rabbit bonding

[rachelsdad]

we have a 14 month old neutered male rabbit and bought an 8 week old female yesterday as male was lonely. male sniffed round new addition for a while then tried to mate with it.my question relates to this-will male continually want to mate ? is 8 week old female too young to have a larger male mating with her ? if he mates once would this be just a way of him letting her know he is around ? hoping they will be able to live together as friends eventually

[laurencelolo]

never heard of the term : breeding like rabbit?

[leelapops]

Hello.

If you were in a small cage with a member of the sex you found desirable, wouldn't you be trying it on too?

I would say he'll probably keep giving it a go. Why don't you get one or other of them neutered? Unless you want a lot of baby bunnies hip-hopping around. Probably not so cute when your garden is overrun with them! And apparently not cheap to keep either.

If he "mates", as you put it, just the once, I am sure he'll keep on "mating". They can be around each other but if neither are protected then they will need constant supervision, and can't really "live" together in the way you are suggesting. Unless you find bunny condoms!

Two of my friends both have a pair of rabbits, both a mixed sex pair, and each rabbit lives separately, coming into contact with the other only for supervised play.
Lisa.

[leelapops]

Ah forgot to mention, both my friends have their female rabbits "done" (snipped, neutered and so on...) It was a relatively simple operation, and cheaper than caring for a large group (hutch? clutch? school? shoal?!!!) of babies.

Also, as in dogs, prevents any diseases down there.


Lisa.

[lankeela]

http://www.petmag.co.uk/rabbits/rabbitbreeding .html