Sibling reunion

Question
We have recently purchased 2 does (8 days ago) - and left the buck bro' behind.  Now I'm wondering if we should have taken all 3 - what do you advise?

Answer
Well, I'd say it depends.

Are they fixed?  I am not a great proponent of people breeding as there is a glut of unwanted rabbits at shelters all over the USA.

If they are not fixed, you'd need to keep the male separate anyways to prevent unwanted litters.  Also if they did get pregnant, depending on the genetics of these rabbits, they may have inbreeding problems and I don't think you want to mess with that.

Two females, especially from the same family, that have been together since they were young, are often considered good pairings for rabbits living together.  

If you are thinking that you feel guilty for separating them from their brother, I would ask what are you observing from the girls that would make you think that?  Generally rabbits will remember certain things and can get depressed about changes, this is generally not their nature and I am not sure you have had them long enough to be able to read them well enough to say they are depressed because their brother is gone.

You could always call the place you purchased the girls from and inquire as to how the male buck is doing.  They probably are in a better position to determine if he is acting unusual with the girls gone.  I would not tell them YOU feel guilty or are considering buying the male because you think the girls are depressed, as I think that might influence their answer to you.  Rather, just inquire how the boy is and if he seems to be depressed or down now that the girls are gone.

In any case, if you do wind up getting him, the best thing you can do for these rabbits are to get them spayed and neutered when they are sexually mature.  You will have much better behaved rabbits and all the 'negative' hormonally-driven behavior (spraying by the male, excessive markings, cage agression by the females) will be greatly reduced, if not go away altogether.

The House Rabbit Society web page (www.rabbit.org) has excellent resource articles you can save and print out for your rabbit reference collection.  

Feel free to write back anytime.  Lee