Intentional breeding is a totally off limits topic. If Frosty isn’t nuetered he certainly shouldn’t be hanging out with girls. If you check the rescue section of the forums you’ll find lots of info I’m sure that can help your friends who want and can take care of a new bunny. Also, the local shelters and classified ads are a great way to find a bunny that needs a home.

By the way, props to the girl you brought home. I’d probably bite too if some guy I just met was all over me just for the sake of a moments pleasure, good for her! For the safety of Frosty I’d keep them seperated, and for the sake of every bunny who’s likely to end up euthinized or in stew. Don’t make more babies, tell your friends to save a bunny and in the process you’ll save your Frosty from harm caused by trying to force unspayed/unnuetered bunnies to hang out.

Again, intentional breeding is a forbidden topic here. I didn’t say YOUR baby bunnies would end up in a stew, butother mgiht because you just couldn’t resist the urge to amke more when there are now bunnies dying or being killed because there aren’t enough homes out there for them. If your friends truely love buns and want to provide a safe and loving home to a baby, there is certainly no shortage of babies that are literally dying to get someont to love and care for them. I rescued my baby from someone who was equally willing to sell for meat as for a pet. There’s a good chance that the same is happening to hundreds of rabbits a year in your area, maybe even more than that. Frosty doesn’t need new holes in him from a girl that doesn’t want his advances, he needs to be nuetered. If you really really loved rabbits, you’d do it, since you would realize that while you may be able to assure your babies get a good home you would have to live with the knowledge that for every one born and given a loving home, a rabbit will die for lack of a good home.

Yes, I just said with absolute surity that for each individual baby you make, a rabbit will die. Stop, and stop now, before you cause the death of needless buns. Love Frosty by nuetering him, he’ll never miss it once it’s gone, he’ll be better behaved and you will save the lives of 3 or 6 or maybe even a dozen bunnies. If you have no intentions of stopping, don’t bother replying, just take yourself somewhere else before a forum leader has to get involved.

Hi Riffy

As Adalaide has already pointed out, discussions about intentionally breeding your rabbit is a “no-go zone” here. The community is also very pro-rescue and support the many thousands of rabbits in shelters and foster care that need a home. So hopefully you can understand why breeding Frosty would be a sensitive subject here. Please think seriously about not doing that. If you want him to be more settled, getting his neutered will stop the hormones from raging and may help stop other destructive behaviours he may develop.

As for the girl bunny, do look seriously at getting her spayed. Did you know that unspayed females have an 80% chance of developing cancer? So it’s a good reason to get her fixed, she should live longer and be more settled.
Only then can you really put a male and female bunny together to become friends. It’s a bit of work but once they’re both fixed and the hormones are out of the way, they can bond.

Have you considered that the female is already pregnant again already? They can become so 24hr after just having had a litter! The reason her 1st litter may have been small is probably because she was bred with the brother. The babies can end up with deformities, health issue etc. So this could happen again since Frosty is related to her too.

So – absolutely, putting these two together now sounds like it will result in injured rabbits. And they can be vicious when they fight!

Riffy, even though you don’t know me, would you do me a favour? Take a look at some rabbit rescue sites and read some of the stories of the rabbits there. So are so heartbreaking. Then, could you tell the people you know that want rabbits to take a look too? There is a real need for homes for these shelter rabbits. Hopefully, if you can see the situation at these shelters you could tell your friend that bred her rabbits too so that she’ll think twice next time.

Well, goodluck with Frosty. Remember, if you get him fixed, you could have a great settled rabbit to enjoy for many years.

I’m actually not sure. A vet would be able to tell you that. Is the female actually your rabbit now? If not, she is your friends responsibility. Give her a quiet space away from Frosty. Stress on rabbits can make them very ill. If she begins pulling out her dewlap fur, then she’s making a nest. In the FAQ section there is info about surprise litters if you want to read more.
Even if she’s not pregnant, because she already had a litter at a young age she may still be recovering. She may also be guarding her territory. To keep both the rabbit safe – keep them apart.
It is common for rabbits to interbreed as people just leave litters together and the babies mature quickly then breed themselves. This is how the rabbit population gets out oof control so quickly. But certainly, the survival of the litter is challenged from interbred rabbits.

It only takes seconds for rabbits to get together and breed. So if you are serious about not doing this, be sure to keep them well separated. They can even breed through the bars of a cage.  So if they are in pens or cages make sure there is space between the pen/cages.

Sorry, didn’t see your last question. I think on petfinder.com there is a feature to locate shelters in your area. Most have an adoption fee (around $40) but the rabbit is already fixed and had a veterinary exam. Also, the personalities are assessed. I’m really happy that you’re going to take a look!
Some of the rescues sites you could take a look at to get the ball rolling are:
http://www.saveabunny.org         http://www.rabbithaven.org
Another good site to read about bunny care etc is http://www.rabbit.org

Hi, Riffy,

jersey and adalaide have given you some great advice, and I’m glad you’re convinced to help these lovely bunnies. I am wondering if you already own the little girl? If you can return her, or give her to a local shelter to avoid having your friend breed her again, that would be in her best interest. By all means suggest your friend take a look at our website, but as the others said, as long as she is not involved in intentional breeding.

Let me suggest that you also check out http://www.rabbit.org, which is the House Rabbit Society website. There you will find lists of rabbit savvy vets, as well as recommended shelters. You just need to look them up according to your location. If you need help with that, just email me with your town and I’ll see what I can do.

If Frosty is old enough to be neutered, that’s you best first step. Unlike humans, he will not feel any lack in his life by not siring babies. He can freely enjoy the company of a companion bunny as you find one he likes and go about the process of bonding. I would suggest reading the other forums and check out the green banner above where it says Bunny Info. to get a good idea of what’s involved.

A young female will have hormones that make her more aggressive when in her teens, so fighting, growling and tearing the surrogate is pretty normal. She’s just letting you know exactly how she feels! In bonding, ignoring another bunny is actually a good sign at the beginning, but fighting can be hard to break up, just as an unspeutered male and female is hard to stop, because it happens very, very fast. So by the time you separate them it could be too late. A bunny can do serious damage, such as a torn ear, in a fight. Or a baby could be on the way. You want to accept their opinions.
These two must remain separated.

Once Frosty is neutered, however, you can do what’s called bunny dating. You can actually take him with you to a shelter where they will introduce him to other bunnies one at a time in a supervised area. There he can meet someone, it will be clear who he likes best, and you can bring home a friend to begin the bonding process. He will have chosen a companion, and another male is often just fine, and you will have rescued a bunny.

I hope this helps. As you can see, we’re pretty passionate about bunnies!

(P.S. sorry I mixed up the names. More coffee needed…thanks jersey!)

I’m so happy that you’ve decided not to make more babies! Frosty will be a much happier man since he’ll be able to stay all in one piece. I found Freya in the newpaper classified section online. In my area there are literally hundreds a month that are available usually for five or ten bucks, although some people ask more, usually breeders, eww. The classified section of almost every newspaper is available free online and is an easy way to find bunnies in need. Everyone else knows more about finding a shelter easier than me it seems, I’d listen to them on that one. Just make sure your friends all know that even if you find a cheap or free bunny, taking care of them can get expensive. It cost quite a bit to get started, plus vet care, spaying or neutering and of course and emergancy fund in case s/he gets sick. Talking to a local vet that’s good with bunnies will help you all know how much money should be set aside for care, since fees can vary greatly depending on where you live. Good luck with Frosty, I home you can find him someone to bond with after he’s safely neutered. He’ll never know what he’s missing, I promise, and he’ll be so much happier in the long run.

That’s good advice, Adalaide. If you scroll up to the green bar, under Bunny Info. there’s a drop down menu with a page for cost of bunny care. Worth checking out.

You really should not put them together at all. If you do not want babies I dont know why your still putting them togther. You can see how they get along after the neuter and the waiting period of 6 weeks after that. It takes only seconds to get the female pregnant. Not 60 seconds, I mean she could be before you even had the chance to break them up. And running out of food is simply not an option. If they stop eating for even a half a day it could cause serious digestive issues. A day could end up killing them with digestive problems. I would not feed anything outside of normal bunny foods but Im not sure as Ive never run out of food for my rabbits. My suggestion would be to somehow come up with the money asap- dig change out of the car, ask a friend for help, credit card, get some from your friend that breeds, whatever you have to do to feed them asap. Personally I think they would be better off if you toke them to a rescue if you cant provide for them.

I’m by no means experienced with multiple rabbits but I don’t think it is a good idea to let him hump her face especially if she is aggressive towards him. She could bite him and he would be in a lot of pain. Think about what she would be biting if he is on her face .

Just as a note, you might want to stay away from the crackers and bread.  It could possibly cause digestive problems.  Any digestive problem can be fatal for a rabbit if untreated.

Perhaps it was naive of me to think this wouldn’t happen again. Once again, discussions of deliberately breeding rabbits is not allowed on the forums. 
BE AWARE – the female can bite the males genitals if he mounts her face. You are putting them both at risk by putting them together.

First and foremost:

Regarding your post about not having money to feed your bunnies and if you can give them green beans:  If you ever get to the point that you cannot afford to feed your bunnies then you will need to seriously think about giving them to your local humane society. Though I always look at that as a last resort – not having enough money to feed your animals is a last resort and you have to end up doing what is best fo them.  You cannot let them go hungry. How long have they been without food? What are you feeding them now?

The ONLY reason this thread is still here is because people are trying to help, but Riffy, in order for you to continue posting here, you canNOT put these rabbits together. It will be considered intentional breeding and this thread will be deleted. Please reread the responses thoroughly in this thread before replying again.

Keep the bunnies separated until one (preferably both) have been altered. (this will also make easier for bonding) You will still have to give them several weeks to heal and let their hormones die down. NOTE: A male can still get an unspayed female pregnant within a month after his neuter.

It may already be too late and she may be pregnant. That is also why she may be getting aggressive. But you also put her with a male who she fought with, and so she is going to be hyped up.

IF you are serious about getting them spayed/neutered, then it is important to find a rabbit-savvy vet. Do you have one?

I keep enough food in storage to feed my family for several months. If there’s ever an emergancy, flood, earthquake, job loss, I can be sure my family is taken care of. Now that Freya is a family member, this includes food for her. Remember, those buns are helpless and can not provide for themselves. If you have 3 or 4 bucks and have to choose between you and them eating, I suggest you feed them. You can easily get yourself fed, not so easy for the buns. Also, if you are keeping both of them, next time you have enough money to go grocery shopping, buy enough food, hay and bedding to last 3 months, then every time you use up a bag replace it so you always have that back up. You’l never find yourself in this situation again.

I’m no expert, but from what I understand the meadow hay that is generally for horses and cows may not be safe because it can contain plants that aren’t save for bunnies. I grew up on a farm, and not even all meadow hay is created equal. I think others here may have some better recommendations, but to my understanding timothy hay is really the best way to go. Don’t forget his fresh veggies too.

oh its so good that you dont keep them together! its crazy how easily buns can mate even tho you think you’re keeping an eye on them. i heard a story here from some one who works in a shelter (and i forget who… oops… whoever you are pls correct me if i’m wrong) that buns actually mated thru cage wires! they were in separate cages but the cages were close enough together! you just can’t be too careful.

years ago when i brought a 2nd bun home for a companion for my first bun i was pretty shocked that they didn’t get along at all either. it wasn’t until i found this website that i learned you can’t just plop 2 bunnies together and have them get along. there have been some very sad stories about bunnies getting very badly hurt in fights with other bunnies so you have to be really really careful. there’s a whole forum here dedicated to bonding bunnies… you should read through some threads if you ever consider a 2nd bun again. its a whole lot of work.

anyways… about farm hay… you do have to be careful of your source. i was lucky enough to find a local farmer who has timothy hay bales and who will sell me one at a time. many hay farmers have timothy mixed with alfalfa and thats not good for adult rabbits. they’ll put on too much weight. if your source cannot guarantee that the hay is purely timothy then i wouldn’t buy from them. even the hay i get isn’t perfect so i have to be careful to check every handful that it only has timothy in it. i recommend buying some timothy from a pet store so that you can see what its supposed to look like.

Riffy where are you located? You mention that your friend in the Dominican Republic can get you this hay so I was curious where you live.

You should be able to locate some hay more locally – here is a link from the New York City House Rabbit Society

http://www.rabbitcare.org/hay.htm

Here are some local vets

http://www.rabbitcare.org/vets.htm

I would definitely recommend getting in touch with the New York House Rabbit society and finding out where they get their hay from, I’m sure it would be much easier and cheaper for you to get it somewhere locally. Oxbow sells hay in pet stores all over the country, so I’m sure you can find a local place that sells Oxbow hay which is a great hay for bunnies.