8 week old m/f siblings

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This topic has 8sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 3 months ago by DanaNM.

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- 09/02/2023 at 5:04 AM
  LeoBunny
  Participant
  8 posts
  Hello!
  
  Unfortunately my elderly rabbit passed away a few days ago from a chronic case of the snuffles and I have been devastated ever since. I am now looking at taking in a male and female sibling pair of Holland lops. However, I have never had more than one rabbit at a time before so I’m a bit unsure how to go about this. I obviously want to get them spayed/neutered ASAP and plan on calling the Vet on Tuesday when it opens. Will they still be okay to be together until then and after the surgery? What are the chances of the girl getting pregnant at 8/9 weeks old?
  
  Additionally, I know snuffles is highly contagious. I plan on completely getting new food/water dishes and litter boxes and not reusing my sick rabbits things. However, are there any other precautions I should take?
  
  Thank you so much for all the help!
- 09/02/2023 at 5:08 AM
  Wick & Fable
  Moderator
  5814 posts
  You need to keep them separated and it will be a minimum of 4-5mo at least until you can try and bond them. Females generally cannot be spayed until 5-6mo, and both rabbits should be at least 1mo post-spay/neuter before they are ideal candidates for bonding.
  
  Keeping them together runs the risk of pregnancy and also the “baby bond” phenomena, which is a temporary bond held together only by the fact that the rabbits are not yet hormonal. You cannot predict when one will become hormonal, so there are many unfortunate stories online where an owner wakes up and their two young rabbits are cuddling, then later in the day, there is suddenly a vicious fight with serious injuries. I’d recommend separation right away. Rabbits do not acknowledge family units, so them being siblings does not forgo the baby bond.
  
  Whether they will be compatible after they are spayed/neutered is unknown, but you can always try bonding months from now when they’re ready and see how it goes!
  
  We have a bonding section of the forum you can ask questions when you get to that stage, and there is bonding information in the RABBIT INFO section of this website!
  
  The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
  - 09/02/2023 at 5:24 AM
    LeoBunny
    Participant
    8 posts
    Thank you so much for the reply! So, if I am understanding correctly:
    
    Even though the female would not be able to get pregnant until at least 3 months old, you would still recommend keeping them separate due to potential fighting, correct? Then, after the surgeries, keeping them separated for at least another month due to there still being a chance of breeding occurring? After that is when I could go through the bonding process. Does all of that sound about right? Just trying to get a good plan in motion, thank you again!
  - 09/02/2023 at 5:26 AM
    Wick & Fable
    Moderator
    5814 posts
    Close to correct — the reason for 1mo post spay/neuter is actually to allow time for their hormones to regulate themselves after those surgeries. Active hormones are the big obstacle in terms of a stable bond, in addition to general personality compatibility.
    
    That being said, a neutered male can still impregnate an intact female, some say up to 6 weeks after the neuter. The male will be neutered first most likely since you can neuter males younger than spaying females, so that’s another reason to keep them separated from the start.
    
    The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
- 09/02/2023 at 7:00 AM
  LeoBunny
  Participant
  8 posts
  Thank you so much for the reply! Seems like that isn’t the way to go then. I would like to have two rabbits eventually as I know they do better in pairs. Would you recommend taking in 2 male or 2 female siblings instead? I know I would still need to go through the bonding process after they are spayed/neutered, but I imagine they wouldn’t need to be seperated as long? Or would you instead recommend getting one rabbit spayed/neutered, and then waiting a bit to get an additional rabbit to try and bond? Apologies for all the questions and thank you for the advice!
- 09/02/2023 at 7:03 AM
  Wick & Fable
  Moderator
  5814 posts
  It is the general belief that M-F bonds are the easiest, then F-F, and M-M are the most difficult. That doesn’t necessarily mean M-M bonds can’t work, and also doesn’t mean all M-F bonds work. It’s a lot to do with individual rabbit compatibility.
  
  The typical route is to either adopt an already bonded pair of rabbits, or start with one and then speed date at rabbit rescues once your single rabbit is a viable bonding candidate to find a compatible partner to try.
  
  The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
- 09/02/2023 at 9:11 AM
  DanaNM
  Moderator
  9055 posts
  M-F pairs do tend to be the most likely to bond statistically, and I’ve found this to be the case in my own experience as well. Even siblings will start fighting at puberty, so getting two same sex babies is not really recommended for easier bonding. Plus baby rabbits are very often mis-sexed so you can easily end up with accidental litters (females can get pregnant at 12 weeks). So, I agree with Wick that adopting a pair of babies is the most complicated due to the long time you would need to keep them separated while waiting for them to be castrated, healed, and then hormones settled.
  
  Are there any rescues or shelters in your area? The simplest would be finding buns that are already spayed/neutered, so adopting from a rescue would solve that problem. , or better yet an already bonded pair. But, if you do need to spay/neuter it makes sense to get one bun first, handle their spay or neuter, then look into a second bun. Most male-female pairs do work out, it can just take more work to bond them with some pairings.
  
  . . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
  - 09/02/2023 at 11:50 AM
    LeoBunny
    Participant
    8 posts
    Thank you guys so much for the great advice. I would never buy from a breeder, but I know someone who had an accidental litter who was looking to get rid of some 8 week old rabbits. Going through a rescue is a much better idea, so I’ll either do that or just get one of the 8 week old siblings and try to bond them later in life. Thanks again you guys!
  - 09/02/2023 at 12:56 PM
    DanaNM
    Moderator
    9055 posts
    It’s definitely admirable to try to help someone who had an “oops litter”, you just have to be sure you don’t end up with another “oops”! haha
    
    I think taking one of them and then trying to bond later would be a good compromise.
    
    . . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
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