Any Rabbit advice ?

indiegirl_2

amy104 wrote: »

I have actually just bonded 2 unrelated neutered males, so a pair of males can work, but I must advise you it is one of the hardest pairings. You will need to make sure both are neutered as soon as their plums drop (approx 14-16 weeks) or they will almost certainly fight and cause each other serious harm.

Crikey, I'm a bit nervous now about them. We have already met them; one is very quiet and docile and was quite content to sit and be stroked, the other was a little more inquisitive. The girls of the litter seemed more mental than the boys, but I haven't got a clue what to expect around that 14-16 week period and that worries me a bit, well, quite a lot.

amy104 wrote: »

Netherland Dwarfs are totally mental bunnies. They might be small but they are super active so try to give them as much space as possible.

They'll have a playpen for the lounge whilst they're small (I'm a bit of a gadget-freak and I've been busy trying to rabbitproof all the cables etc in the house tonight; not easy in my lounge). They'll also have an outside run as well, and gradually we will let them loose in the hallway before opening up the lounge to them... but I am definitely nervous about having them in the house.

Are Netherland Dwarves chewers / diggers? Thankfully we have laminate flooring in the lounge so I don't need to worry about carpets being dug up.

amy104

Are Netherland Dwarves chewers / diggers? Thankfully we have laminate flooring in the lounge so I don't need to worry about carpets being dug up

I think I am in lucky in that none of mine are real diggers, I suspect it may have something to do with the fact they were all spayed and neutered early before this behaviour hit.

All bunnies are chewers. They can be pretty destructive, so housebunnies may not be a particularly good option if you are houseproud. Even if you are lucky and they don't nibble things they shouldn't, be prepared for your house to be covered in hay.

I haven't got a clue what to expect around that 14-16 week period and that worries me a bit, well, quite a lot.

The best advice I can give you is check them regularly. As soon as you see the plums appear its time to contact your vet for a neutering op. It would be ideal if you can get them both done together so they can recover together, that was you wont have to seperate them so you have a better chance of keeping them as a long term pair.

bizywizy

my experience of my lovely housebunny is that he will not pee or poop very often in my lounge but given the chance ie if I go out the room - he will nip into the dining room and squeeze out a kg (exageration) of poops and squeeze out even the teeniest wee just to annoy me.

indiegirl_2

amy104 wrote: »

IIt would be ideal if you can get them both done together so they can recover together, that was you wont have to seperate them so you have a better chance of keeping them as a long term pair.

What are the recovery times for neutering, on average?

Hay in the house I can cope with, and I don't mind them chewing the furniture but will attempt to distract them with chewable toys instead...

ANGLICANPAT

Good luck with your bunnies Indiegirl . I would keep checking for your boys plums from 11/12 weeks , not 14 if you want to err on the safe side. Small breeds mature earlier than large, and as with people , the odd individual will develop unusually early. As long as neither has problems with undescended testicles and you manage to get them neutered early enough before they show any aggression towards each other (once theyve spatted, its difficult to get them compatible again), my experience has been that males live very happily together in the main as long as they have space and no nearby females to scent and squabble over. Im sure they'll be fine.
Most rabbits operated on by lunchtime, are ready to go home by late afternoon .
Someone said earlier their rabbit cant drink out of a bottle - so thought Id mention that every so often we had a bottle that was faulty. Always worth checking by touching your finger under the dispensing ball in the neck to make sure water comes out, and in the winter, weve seen the metal necks freeze which makes drinking impossible ,though water looks ok in the bottle. Have a great time learning about your new boys.

bizywizy

when ours was little he wouldnt drink from a water bottle so we gave him a bowl - he was forever knocking it over - eventually he took to the bottle and is fine with it now.

I too have had the odd faulty bottle and as they get older I think limescale gets involved too.

indiegirl_2

Well hopefully we should be picking them up next weekend (they will be 8 or 9 weeks at that stage), and I am looking forward to it. I will be very careful and will check them for their plums (poor things, they're not going to like that. Mind you, nor am I; it's years since I've seen a pair!!!! :-D).

It will work out very nicely as it's my OH's birthday and she's even more excited about the buns than I am; so their arrival home will be a little extra pressie for her.

They'll have lots of exercise space (we have a big pen that we've bought to let them hop around the lounge whilst small so they don't go disappearing off into all the nooks and crannies) and there's definitely no females nearby (just OH and I!), and as they're from the same litter I hope they'll be used to each other.

T-minus 6 days to bunnies!! :-)

amy104

What are the recovery times for neutering, on average?

Boys normally bounce back much quicker. Some of mine were back to their normal checky selves when I collected them from the vet the same afternoon. Some were a little quiet for a couple of days. The most important thing is to get them eating again post op so try to get to know your new bunnys likes and dislikes so you can tempt them with there favorites. Most often they wont want the pellets/hay post op so veggies or strong smelling herbs normally work better, or even grass and dandelions. Make sure your vet gives them adequate pain relief before you bring them home as that is the most important thing.

indiegirl_2

They're home (no pics yet, giving them time to settle in)... we've already had Marmite escape from the playpen we put them in this morning whilst cleaning out the cage (squeezed through the bars, the little Houdini... I nabbed him quick thankfully).

They're so tiny and fragile; I feel as if I may break them!

Bit peeved that the lovely Igloo house I bought for them has been chosen as their toilet, it really is an igLOO I suppose... but need to pop a tray under there with the litter in as at the moment they're ignoring the actual litter tray (complete with hay) and just dashing into the igloo for a wee/etc. Not sure if it's worth trying to retrain them to use the tray or just to pop a flat tray under the igloo to soak it all up. I'm impatient and expect them to pick things up quickly, so after 24hrs I'm expecting toilet things in one place (until then, I'll spend my time moving the droppings into one place) :-D (very impatient, me!)

~Chameleon~

They won't go to the toilet in hay, that's a food source for them! Use shavings but make sure they're not from pine or cedar wood as these are toxic to rabbits.