Right, I need answers on these bloody rabbits and what to do without feeling bad

[OneLieIn]

So here is the story, we have 3 rabbits which we got from freecycle and we were told that they were mummy and 2 daughters. We then took them to the vet and found out that they are mummy and two sons. Nice lovely rabbits, but now at the horny stage and wanting to mate with the mum and starting to fight with each other.

I have separated them (boys in hutch, mum in run) and separated the boys too. To get them sterilised / neutered will cost me £220 which I don't have. I have to get the boys neutered as they are fighting. I have to get the mum sterilised too as truthfully I am concerned she might already be pregnant as her son was on top of her yesterday (OMG, brought out all sorts of questions from DCs)

Anyway, what is the best thing to do and spend the least money. I don't mind spending money when they are ill on getting them better, but £220 is just way beyond me right now.

I feel like a bad pet owner saying I cannot afford it, but its the truth. I also cannot carry on keeping them all separate as there is not enough room.

rehome at least one of the boys

Yes, Angel that was what i was thinking, rehome maybe both

for kids though

whereabouts are you in the country? is there a rescue centre near you? they could help?

you have to take mummy to the vets too to get her checked. you could have a lot more than 3 bunnies on your hands over the next few weeks.

I KNOW!!!!

ok sorry

for rabbits. why on earth did you get animals from freecycle? It's great that you're trying to be responsible now but why don't people just THINK!If you can't afford them then rehome them and don't get any more animals.

can you not buy separate cages?

£220!!! Our vet does it for £25. Ring around.

seperate cages/runs or rehome

Owning a pet is ridiculously expensive unfortunately

Why on earth did you get animals from freecycle which you clearly couldn't afford?

The fact that it's two males and a female isn't really relevant - you would still have had to have three females nutered in order to prevent them getting cancer (something which is very likely if they are not nutered.

Rehome all of them and don't get any more.

Seek help here: [http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/index.php rabbit forum]
It is not kind to keep rabbits alone, so giving them all separate hutches and runs will be v expensive and lead to unhappy buns.
You could neuter one of the males and keep him with the mum, and re-home the other male?

I must say I am a bit at animals being offered on freecycle - a risk to both the rabbits - and people like yourself saddled with a problem you didn't need!

I must agree that rabbits are not cheap to keep - we had ours neutered in order to prevent uterine cancer, and they both have to be vaccinated against two separate diseases every year, which costs over £70! (between them)

SaintRiven, I rang around and got it a little bit cheaper. Mum goes in for the op today. The boys next week. I will keep them all, we have a responsibility to them.

Wannbe, if you look on most websites, it says less than I was originally quoted. And there is a long and complicated reason as to why I could afford things a couple of months ago and now cannot afford anything.

I agree about animals being offered on freecycle and if you had seen where they were all kept, you would have wept.

Ok, I think you have done the right thing, rescuing them from what you say, a dismal future.
What conditions were they in, if it was bad please ring the RSPCA anonymously if you must, but do it.

Rabbits get a shit deal on the whole, so do the right thing and report those idiots.

do you have a pdsa centre near you? they do ops like this for a donation if ur on a low income or benefits we had a cat few years ago now and she was spade through ... unfortunlly we don't quilfiy for them now as my partner has better job so we gotta shell out 250 for our dog ... actully 220 for bunnies seems very steep [shock}