Male rabbit with babies.

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missy_2023

missy_2023

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Hi all, new here and would love some advice!

We recently had our Male rabbit desexed but he got our female bunny just before. She gave birth to seven babies - they're all very happy and healthy and she is doing a great job.

We kept the Male rabbit in the same cage with them for the first day or two before he started to mount her again. She become very agitated (I am assuming based on how it appeared, that she was in pain) there was a small circle of blood on the floor. I immediately removed him and put him in a seperate cage.

We are now on day 10, and our Male rabbit appears depressed. He is still eating and drinking and doing everything relatively normal, except for his activity. He just sits around with his ears more droopy than normal. He isn't very interested in interacting with us as much, and he is normally quite cuddly.

My question is - is it safe to put them back together now? Will he slowly begin to lose interest in mounting her and is it safe for him to be around the babies once they start to come out of their nest?

Any help is much appreciated. Thank you!
 
It has never seemed to me like a good idea to have the buck in with the doe at kindling or during the raising of the babies; so much can go wrong, even if he can't impregnate her. If he really misses her, maybe you can put the cages side-by-side so he can see, hear and smell her without bothering with her.

If more than a month after neutering he is still mounting her, I would not expect him to lose interest (the mounting could be a dominance behavior instead of a breeding behavior), but she might very well hurt him, or the babies, if you put him back and she can't get away from him.
 
Alaska Satin said:
It has never seemed to me like a good idea to have the buck in with the doe at kindling or during the raising of the babies; so much can go wrong, even if he can't impregnate her. If he really misses her, maybe you can put the cages side-by-side so he can see, hear and smell her without bothering with her.

If more than a month after neutering he is still mounting her, I would not expect him to lose interest (the mounting could be a dominance behavior instead of a breeding behavior), but she might very well hurt him, or the babies, if you put him back and she can't get away from him.
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This is very similar to what I expected also. Their cages are already side by side and have been the whole time.

My main concern here is his body language. He was desexed approx five weeks ago now, he was seperated for three weeks after surgery and then returned for about a week before mum gave birth again. As soon as she gave birth, he started mounting.

She does get very angry with him if he doesn't stop and typically kicks him in the face, he then leaves her for a while - If it is a dominance behaviour, should we consider rehoming him for the safety of the both of them? I don't want either one to harm each other, themselves or the babies.
 
missy_2023 said:
This is very similar to what I expected also. Their cages are already side by side and have been the whole time.

My main concern here is his body language. He was desexed approx five weeks ago now, he was seperated for three weeks after surgery and then returned for about a week before mum gave birth again. As soon as she gave birth, he started mounting.

She does get very angry with him if he doesn't stop and typically kicks him in the face, he then leaves her for a while - If it is a dominance behaviour, should we consider rehoming him for the safety of the both of them? I don't want either one to harm each other, themselves or the babies.
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All rabbits that live together work out a dominance hierarchy, so that in itself wouldn't concern me overly much. The problem I see here is the babies.

Sounds like he's probably still going through some strange hormonal fits, so you might just give it some time; he may be depressed, he may actually still be sore, he may just be different now that he is neutered. I always counsel folks thinking about neutering their male rabbits that if they like the rabbit's personality, they should hesitate to neuter, since often the rabbit's personality changes (which makes sense since their hormones change pretty dramatically as a a result of neutering).

If he's eating and drinking I'd let it play out in separate cages. Once the babies are weaned, you may be able to put the buck and doe back together and see if they can work it out.
 
Since you mentioned his looking at the babies, Something to consider once babies are walking on their own, he might enjoy a visit. I've noticed that some bucks-- and I don't neuter so this is despite hormones-- are charmed and caring to pre-adolescent bunnies and will enjoy a visit and groom them. Really helps the mother out when it's a big litter too.
 
Robochelle said:
Since you mentioned his looking at the babies, Something to consider once babies are walking on their own, he might enjoy a visit. I've noticed that some bucks-- and I don't neuter so this is despite hormones-- are charmed and caring to pre-adolescent bunnies and will enjoy a visit and groom them. Really helps the mother out when it's a big litter too.
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ahhh I might consider that when mama is out romping. I think she'd tear him a new one if she caught him near them. He is a sweet boy. BTW your picture is adorable.
 
Robochelle said:
Since you mentioned his looking at the babies, Something to consider once babies are walking on their own, he might enjoy a visit. I've noticed that some bucks-- and I don't neuter so this is despite hormones-- are charmed and caring to pre-adolescent bunnies and will enjoy a visit and groom them. Really helps the mother out when it's a big litter too.
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When my Kits of one of my Bucks have their eyes open (and a little bit before that) I let them see him and he's really nice
 
Robochelle said:
Since you mentioned his looking at the babies, Something to consider once babies are walking on their own, he might enjoy a visit. I've noticed that some bucks-- and I don't neuter so this is despite hormones-- are charmed and caring to pre-adolescent bunnies and will enjoy a visit and groom them. Really helps the mother out when it's a big litter too.
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So every now and then I will bring a baby across and introduce them to him. He is always very interested and gets a bit excited. I get the impression that he will respond well to them once they're a bit older. Only a few more weeks and he will be able to spend time with them! Thank you for your reply!
 
My bucks always were very friendly to kits that wandered into their territory (the front yard), my spayed girl now living with the buck not. But when the buck was alone there never was an issue.
 

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Preitler said:
My bucks always were very friendly to kits that wandered into their territory (the front yard), my spayed girl now living with the buck not. But when the buck was alone there never was an issue.
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Fingers crossed my boy reacts the same to the Bubba's once they're moving around!
 

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