Why does Thunder do this to Flo

[Flo]

Flo  has had babies to Thunder 2 weeks ago and when thunder is let out of his cage he poos all around bottom of her cage and just lies outside her cage grooming her through wire.  Why ? is he in love he could be running round whole house? He does for a bit then goes back to Flo?

(he lives on top of cage seperated from her and babies its a few stories high unreal cage!!)

[Flo]

Just booked Thunder in for neutering he goes in tomorrow.

When I got up this morning i noticed hed been spraying the walls around the cage as well as pooping thats not on the whole cage area reeked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any advice on how to care for Thunder when he comes home tomorrow.  Vet just said hed be drowsy and right in a couple days.  Will try to get more info tomorrow when there.

[MooBunnay]

Hi!

The spraying is quite normal for unneutered boys, especially when they are claiming territory, and if he is grooming her, that is definitely a sign that he likes her.  I think that the neutering will definitely help stop the pee spraying, though you might have to wait a week or so for the hormones he has to calm down.
He probably does have a crush on Flo (hmm any decent bunny should at least like a girl before he has babies with her, haha).  It is good that you are getting him neutered, are you getting her spayed as well?  It would not be a good idea to re-introduce them until they are both fixed, so that neither of the buns has hormones running wild that will start a fight.

How did the neutering go?

[Flo]

Hi Moobunnay,

Hope you are enjoying your new community leader role.

Thunder is at vet now will pick him up this arvo, you can tell Flo is wondering where on earth has he gone. I am a romantic i do like to believe there in love!!

Flo will be neutered after she finishes feeding her babies.  Am unsure when the appropriate time is but im sure u could tell me.

Yes they have been seperated since we thought she was pregnant and yep dont want any more baby bunnies so know to keep them apart until Thunders hormone levels adjust.(is that the right way to put it)

Then Flo will be done then we willl have to sex the babies (Dont know how, will prob take them to vet) so we can keep them seperated as an unwanted pregnancy between any of them would not be ideal.

Will keep you informed on Thunder this arvo,

 

[MooBunnay]

Hi! Thanks, yep I’m enjoying the community leader role, tho, I was hoping the new title also came with an instant magic wealth of knowledge in my brain, but I seem to know just the same as before haha

Yes, "adjust" is the right way to put it, I usually just say the boys need some time to "calm down" but even after neutering, when they meet again he’ll probably mount just to show some dominance.  It is tough to sex babies, I am still learning, so definitely a good idea to take them to the vet, pregnancies can occur much younger than most would expect, so getting them to the vet as soon as they are old enough is a good idea.

Do you have any pics of the babies? I just love seeing cute little baby buns

[BinkyBunny]

Flo – MooBunnay was right. His spraying is definitely territorial. New little bunnies are in his town, even if he can’t have contact with them, he smells them, and so he is making sure everyone knows he lives there.

Also, depending on his nature, if he’s dominant, and if the babies end up staying passed 12 weeks old, he may continue marking (even if he’s neutered) and they may go marking crazy too.

NOTE; It can take up to 6 weeks for the hormones to die to after surgery (some people have even said 2 months, while others say just a few weeks) 

MooBunnay – You’ll find how quickly you learn with so many questions. And I’ve been a board leader for five years now (four for ivillage.com) and even now I get stumped all the time. When that happens, I just think "yippee, something more to research, ask other experts, and learn about – ehh…hmmm, actually thatt sounds pretty goofy if that’s what I get excited about. What a life.

[Flo]

MooBunnay, Binky Bunny,

How early can the babies get pegnant how many weeks?

Thunder neuttering went well he is so adorable very quite now but am expecting that is part of his recovery.  How many weeks do we keep him seperated from FLO to be safe we do not want (as cute as they are) anymore kits.?

Lucky for us the vet has agreed sexing the babies can be difficult and will be happy to do that for u when Kits are coming out of the nest.  They are 16 days old and still in nest box yesterday i heard some scratching inside box so maybe they were trying to find exit.

Thanks for all yoour great advice

[MooBunnay]

I looked around online, and it appears that the babies could get pregnant at about 12 weeks at the very earliest, however, many vets will not perform the spay/neuter surgery until they are older.  Another site said 13 weeks until they can get pregnant.  Also, the small breeds reach their sexual maturity around 3-4 months according to the sites, so I would assume that it is some time after that period that the vet would be willing to spay/neuter the buns.

Also, just an FYI for anyone else that has an unexpected litter, don’t forget that the female can get pregnant again right away! (some of my research said even 30 minutes after!) so its definitely not safe to put the male back with the female.

Hope all is going well with the babies!

[BinkyBunny]

MooBunnay is right.  Females can get pregnant as early as three months, and a mother can get pregnant within 24 hours of giving birth. Another thing to note is that a neutered male can still impregnate a female within 2 weeks of surgery. (and I need to double check that it may not be even longer)

UPDATE: Okay so it looks like the male should be separated as long as three weeks. this is an expert from http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=489

" **It is important to note that neutered males should not be put in contact with intact females for at least 3 weeks after neutering. Male rabbits can still have living sperm in ducts within the spermatic cord called the vas deferens, which can not be removed, during surgery. The sperm in these ducts can live for two weeks. Testosterone blood levels drop slowly after neutering and male rabbits will still try to mate with female rabbits for several weeks after the testicles are removed. After three weeks the sperm are completely dead. Since the testicles are gone, no new sperm are being produced so it is safe to put a male and female rabbit back together again."

[Author]

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