Getting a girlfriend for my little boy rabbit,

Question
-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
Hi Brenda,
I have a lovely dutch rabbit called Frank who is a year old. He has recently become extremely amourous, he isn't aggressive but is just overly excited. So have decided to find him a girlfriend. I do not intend to breed so i have booked him in to have the snip next week, and i'm aware that semen can stay in the system for a few weeks afterwards. I have been looking for a little girl rabbit and today i found a beautiful dewarf lop eared and i completely fell in love with her. My main question is, do you have any advice on introducing the pair? does it matter that they are different breeds? How long do i need to keep them seperate, because ideally i'd like them to share a hutch as it is outdoors and i think Frank would like the company at night time when he is shut in the hutch.
Thankyou for your help,

megan
Answer -
Just because you think he would like a friend does not make it so.  Rabbits come together for one purpose and that is to mate.  Since their instinct from the wild is to be solitary, more often than not, a pair that does not grow up together will not get along.

Even after he is fixed the buck may still try to breed the doe over and over again which will distress her.  He may also bite at her neck during these attempts which will eventually harm her.

You must be very careful about this and introduce them slowly and with a barrier between them and expect that it may not work.

www.rabbit.org can give you more information on spaying and neutering than I can as I do not fully agree with the practice.

Brenda

Thankyou, i was not aware of that. Most of the people have suggested that it was unfair to keep a rabbit on his own, that he may be lonely. I will rethink. But could you let ,me know why you don't agree with spaying and neutering? I don't want to do something that may harm Frank's wellbeing.

Megan

Answer
In general rabbits do not do well under anesthisia (sorry about the spelling).  I have spoken to several vets regarding this and they all agree that unless necessary, it is not advisable to put a rabbit through surgery.  This came to be important to me when my neighbor's dogs got into my rabbitry and killed and mangled many of my prized breeding stock.  I was devistated financially as well as emotionally.  I had one buck and one doe that I loved dearly and would have done anything to save, but the vet recommended euthinasia because he didn't think they would have surrvived the surgery.  Since then, I have studied this throughly and came to my own educated decision that it is not advisable to put a rabbit through "elective" surgery.  Now, if Frank had a tumor or was in pain or was agressive and it was thought that surgery was in his best intrest in order to better his life, then I would recommend with all my heart to go for it.  I just cannot willingly justify spaying or neutering to sterilize.

One other thought....a YOUNG male may get along with Frank as well as a female would.  You might see if you can "borrow" one on a trial basis to see how they react to one another.  Keep in mind that Frank has set his territory and will not see someone else as a friend at first.  Maybe some toys would occupy him.  There are some really cool ones for sale on Ebay or your local pet store might have some.  Rabbits can be playful as cats if given the right stimulation.

One last thing.  All of my rabbits are housed in separate cages "appartments" if you will.  They can see and associate with other rabbits, but they never share a cage except to breed or when a doe has a litter.  Consider this if you want another rabbit -- you probably should plan on another cage.

Brenda