Rabbit Banding Castration

[aart]

OK. I'll try again. It is hard to tell anything from a picture, but I am making the assumption that the picture showed them life size. That said, the opening in the unstretched band is plainly visible. In mine, it is not. It is smaller than a size 4 knitting needle.

Thanks. Well, and I guess if you are experienced in banding it would be obvious.
I am not....but curious.
Do have knitting experience, but still had to look it up-cause those can get confusing too.....but a US #4 knitting needle is 3.5mm or 0.138" or 9/64".
Sorry, engineering tech nerd.

 

[Fairview01]

No. Unless you are raising angora rabbits for wool and want to pen several males together I personally don't understand why you would want to castrate a rabbit anyway.

Me too. I would have never thought about it in a million lifetimes thats why i found it so interesting.

I still have the 'What's the point?' Sometimes even though it can be done it shouldn't.

 

[Bunnylady]

Males spray. For some, it's like a hobby - I can't count the number of times I have been splattered by urine! Even when bucks aren't in a place where they can spray each other, they get it on the walls surrounding them, then back on themselves when they brush against the walls. It makes them unpleasant to touch, and smelly (and it makes you smelly too, when you touch them!) Even if an Angora breeder isn't trying to keep them together, unaltered bucks can make a wreck of the wool they are wearing. I can see why a pet rabbit owner wouldn't want to put up with that kind of mess - not as bad as a goat, perhaps, but still nasty!

 

[Fairview01]

We have always sent ours to camp Kenmore before mature behavior starting showing up.

 

[cassie]

Thanks. Well, and I guess if you are experienced in banding it would be obvious.
I am not....but curious.
Do have knitting experience, but still had to look it up-cause those can get confusing too.....but a US #4 knitting needle is 3.5mm or 0.138" or 9/64".
Sorry, engineering tech nerd.

I have no idea. The head of the needle doesn't give any information. I just started hauling out knitting needles until I found one that is close. Let's just say the opening in the band is small and not all that easy to see through if you hold it up. You have to stretch it a little to get it over the pliers. Hope this helps.

 

[cassie]

Males spray. For some, it's like a hobby - I can't count the number of times I have been splattered by urine! Even when bucks aren't in a place where they can spray each other, they get it on the walls surrounding them, then back on themselves when they brush against the walls. It makes them unpleasant to touch, and smelly (and it makes you smelly too, when you touch them!) Even if an Angora breeder isn't trying to keep them together, unaltered bucks can make a wreck of the wool they are wearing. I can see why a pet rabbit owner wouldn't want to put up with that kind of mess - not as bad as a goat, perhaps, but still nasty!

Thank you for the information. I learned something. I never noticed that behavior but maybe I just wasn't paying attention. However, it has been some years since I have had rabbits and I could have forgotten. I don't recall my pet New Zealand buck ever being unpleasant to handle but that may have been just him. That said, nothing is as bad as goats. They spray themselves, each other, you, and in the show ring they will even get the judge and fellow exhibitors if they get a chance. That's one reason I like to watch buck shows.

 

[cassie]

We have always sent ours to camp Kenmore before mature behavior starting showing up.

Camp Kenmore? Is that the same as Freezer Camp?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I personally don't understand why you would want to castrate a rabbit anyway.

The OP in this thread is doing it after trying to keep unaltered males together to repair an injury that ultimately could be life threatening.

There was already a great description to reasons why, but I wish to add some...

Keeping them as pets, which I am.. it's my understanding (according to my vet and other animal advocate type folks they will live longer with less complications and be overall happier and healthier with less behavioral issues. Seeing how many reproductive issues (tumors, cancer, etc) arise with folks chickens... makes it seem more like a truth.

Plus, I am keeping both genders and I don't want to have the responsibility of packing them for Camp Kenmore (good one). That takes away the pet aspect for me and makes it work. I don't wan't to deal with protective moms that are unfriendly and unpet like. And I don't want a ton of kits to find new homes for just to see the proliferation of them being given away on CL or abandoned at shelters.

Potty training is said to be easier with alteration as it decreases the need to spray.

Both of my mini pigs are also spayed/neutered. Both my male cats are neutered. All 3 dogs as well.

If you aren't eating them or the offspring, it's just contributing to overpopulation and that isn't MY cup of tea.

 

[Bunnylady]

Thank you for the information. I learned something. I never noticed that behavior but maybe I just wasn't paying attention. However, it has been some years since I have had rabbits and I could have forgotten. I don't recall my pet New Zealand buck ever being unpleasant to handle but that may have been just him. That said, nothing is as bad as goats. They spray themselves, each other, you, and in the show ring they will even get the judge and fellow exhibitors if they get a chance. That's one reason I like to watch buck shows.

I sent a young Jersey Wooly buck to a show with a friend one time. The buck's name was Wizard, and I had tattooed W-I-Z as his ear number. My friend told me that Wizard got so excited on the show table, he sprayed the judge! Being an old hand with rabbits, the judge took it in stride; when he looked in the ear and saw the ear number, he laughed and said, "I should have looked here first - it's not like I wasn't warned!"

 

[cassie]

The OP in this thread is doing it after trying to keep unaltered males together to repair an injury that ultimately could be life threatening.

There was already a great description to reasons why, but I wish to add some...

Keeping them as pets, which I am.. it's my understanding (according to my vet and other animal advocate type folks they will live longer with less complications and be overall happier and healthier with less behavioral issues. Seeing how many reproductive issues (tumors, cancer, etc) arise with folks chickens... makes it seem more like a truth.

Plus, I am keeping both genders and I don't want to have the responsibility of packing them for Camp Kenmore (good one). That takes away the pet aspect for me and makes it work. I don't wan't to deal with protective moms that are unfriendly and unpet like. And I don't want a ton of kits to find new homes for just to see the proliferation of them being given away on CL or abandoned at shelters.

Potty training is said to be easier with alteration as it decreases the need to spray.

Both of my mini pigs are also spayed/neutered. Both my male cats are neutered. All 3 dogs as well.

If you aren't eating them or the offspring, it's just contributing to overpopulation and that isn't MY cup of tea.

I stand corrected. All of my pets are neutered. My experience with pet rabbits is very limited and it shows. I raised mine for meat although I did have one pet rabbit. He was a New Zealand buck and I had no issues with him. I never had him in the house either. I did handle him quite a bit and he often ran around in the yard under supervision. Overpopulation with my rabbits was never an issue. That is what the freezer is for. Sorry.