i have 2 dwarf lop rabbits who are both about 7-8 months old. i have a male and female who get along great, i have had them both since they were about 3 months old, next week i am having my male castrated but i am wanting to get another rabbit. would i be better off getting a male or a female, also if i were to get another should i have my female spayed or would she be ok, she is really friendly and loves people and our dogs and cats.

I am surprised you haven't already been presented with babies if they are 8 months old, as they should be seperated by the time they are 12 weeks old as they will mate from about 4 months of age.

Are you absolutely sure they are not the samw sex.  I once showed a chocolate English as a doe only at one show to find the judge looking most puzzled as it turned into a defiante boy

Until the testicles grow and are easily visible alongsie the vent then it is easy to get it worng with baby rabbits.

I have never owned neutered Rabbits, and wouldn't be wanting to put a doe under anasthetic, though expect a male could be easily castrated under a light GA or local.

I would think a female is your best bet, but you may get the existing doe and her fighting.  Have only ever kept Rabbits singly, or allowed does to run about in a large pen together.

well i know poppy is a female as she had an ear infection a few months ago so went to see vet and he confirmed she is female but i have never checked freddy, i am just going on what i was told when i bought him. how do you sex rabbits?. thanks.

i have just had a look at both my rabbits and they look similar i think that freddy maybe a female. i think i will take him to the vets just to make sure.

no i am wrong again i have just had another look at freddy and i could easily see 2 testicles. i don't know what i was looking at last time. so i know they are both male and female.

I have never owned neutered Rabbits, and wouldn't be wanting to put a doe under anasthetic, though expect a male could be easily castrated under a light GA or local.

Barbara these days it is much more routine to neuter both sexes, certainly no problem in spaying does -I even had a little Polish spayed. :) Makes them a lot nicer to live with as so many does get nasty when they are broody. :)
http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/rwf/articles/neutleaf.htm

Hi VK, I used to have 6 rabbits sharing a large outdoor shed and run (used to be the dog kennel) - 2 neutered males and 4 females. The bucks got along great with each other. The does were a pain, they took a dislike to one doe and I had to rehome her. The other 3 would get on ok but still had the odd scrap. It's the opposite way round from what I expected - I had thought that having multiple males would be a problem and was prepared to seperate them but never had to.

I too am very surprised that they have not mated if they are the opposite sex (going like bunnies :D )
We only have a lil female (dwarf crossed with a mini rex I believe) she just turned a year old last month...

I know the males will kill the babies if he is not removed but not sure if they eat them or not, I think I have heard some place that they are known to eat the young as well ---  can't remember who told me that or if it is even true.

i have checked lots of times and they are male and female, he does try to groom her alot but he has never tryed anything else. i am still going to take him to be castrated next week and i suppose if there was a reason why he has never tryed the vet might be able to tell me. also just curious as to why my vet would charge me £40 to have my cat castrated but it is £47 for my rabbit, is the op more complicated on rabbits?. thanks.

Does anyone know how much it costs to have a little female rabbit spayed?   We've got a small sablepoint lionhead doe, who is very pretty, and was very sweet, but has recently turned quite aggresive, and have been advised to have her spayed.

It was either that, or OH taking her up the common with the bunnies there, but thought she wouldn't be too welcome there!:rolleyes:  She has actually drawn blood.   Haven't had rabbits for years, and came this as a surpise to me.

Dont' really want to take on another, but maybe I should?

Jo

well like i said my vet is chargeing me £47 for my male but i know it is more expenceive for a female but i don't know how much by.

Hiya, have been looking into rabbits as we`ve decided to keep & breed them in a small way as food for the table

Anyways have this link here tells roughly how much ££`s but a bit out of date :)

http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/rwf/articles/neutleaf.htm

It is more complicated to neuter a rabbit than a cat yes, hence the cost.

Hi

My vet charges the same as doing a cat.

She says it is very complicated as the animal is so small and fidly.They have more problems with the anasthetic to.

I suppose you just assume it would be cheaper becauce it is a rabbit.

Wendy

Id definately take them both along to the vets and get them sexed. It sounds incredibly unlikely that you have a male and a female and have NEVER had any baby buns.

I once checked a doe every day as i was convinced she was male - and at this point id had rabbits for years and had bred numerous litters of buns.... it was only when she had a litter that i was finally sure she was female!

Testicles can be sometimes hard to see especially on a fairly small bunny, ithink if you press gentley but firmly either side of the vent, if its a boy, a penis will pop out.

Em

well i know they are male and female, and for the first time today he has been trying to hump her so i have had to seperate them, she is not interested at the moment so i don't think he has caught her, but i am having him castrated this week.

oh also i have got my new rabbit, he is a pale ginger male we have called him joey, and poppy and freddy love him. he is so much smaller than them but they soon grow.

HI

You may have been lucky they havent mated because of the time of year. It is to cold. Now we have a bit or warm weather the hormones are on the go again.

I breed rabbits and have had a lot of problems so far this year getting the does preggy. I am hoping now spring is here they will start to produce.

Wendy

I would be prepared to hear the thumping of tiny paws soon as it may have been the first time you have seen them at it but doesn't mean they haven't been at it when you haven't been around watching :D 

"just curious as to why my vet would charge me £40 to have my cat castrated but it is £47 for my rabbit"

I had to pay £65 each to have my last two female rabbits spayed   The only thing with spaying a doe is that they can get lazy and put on weight so you have to watch their food intake.  A fat rabbit tends to not clean itself, attracts flies and can get 'fly strike' - a very nasty thing which I unfortunately witnessed in my old male bunny several years ago which killed him :( He had never cleaned himself properly since being a baby and I had to do it several times a day.  He used to be a house rabbit but when I got pregnant we needed to re-convert 'his room' back into a bedroom so he went outside in the Summer into a massive custom built run with his Guinea Pig chum.  Wish I'd kept him inside :(

Anyway, my two female bunnies got on grand and never fought but they were in a 4ft two tier hutch with an attached 4ft by 10ft run so had plenty of room to 'have some space'.  They were out in the run all day and all night cos it was in the garage.  It was customised so that on the nice days they could come out of the run into an enclosed part of the drive - they had a great time bless 'em.  I don't have much luck with rabbits though cos the oldest one I've had was 4.5 :rolleyes:

If you are getting your male castrated and your female spayed then IMO it wouldn't matter what sex you got as long as you had that done too to surpress the hormones which could cause it to be agressive to the bunny of the same sex.  However, if your two current bunnies get along and are happy together can I ask why you want another?  Afterall, 2's company 3's a crowd and one of them could get pushed out...

I always thought you couldn't easily introduce new rabbits to old rabbits? or is that just if they have been kept singlely? Or not at all and I've been told a fib?

Depends on the rabbits nature   Its recommended you keep them separate for a while e.g. in individual runs next to each other so that they can get used to each other but in 'safety'.  Then you introduce them and gradually build up the time they spend with together - obviously watching them closely otherwise there could be a trip to the vet needed!  Some rabbits are no problem with a new companion but others are very territorial.

:)

Or with my two,
I got an already neutered male and spayed female bonded pair, unfortunatly Happy died from fly strike last year (Yes Horrible :() and brought Ivan inside as a house rabbit. Then earlier this year I went an got a 2 year old black rex (Pics can be seen on my profile) I put them together in dining room, they humped each other a bit, they were out of the crate together for about 8 hours before i went to bed, and didnt draw blood, so i out them both in the crate (Had thoroughly disinfected it to get rid of as much smell as possible) and they stayed in their together over night. Spent the next day watching them like a hawk but were fine. Never looked back. The hardes thing was getting Lexy litter traiuned which is still hit and miss 2 months later!!!!
Lea :)

i have now had my male castrated, he is doing fine, i am going to put him back in with the others tomorrow. i have got a new  huge indoor cage there is plenty of room for all four of them.

Be careful as he may still be firing non blanks I would have thought unless it is different for bunnies anybody ? :)

No for at least 4 weeks he can still produce babies!

how is that? i mean is it still possible even though there is nothing there? how?

Because sperm can be stored in the tubes.

oh right i did not know that, not too sure what to do now. i don't want any baby rabbits but its not nice keeping him alone, he does not seem happy by himself. what would you do?.

Keep him in a crate next to the other rabbits. BUT give enough room between the cages so that he cannot get the the famales. It HAS been known to 'occur' between bars ;)
HTH
Lea :)