Sibling separation

Question
hi Dana, i need your advice.
I have nine baby rabbits (5 male, 4 female) they are now 8 weeks old and all live together. When they are 12 weeks, i am getting married and going on honeymoon and wont be back until they are 14weeks. My mother will look after them while im away (she does this with my adult rabbits and is fine)
I read that the males become sexually mature at 12weeks so i cant put them with females but the males will fight with each other. Eventually i hope to have four pairs (male+female)living together plus a single male (all will be spayed/neutured). I only have space for five hutches and runs.

In what combination would you advise they are separated and when?
Also, when is the earliest and safest time to have the males neutured and the females spayed?

Thanks for your time
Paul  

Answer
Dear Paul,

Instead of automatically separating them into pairs, I would watch and see which bunnies get along best.  Observe who hangs out with whom.  It's much more important to pair (or group into three or four, if they get along) rabbits with compatible personalities than to have them in mixed sex pairs.  If they all continue to get along without fighting, there is no reason to separate them.  Rabbits love to live in social groups, so I'd separate only the ones who don't get along (though no one should live alone unless s/he absolutely refuses to get along with the others).

We have a foursome (two males, two females) in our living room, and several bunnies in other areas who have a "truce" and get along pretty well as long as they're not crowded.  In all cases, the bunnies were allowed to choose their own pals.  

If the males are not fighting now, they might not start.  It all depends on their personalities.  Some males become best pals. But it is important to have them all neutered as soon as their testicles drop (which can be as young as 12 weeks) so that their hormones don't get the better of them and make them aggressive.

Note that females can be just as aggressive with each other (and with males) as males.  The females should be spayed, if they start to show signs of aggression, as early as 5 months, though I prefer to wait 8 months if there are no intact males around to cause pregnancies.  Estrogen is important for normal bone formation, and early spays might result in osteoporosis later in life (no one knows for sure).

I hope this helps you make some decisions.  Please write back if you have any other questions.

Dana