Breeding Like Rabbits!

The Hows and Whys of Managing Your Rabbits' Fertility.

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First of all, if you have ever seen a baby bunny, you already know that they are pretty darn cute! In fact, few things are more precious than the site of 3 week old baby bunnies hopping around your home or yard.

However, as we all know, little bunnies become big bunnies.  And big bunnies, although wonderful, do not always hold the same appeal as cute little babies.  Furthermore, rabbits need a great deal of care and attention -- just like a dog or a cat.  And the question you must ask yourself is, "How many rabbits am I willing to feed, house, clean up after, pet, and play with?  Considering that rabbits need two hours of exercise per day, plus daily cage cleaning and feeding -- the question becomes, "How much time am I willing to devote to pet care?"

Furthermore, not only do little bunnies become big bunnies, but... big bunnies make more little bunnies. And so on and so on and so on... And if the problem with this is not immediately apparent to you, let me spell it out a little further...

 

Why You Want to Control Breeding:

 

• Sanitation -- Bunnies eat. Bunnies poop. Lots and lots of bunnies eat lots and LOTS of food and poop... a lot. 

• Expense -- Rabbits cannot thrive on table scraps alone.  They need rabbit chow, every day.  (Plus Timothy Hay or alfalfa.) So realize that the cost of rabbit food will not be so cheap once you have more than half a dozen of these furry little friends.  In fact, you could easily pay $30 to $50 a month in rabbit chow alone if you decide to raise and keep a family of bunnies. 

  Note that many people think rabbits are "a cheap pet".   Naturally this depends on the level of care you give your pets.  Any animal who is neglected quickly becomes "a cheap pet"  -- until the toll of the neglect adds up and you must pay the huge vet bills.  (Sadly some people feel they can just let the rabbit die, especially if it is stuck behind the garage in a cage -- where they don't have to watch it suffer.)  

• Fighting -- Rabbits are highly social animals, very conscious of pecking order and territory. The more rabbits you have living together, the more tension they will feel about who exactly is senior to whom, and who gets first rights to the treats, and who exactly can sleep where, and so on. This tension can lead to frequent chasing and biting -- especially if you happen to have more than one individual who feels the need to really dominate others.

• Destruction of  property -- Rabbits love to munch. As a friend of ours once put it, the rabbit motto and mission statement is, "It goes in my mouth!" They will munch garden hoses, television wires, telephone cords -- and of course your garden, bushes, hedges, lawn and ground cover -- down to and including the roots! Too many rabbits can leave your place of residence looking rather defoliated and tattered, inside and out.

• Neglect sneaks up on you  -- Trust us, it is very hard to properly care for large numbers of bunnies. To keep their food and water dishes constantly filled, clean their cages, or otherwise keep their poop cleaned up (if you do not, you will also have a plague of flies), becomes very time consuming. And what about giving them all love and attention? Assuming you have a life at all -- or even if you don't -- you will soon discover that it is very difficult to pet and cuddle a whole horde! (And bunnies who are not given enough attention, become anti-social and shy of people -- even to the point of biting out of fear.) Plus, in many areas, it is against the law to have more than a certain number!

 

But if you are not concerned about the cost of food, the hassle of sanitation, and the problems of stress induced aggression, potential neglect, and the destruction of your home or yard....also consider the following:

• Finding homes for extra bunnies is not always so easy. Especially finding good homes -- i.e. no neglect and no cooking pot in their future. And let's face it, there are only so many people out there who want a pet rabbit anyway.
   

• Second, do not think even for a moment that you can "simply release them into the wild". This is a cruel and ridiculous expectation, and if you click here, we'll explain more about this if you like.
   

• And third, there is again the fact that rabbits breed like... well.. rabbits!   Their rate of reproduction is astonishing.  They can become pregnant between 3 and 6 months old... they give birth only one month after becoming pregnant, can become pregnant again the day after giving birth, and they are frequently fertile (i.e. able to become pregnant)! In fact, for all intents and purposes, just pretend they are always fertile!

 

 

The only sure way to control your rabbit's fertility is to have them spayed or neutered.

People have said to us, "Why do I need to get my rabbits' neutered or spayed? Can't I just keep the males and females in different cages? And the answer is, "In a perfect world, yes you could."

 But of course, we don't live in a perfect world. We live in a world in which cage doors get improperly closed and bunnies get out when they shouldn't, or in which a visitor or family member accidentally places a rabbit back in the wrong cage after cuddling it, etc., etc.  It's amazing in fact how often these accidental "conjugal visits" take place -- even when we try our best to keep the genders separated.

And then, there is the fact that it can be very hard to check the gender of a rabbit. Meaning, it's hard to tell the boys from the girls. Even good veterinarians sometimes find it tricky! So forget about the guy at the pet store-- or, we even had one person write to say the rescue center they adopted their rabbits from goofed up! And you know that they want to make sure that no unwanted bunnies come into the world.  There are already plenty of bunnies in need of loving homes without willy-nilly breeding even more. And that's a fact.

So take a tip from some folks who learned the hard way -- get your bunnies spayed or neutered. Then they can play together without worry.  Now, when you call your vet you will likely faint dead away when you find out how much he or she charges for spaying and neutering rabbits. So call your local animal shelter and get a referral to a spay/neuter clinic that will do it for around half price.  Be sure to follow their instructions when you pick up your rabbit -- including keeping him or her away from his fellows for a few days while his/her incisions heal, and making sure he/she is kept someplace clean while the incisions heal.   Please bear in mind that a male rabbit may still be able to impregnate a female rabbit for up to one month after he has been neutered!  So please keep your male separate from his un-sprayed female bunny friends until this period had passed.

 

 

More Information

 

Read  How to Check the Gender of Your Rabbit

 

Animal Land Fun Quiz: Rabbits, Rabbits and more Rabbits

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The Ontario Rabbit Education Organization recommends  the following links for further information: Rabbit Spay/Neuter Preparations This article provides information on preparing for a spay or neuter and post operative care Onyx: A female rabbit with cancer Read a first hand account of a female rabbit with uterine cancer (graphic images) Spaying and Neutering Your Pet Rabbit: What Happens and Why? This article provides a description of what happens during spay and neuter procedures for the novice To Neuter or Not to Neuter..That is the Question! This article looks at the issue of neutering and why it is appropriate for pet rabbits. Written by Dr. Susan Brown. The Importance of Analgesia (Pain Control) for Pet Rabbits This article looks at why analgesia is very important to our rabbit patients and what types analgesic agents are safe and appropriate. Very important post spay! Written by Dr. Susan Brown.

 

 

Even same sex bunnies will mount each other -- as a playful gesture and as a way to assert their social relationship with each other. So never assume who is male and who is female by this behavior alone. Click here to learn the right way to check your rabbit's gender!