newbie with questions.....any advice appreciated! - Paw Talk

leoandoliva · #1 04-23-2008, 08:51 PM

Hi I am brand new here and hope I am doing this right......We got ourselves two baby bunnies 3 wks ago and told they were both boys that were 7 wks old. I decided o have them checked out at the vet just in case. Today I was told that my precious bratty Oliver is and Olivia! Leo and Oliva love each other already and my daughter is really upset that we need to separate them already. The vet told us to do it as soon as possible as they are now about 10 and 1/2 weeks old and he suspects the boy may be about a week older. Here are my main questions...
#1 We built them a two story cage......Can one stay in the top and one in the bottom if we modify it? Will they remain friends this way until we can have them spayed/nuetered at 6 mos??
# 2 How long after surgery can we try to put them back together? and will this rebonding be difficult?

I have so many other questions about these issues so any and all adive is welcome.....Help us figure out the best way to do all this so someday they can live in peace together and i can reassure my daughter.....
MANY THANKS!!

kathydip · #2 04-23-2008, 09:44 PM

I adopted a brother and sister. I was told they were 3 months. And silly me thought they could stay together for a bit. My Oliver cleared that up as soon as we got home.
What we did was to keep them side by side. I had one small cage and one baby pen with a top. I would change what the cage/pen were in twice a day so they had equal time in each area. This way they could see each other and were very used to each others scent.
My vet neutered Oliver maybe 2 weeks after we got him. For Ophelia we had to wait a full month since they were a bit older than your babies and we were worried that she had gotten pregnant before we adopted them.
After Ophelia's spay we waited 2 weeks for her to heal (check with you vet regarding that time span I could be mistaken).
I was very lucky. They bonded almost immediately. I tried them together one night and by the next night they were together and have never been apart.

I don't think I would do a top and bottom cage because then they cannot see each other and interact. Instead a side by side cage would be better. This way they can lay against each other but you don't need to worry about baby buns over running your house.

My unrelated buns are the ones I am having a hard time bonding.

Enjoy your new babies - and please post pics.

You definitely came to the right site for questions on bunnies. I learned an enormous amount from everyone here!

**Dragonrain** · #3 04-23-2008, 10:14 PM

Hellos

Welcome to PT!

When I got my second bunny, I actually kept them in stacked cages because I didn't have enough room to give them both decent size cages next to each other. Everyday I switched who was in what cage. But both my rabbits were already fixed at the time, so I could also allow them to have time out of their cages to play together. If you can, but them side by side so they can see each other. If you don't have the room or something, you could let one out, and keep the other in the bottom cage so that they can see each other through the cage bars. Side by side cages would be best, but I did have success using stacked cages.

Once they are recovered from, you should be able to start letting them out to interact with each other. But keep in mind that it can take a few weeks for their hormones to die down after they are fixed. I wouldn't think that rebonding them would be to difficult - especially if they can see/smell each other the whole time they are seperated. Male/female pairs are usually the easiest to bond, but every bunny is diffrent so they could immedently rebond, or it could take some time.

Luckybunny · #4 04-23-2008, 11:50 PM

Welcome...this is the place to get great advice...everyone is so helpful! We all love pictures. I agree with the previous posts. Side by side cages would be best or at least some interaction at playtime with one in the lower cage. We are waiting for healing to be complete (about two more weeks) and we will be trying to rebond our two rabbits. I wish you luck with the bonding process once your babies are fixed!!

leoandoliva · #5 04-24-2008, 08:00 AM

Would anyone recomend that one is done before the other. I was hoping to talking the vet into nuetering Leo first?( so his horomones are in check) by the time my Oliver...( Oliva really) is done. Or should I bring them in together??
Thanks for all the fast advice.....Hoping to sort out photos today but need my sons help....

Luckybunny · #6 04-24-2008, 09:04 AM

hehehe...someone else who needs childs help putting on pictures...I'm not the only one.

;

Females take longer to heal...it is recommended that they have 5 weeks healing time before bonding with another rabbit. I think I would have them both done at the same time. By the time the female is healed...the male will have had that time to get his hormones in check. I think males could possibly impregnate a female up to two weeks after their surgery. They will be together for the car ride over as well as in recovery.

Good Luck.

Mommy of 9 · #7 04-24-2008, 10:21 AM

Wow that is funny! I was told that both of my buns were girls to by the pet store and it turns out they are both boys! I was thinking I was going to have baby buns too but yesterday I finally got my Maia out and she is a boy too!

leoandoliva · #8 04-24-2008, 12:46 PM

Be careful with the two boys. From everything I have read so far boys will fight starting at around 3-4 months. When I thought mine were boys I was told by the vet, pet store and others that I needed to get them both nuetered and hope that they could still live together afterward. I guess my predicatment is a blessing in disguise, as most information I have read says that the male female pair, once bonded and spayed/nuetered can live peacefully together forever. This is why we got two at the same time to begin with but were mis informed about the sexes and all this other stuff too. I am going to look into redisgning their cage today if I have time. We made it out of thos storage cube things and it currently has two floors. We need to find a way to separate them this weekend and from the sounds of all of your good advice here, they will be apart for some time. Any photos out there of the sotrage cube cages???

leoandoliva · #9 04-24-2008, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luckybunny


	hehehe...someone else who needs childs help putting on pictures...I'm not the only one. ; Females take longer to heal...it is recommended that they have 5 weeks healing time before bonding with another rabbit. I think I would have them both done at the same time. By the time the female is healed...the male will have had that time to get his hormones in check. I think males could possibly impregnate a female up to two weeks after their surgery. They will be together for the car ride over as well as in recovery. Good Luck.

I think it is just the over 40 set that needs help with this stuff!

My son has built and designed what we thought was the perfect cage and tolm me about forums where I could learn more, and then signed me up! I will try to get some good pictures of my new babies and add later! Thanks for all the advice!

**Dragonrain** · #10 04-24-2008, 01:20 PM

Males can still get females pregnant for awhile after they are fixed - some say the sperm can only live 2 weeks, but I've also heard that it's longer then that. So you shouldn't get the male fixed then let him back with the female right away because she could still get pregnant from him for awhile.

If you got them done at the same time, then you wouldn't have to worry about that.

If your set on not getting them both done at once, I would say get the female done first. Females need a longer time to recover, and in my experience, females are more likely to develope aggression problems when not fixed (cage aggression, ect).

leoandoliva · #11 04-24-2008, 01:30 PM

I am going to get them both done. My vet will agree to do the boy anytime after 4 months but the girl not until 6. He prefers to wait on both until they are six months old. Iguess I was thinking that if he was done earlier than her, his horomones would be all dried up by the time it was her turn and then I could get them back together after she is healed. How long will it take her to heal do you think? some say they are back with thier nutered mates within days. I guess I am trying to figure out the best way to have them apart for the least amount of time. since they are boht about 10-11 weeks old, it will be for a while anyway. We are worried they will forget how much they love each other and not want to live together anymore........

Mommy of 9 · #12 04-25-2008, 09:44 AM

I wish you luck with your buns!

I didn't know that boys are more aggressive! They are both about 5 months old and they seem to be getting along fine! i will be getting them both fixed but I just have to get a few more dollars in my pocket! I have to fix my girl kitty too!

Some people say that kids are expensive so are animals! But I love them they are the best and until we decide to have babies or our own I will continue to spoil my animal babies!