Rabbit advice!

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We bought a male rabbit last week who is not sterlised and we would like to buy a companion. My plan was to buy a female and have the female sterlised, but have just been told by the vet about the risk of the rabbit not waking from anaesthetic. I do not want unwanted bunnies, and if we buy another buck apparently the two boys will potentially fight.

All the rabbits I know of locally for sale have not been sterilised.

The vet also said that if our male rabbit is not sterilised, it will spray and it will smell. That doesn't seem to have happened yet, though we have only had him a week.

Any brilliant advice about this would be great, thank you

Find a new vet. I've had bunnies for years and volunteered at a shelter and never once heard of rabbits not waking from anaesthetic.

Definitely get your boy sterilised when he is big/old enough. The boys get particularly stinky around 4 to 5 months and rabbits are especially prone to reproductive cancers.

Once that's done, after 8 weeks his hormones should settle and you can find a female friend for him. Ideally if you can find one in a rescue centre they are usually spayed and may offer to help you with bonding them which can be a hard process for a beginner.

Highly recommend the rabbits United forum for bunny advice.

That vet sounds inexperienced. Find a vet who sees a lot of rabbits.

Oh and there's a list of bunny savvy vets on the rwaf website. I recommend using one of those to ensure you're getting good advice.

I've known a few does pass after a spay due to undiagnosed heart issues or adhesions after surgery.

Rabbits are difficult to anaesthetise, but the risk is smaller with an experienced vet. I would definitely get him neutered as it will help when you try to bond him with a (neutered) female.

I lost a male rabbit during surgery for an infected eye, but have had many male and female rabbits neutered over the years without any problems.

I would recommend rehoming a female from a local pet shelter or rabbit rescue. There are so many unwanted rabbits out there, and a rescued female should already have been neutered when you take her home. Most shelters will also help with bonding, and help you to choose a suitable partner for your boy.

You will also need to get both rabbits vaccinated every year. A rescued rabbit will come ready-vaccinated.

A rescue will only rehome to you if you have suitable living space for them. Check the RWA, it's a larger space than you might think!

I had this happen to me last year. I had a boy and girl rabbit, neutered the boy with no issues, but sadly my girl rabbit died under anaesthetic.

An unneutered male rabbit is likely to relentlessly hump and pester a female even if she's neutered. It really is best to get it done asap on balance.

Yes it is best to get the bunny neutered
But clearly not with this vet. He is nowhere near good enough with rabbits
Rabbits are classed as exotic pets in the vet world. You need a rabbit specialist vet

Get the boy sterilised. They can be quite feral at times when they are entire

I’ve had two females spayed so it is possible to be done

Definitely get the male neutered with a good/different vet. Getting a female from a rescue is your best option as they will have her neutered and vaccinated and make sure there is a good bond. If the bond breaks down, they will take her back and try again with another female, whereas if you buy a female, and they don't bond, it will be a real pain for you. Plus there are so many rabbits looking for rehoming, it's such a shame to buy one.

I'm a vet nurse. All anaesthesia is risky but we regularly neuter rabbits. Your vet didn't explaine the risks very well.

Males can hump so much they can almost rub their penis/ testicle off! I've seen it several times.

It's important to have girl bunnies spayed because of the risks of uterine issues as they get older anyway, so if you did get a girl rabbit you would need to have her spayed. Mine coped ok with her op but it took a lot of effort to get her eating again afterwards which you need to be on top of because they can die from gut statis (?) I think it is, they're more work than you think they might be, rabbits!

Thank you, brilliant advice from everyone.

I have looked for rescue places and have not found any nearby. i should have said I am not in England, where we are rabbits are seen as food more often than pets and this might also explain the vet's reaction, maybe.

As a positive, we have a huge outside space which we are creatively decking out and a large safe space inside. Haven't decided whether we will go for inside or not inside. He was outside before.

They are hard work, but he seems to have bonded with dc which is sweet.

Rabbits should be neutered and spayed for health and behavioural reasons as well as to prevent reproduction

Deffo get your girl done too. They are prone to uterine cancer. Unnuetered males are horrible anyway ime, stroppy and they spray everywhere!

We have a male bunny who isn’t neutered. He doesn’t spray, smell or hump things. He has a slight heart murmur so couldn’t be neutered although is perfectly healthy otherwise. He’s a complete dote, really friendly and polite. He was originally going to be neutered as a companion for our girl, so is now kept on his own to make sure he doesn’t turn into a raging pest. We also had male rabbits when I was young that weren’t neutered and it didn’t cause any issues at all. Completely depends on the rabbit in question.

I don’t think he necessarily needs a companion. It can be hard to bond rabbits and as long as he has enough stimulation, attention, room and good food, he’ll be fine. I had 2 sisters who used to squabble and hump all the time. Sadly we lost one, but the remaining one seems a much happier bunny since!

Don’t buy a rabbit, get it from the RSPCA it’ll be neutered and they can advise with bonding and if needs be take the bunny back and find a new one to bond with. Bonding bunnies is not easy, it takes time to find the right one and buying one doesn’t help

We have boy and girl, both have been sterilised.