnies :)
I used to have Cashmere lop earred aguiti bunnies, bred them and kept a buck which was the most beautiful colour of blue I have ever seen, and I mean blue not grey, a rich blue! like the blue border on Champdogs!

He behaved like a dog! he would roll over and have his tummy rubbed, follow me around the garden and even fetched sticks! I paired him with a lovely himolain (sp) guinea pig, long haired white guinea with black ears, feet and musk, ahh would love to have bunnies again,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Thanks for your reply, had thought of this but vet, breeder and guinea pig rescue advised against it!  Did you find particular combinations worked better i.e. male rabbit/female guinea pig?  and did they groom each other as 2 rabbits would?

> breeder and guinea pig rescue advised against it! 

I thought this was the usual advise too.  My friend either ignored or was unaware of this advise and her rabbit broke the guineapig's leg so badly it had to be amputated.

I had male rabbits and male guinea-pigs together, I don't think I've ever had a female rabbit or guinea-pig? (How strange) They always got along brilliantly.  But you know rabbits are fine on their own too with lots of interaction. :-) I also had a tortoise who would climb up the ramp and get in with the rabbit at times too. :-D

our rabbit attacked out guniea pig when I was a kid so we had to re-home it.

I used to breed mini lops and found even when neutered when the males reached a certain age they couldnt be introduced to a new rabbit.

ooooooh, tortoise, now that's an idea!!  Guessing he couldn't live out all year though.  Everyone keeps telling me he'll be quite happy on his own but you should see his little face when he's watching the wild bunnies playing!

what age ClaireyS? he's still quite young (less than 12 months), and did it make a difference dependant on the sexes?

I bred lop eared rabbitts for years and alwas kept guinea pigs with my males for company, never had problems

Linda

I cant remember what age, but fully grown.  Although thinking about it its only males they didnt get on with, they always got on with the females.

what do you think he'd be like with a neutered female? do you think he'd still have to be done?

>An ideal friend for your bunny would be a guinea pig

Just to reiterate what other people have said - rabbits and guinea-pigs are not good companions. The rabbits are fine - it's the guineas that suffer, especially if the rabbit is heavier than the piggy. Rabbits can be terrible bullies, and make the piggy's life a misery.

A spayed rabbit would be a much safer bet.

Have to agree with above post. i had a male rabbit and a male guinea pig and they couldn't be kept together at all. The rabbit would attack the guinea.

I have a male rabbit and a male guinea pig together, and they adore each other.

The only problem is if you had a spayed female he would still try to hump her but if shes the same size or bigger this would probably calm down after a few days.  I breed and show mini's and recently had one of my bucks snipped only cost me £25, he used sprey all the time which has now stopped and hes living happliy with a doe though since she isn't spey she does hump him.  I know some people keep rabbits and guinea's together but i would never risk it, or sell a rabbit to someone knowing they are going to keep it with a guinea.

I thought this might be the case - I don't want him to drive her crazy!

If only I could find a vet who'd do it for £25!  I've had 3 quotes, the cheapest being £55!

On an entirely different point, but as you are well aquainted with mini-lops, can you tell me why despite being blue (from blue parents), the fur on his nose has started going brown???

I also breed and show rabbits and I would never sell a rabbit to someone who wanted to have it living with a guinea pig. I know lots of folk have them together with no problems but I wouldn't take the risk! Guinea pigs have different nutritional requirements from rabbits too. A buck continually mounting a spayed female will annoy her, she may well fight back, much easier to keep him on his own with lots of human interaction and save to have him neutered.

The fur on his nose is probably going brown because he needs to moult or because he is in the sun.

Thanks rjs.  TBH, I've nothing against them but I'd rather have another rabbit than a Guinea anyway so guess it's just a case of waiting (I was worried the longer I leave it he may get so used to being on his own that he'll become aggressive when I eventually introduced another).

Interesting about his colour.  It's gradually gone this colour over a few weeks, it started on the tip of his nose but now seems to be spreading across his face.

It's not always easy pairing up rabbits so if you do decide to get another one I would read up on bonding rabbits. I had 2 neutered male Dwarf Lops that lived alone, but could see each others hutches and loved human attention. They must have been 2 many even 3 years old when I popped them in a run together while I cleaned out their hutches. I had just bought a new big hutch so when I saw them cuddled up together in the run I put them in the new hutch and they lived happily. Sadly when one died the other one pinned for his mate and died a week or later.

I have kept a brother & sister pair together, they were only ever parted when they were neutered and again they got on really well but I have also tried to bond 2 neutered adults and it just didn't work. The Rabbit Welfare Association have lots of information on bonding which I always recommend folk reading before they buy a 2nd rabbit just in case it doesn't work out.

If we have rabbits that we are showing we keep them out of direct sunlight (they get too hot in direct sun anyway and can get heat stroke) as it changes the colour of the coat but this can also happen when they need a moult. How old is he, he could be about to moult and get his adult coat.

bunnies need to be alone unless brought up together. anything introduced to his hutch, either neutered bunny or guinea would be humped endlessly! im sure his happy alone!

He's about 9months, his cage only gets about an hour of sun first thing in the morning and even then part of it is shaded.

Will have a look at the welfare assoc - thanks

> bunnies need to be alone unless brought up together. anything introduced to his hutch, either neutered bunny or guinea would be humped endlessly! im sure his happy alone!

That's not true. Many people have 2 neutered rabbits living happily together, they need to be bonded carefully in a neutral area.

is he a sun bather, i've got mine in a shed, but whilst i'm having my new sopper dopper 14ft x 12ft shed built i've got my blue british giant outside and hes gone brown its the sun it bleaches their coat. 
> bunnies need to be alone unless brought up together. anything introduced to his hutch, either neutered bunny or guinea would be humped endlessly! im sure his happy alone! sorry this isn't true, it can be done you just need to be careful on how you go about it :-D
I think its lovely you want to get him a friend, i'm lucky i've got a good rabbit vet they only charge £25 for bucks and £35 for does which is really cheap and they do alot so they've got expirence with rabbits. 
what breed/s have you got rjs?

Our local rescue has bunnies for rehoming sometimes. Dont know if that is an option for you but maybe they would neuter too. On the bunny/piggy combo. I had one set that were fantstic together but then later another bunny who bullied our piggy and actually hurt him so they had to be separated. A bit of a risk as you wont know untill youv'e got them

I keep Polish in various colours, hubby has Belgian Hares and Netherland Dwarfs, daughter has BEW Polish and she's in partnership with me with blue Dutch. I started with sooty Mini Lops but gave them up last year top concentrate on more colours of Poles. My daughter is a club sec so I'm up to my eyes in baking today for her show tomorrow. lol

It's interesting how some of us have had rabbits and guinea-pigs together with no problems for years and yet others have and are dead set against it, I guess character of the animals does come into it, but also wondered if the kind of area they live in also makes a difference. Mine had a very large area with hutches and oudoor space to come and go as they pleased they could have gone into seperate hutches but usually mixed together to sleep etc and never once did a guinea-pig get hurt and I never noticed one getting humped either. I think the tortoise did once. (At least that is what my son told me) :-D

I'm wondering if those that did get hurt were just shut in a small hutch together? Which I guess is understandable.

oh Belgian Hares they are stunning, your lucky to have a hubby intrested in rabbits too with my oh it goes in one ear and out the other shows with him aren't much fun either he repeatedly tells me how bored he is i don't think he relises being a man how he spoiles it for me.  I've got two young children six and two which makes it hard to get to most shows it is a long day.  Oh well will be better once they are older.  I only started showing the end of last year so still very much a novice!  Sounds like your daughters going to have a busy time! and you, i'm hoping my youngest will get into the rabbits my oldest isn't that bothered though he tells everyone they are his rabbits he doesn't even know their names lol.

> It's interesting how some of us have had rabbits and guinea-pigs together with no problems for years and yet others have and are dead set against it, I guess character of the animals does come into it, but also wondered if the kind of area they live in also makes a difference. Mine had a very large area with hutches and oudoor space to come and go as they pleased they could have gone into seperate hutches but usually mixed together to sleep etc and never once did a guinea-pig get hurt and I never noticed one getting humped either. I think the tortoise did once. (At least that is what my son told me) :-D
>
> I'm wondering if those that did get hurt were just shut in a small hutch together? Which I guess is understandable

Mine were kept in similar way as yours. I did have one buck who was especially randy he tried to get my arm on several occassions... in fact he became know as  "bunk up"!

I also only ever had one guinea pig who had to be kept seperate, he was quite happy in the shed by himself being ignored by us all!

I also only ever had one guinea pig who had to be kept seperate, he was quite happy in the shed by himself being ignored by us all!

:-D :-D

And there in lies the reason why I stopped having anymore rabbits or guinea-pigs, anything outside was completely forgotten about once settled in and I was the only one who spent time with them when they were actually bought for the boys, once the boys did their cleaning and feeding rota they were away from them as fast as they could be. :-) The only reason my son got the rats was if they were to be kept in his bedroom, he's still playing with them can't believe it!

I'm not being funny here but would you buy a puppy for a child? If not, why would you buy a rabbit for a child? They should be a family pet not a child's pet. I've lost count of the number of folk who have asked me to take their rabbit in because the kids have out grown them, not giving them any attention, don't have time for them anymore cause they now have a dog/horse or whatever! The best one yet was a lady who asked me to take in an 8 yr old dwarf, I asked if it was male or female and she didn't know!!!! Any animal no matter what it is needs time from it's owners and rabbits are no different.

This piggie was a real grump, he would not let us pet him or even brush him, he would kick his food bowl at me. He frequently tried to bite my children, even my daughter who can charm anything living into complete submisssion. I had a health check on him just in case and decided he was just a misery. So he was best left with his bad moods. I don't have any pigs or rabbits now as the children are grown up and there is not that constant come and go of a busy house hold with a lot of small visitors which the guinea pigs and rabbits thrived on. When my last few died of a nothing but old age I decided not to have any more caged pets. I could not bear the thought of them not getting enough attention which I knew would happen.

My garden looks very bare in the sunshine lots of green grass and no runs or hutches to be seen ;-(   I hate not having a happy squeak saying thanks for all the veg cut offs that now end up in the compost!

Ris if the child is of the correct nature a guinea pig or a rabbit is the ideal first pet. Easy to handle nice temprement and perfect to teach the responsibility of animal care. IMO