Why Should I Spay or Neuter my Pet Bunny? Why not Breed?

It may be an attractive idea. Breeding your cute pet bunny, to produce a few more cute bunnies that you could put into a show or sell to the local pet store.

However, rabbit breeding is a serious business, and thousands of rabbits are left homeless every year as a result of a “back yard breeding” experiment gone wrong.

Get Rich with Rabbits?

Most serious rabbit breeders will tell you, if you think you will become wealthy breeding bunnies, think again. If you are willing to breed rabbits for the love of it, and have the considerable resources and available space to do so successfully, it can be incredibly rewarding.

Experienced rabbit breeders take great pride in the development of new colors, patterns and even breeds.

A rabbit bought from a chain pet store is rarely ever suitable for breeding purposes. It is hard to find out enough about the pet store rabbits ancestry and genetics to use them in a breeding program that will have a chance of being a successful one.

Thinking Ahead Before You Begin

In the event that you did decide to breed, and began properly, with quality stock, what will become of the kits once they are born? Are you willing and able to house those less desirable rabbits that don’t sell as babies?

Will you take back an unwanted rabbit if the purchaser finds them unsuitable, or just no longer wants them?

Many people buy rabbits, especially as pets, on a whim, and have no idea the amount of work involved in keeping them happy and healthy.

If you are not able to face these kinds of responsibilities rabbit breeding is not for you. That isn’t to say no one should breed rabbits outside of large “bunny mills”.

If undertaken in the knowledge that there is a good deal of hard work and financial investment involved, rabbit breeding can be a fulfilling and enjoyable experience for bunny lovers anywhere.

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The Trick to Sexing your New Rabbit

Although it is not always the easiest task, sexing  baby rabbits is important and something anyone can learn with just a bit of practice.

Brothers and sisters should be separated by the time they’re sixteen weeks old at the latest to avoid unwanted litters.

To begin, turn your kit onto its back, holding him in your lap or on a flat surface that is not unreasonably cold. Hold its heads at a lower angle than its back legs and it should calm down within a few seconds or so.

Be gentle, stroke your rabbit. It is not going to be at all comfortable being held like this, and will more than likely struggle and protest at first.

The All Important Little Differences

You now need to locate the prepuce, a fuzzy mass found between the rabbit’s hind legs. If you put very slight pressure on this area, where the sexual organs are located, you will quite simply see a circle or a slit.

The circle shape indicates the rabbit you are holding is a boy. If the baby is starting to mature, a small penis may protrude, but that is often not the case with very young males.

This may be the reason that pet stores often get the sex of the rabbit they are selling completely wrong. Unless you are aware that a young buck may display no penis protrusion, it would be logical to conclude that they are female.

If you are dealing with a female rabbit that is a little more mature, a pink or red vulva usually indicates that she is ripe for breeding. This can be a good indicator for the breeder when trying to decide which days will be better for attempting to mate her with a suitable buck.

To Spay or Not to Spay?

Unless you are intending to breed your rabbit, it is better to have them spayed or neutered at the appropriate age, usually around eight to ten months.

An unneutered female who is not bred is at higher risk for reproductive cancers, conditions which unfortunately account for the death of 85% of female rabbits before they reach their fifth year.

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