too many rabbits. please help me.

[MissMonty]

I would list them on craigslist or even local facebook groups. There's tons of local groups around me for pets in need of homes. List them there and I wouldn't ask questions either.

Your big problem is they don't really sound all that tame. So you'll have a REALLY hard time finding a pet only home for that many rabbits. If you really want to try to find them a good pet home find some groups on facebook and I'd offer them for free to a good pet home. The problem is that people don't want untame rabbits. Honestly people using them for meat would probably be the most humane way to go. Most kill them humanely and use everything, so they don't waste anything if possible. You could try to look into 4H groups around you but most of them use their rabbits for breeding or meat.

 

[missmissi]

It was dh's comment to leave them, after I said no he said he understood my point and agreed it's not the right thing to do.

Friday I put 4 boys in individual crates with baby blankets and drove to the vet's office. I hugged and kissed and told each that I love them. Auto pilot.

The vet assistants brought the carriers in from my car and to the back of the office. I gave the lady my credit card and told her that I don't want any receipt. I waited in the lobby for 20 minutes when the assistants brought my carriers and told me it was done and assured me they had no discomfort and we're totally at peace when we they handled them. They took the crates to my car, I wanted them in the backseat not the trunk.

I cried hard in the parking lot and could barely see driving home. What have I done? I took the crates out of my car, pulled all the blankets out and sat on my gravel driveway hugging them and later comforted by 3 goats, they laid with me in the gravel I checked the rabbits when I got on our deck and then went to bed.

I'll always question if it was the right thing, how much longer should I wait for someone from the SPCA, one of the 3 rescues, 2 of the shelters, cl, rescueme.com, someone on this website, my friends networking for me, the high school ag dept, the local college ag dept to call me back to say they are now inerested?

Those 4 were the aggressive ones, I was hoping it was just hormones, but maybe not. I had to separate them and was out of space that during the day those 4 were together in a large run but at night the best I could do was 2x2 sections, which was pathetic. Bad storms were coming Friday night and the 4 would have been in mud during the day or they all be in 2x2s til storms passed.

The last 2 boys are inside now. The 6 girls have the whole aviary and the boys are in separate areas and healing from the fights - 1 has a bad ear injury and the littlest one of them all has big slices on his back. They can be neutered in december, so can the girls be spayed. A low cost vet who will alter rabbits is 2 hours away, they'll let me bring 4 at a time, per week. So while each group is in surgery I'll spend the day waiting at a hotel.

I was hoping for another outcome but if they had any discomfort it was only for a second. Much less than if they got into the wrong hands, they were only 4 and 5 months old. I'm going to reevaluate my situation with 8 rabbits here and observe the change. The boys were so messy and took alot of work to clean for. And expenses are going to be half. I'm going to try horse alfalfa, it'll be much cheaper. I can get a 50lb bale for $15 instead of 9 pounds @ $30.

Thank you all for the advice.

 

[donrae]

 

[Bunnylady]

I'm sorry your rabbit experience has gone so wrong. I'm sure that having those males put down was painful for you (and expensive - unless you are doing it the way that the people who are butchering do it, rabbits are rather hard to euthanize).

You have learned (the hard way, unfortunately) several things that I often try to tell people, but which somehow doesn't quite get across a lot of the time. For starters, rabbits fight; particularly bucks. They aren't really social by nature; that's more of a baby rabbit behavior. As adults, they are territorial, even the does. This behavior usually starts at adolescence, which may begin as early as 10 weeks of age. Spaying/neutering helps, but there are a few that never will get along with other rabbits; they are just too dominant. Some rabbits may live together quite happily, but the key seems to be giving them enough space that they can get away from each other when they feel the need to do so. Each rabbit needs to have its special place(s) where it can kick back and chill - boxes and other structures that give them "cover" and get them out of each others' sight seem to make for much happier groups.

Male rabbits (and some females) spray to mark their territory. Some aren't bad about it, but with others, it's like a hobby. Once again, neutering helps, but some territorial marking is just normal rabbit behavior, and some may never be 100% on using a litter box.

Unless you luck onto a rabbit with a naturally friendly, outgoing nature, you will probably have to put a fair amount of time into taming your rabbit. The more handling they get as babies, the more likely they are to respond positively to people, but we are a tall, towering, predatory presence to them until they learn otherwise, and they will run from us. A cage isn't really a bad thing; it provides a relatively small, secure area where calm. positive interaction can take place. People often tell me that they want their rabbit to free-range in their back yard, and I warn them that securing the fence line is only part of the equation. What I usually say is, "if you turn him loose in the yard, you may never get your hands on him again." These are small prey animals, and it seems like everything eats them; they instinctively know that survival depends on detecting and avoiding threats. The incautious rabbit is lunch! If your rabbits won't let you approach them, maybe they will approach you if you sit quietly among them.

Don't beat yourself up about those rabbits that you have had put down. Your sanity is at stake here; some tough choices will have to be made to get your herd thinned down to a manageable level. I just hope you got the males away from the females early enough; some female rabbits can get pregnant when they are as young as 3 months old. We keep pets for the pleasure they give us, not to become slaves to their needs! Hopefully, you can get this situation under control, and start getting some pleasure out of owning these little fuzzy things.

But mentioning needs, why are you giving these rabbits alfalfa? They really do not need that much protein. Some rabbit feeds are alfalfa-based, but they have other ingredients that balance out the protein levels. Some people believe that alfalfa may be harmful to rabbits; some feed manufacturers even make feeds that don't contain alfalfa to accommodate them. If you are giving these rabbits a pelleted feed, you are most likely meeting their needs as far as protein is concerned. They need hay, yes, but it is for the fiber content - most good quality grass hays will do the job, and they are usually much cheaper than alfalfa.

 

[Hholly]

Sorry you had to deal with that. It's never easy to take that step. Hope the situation is more manageable now.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Crazy rabbits can easily be tamed.But first they all need spayed or neutaerd,it ca calm them down.

 

[missmissi]

Got the last 4 altered last week. The boy that got hurt is getting along well with the girls but sprays a few times a day, this wednesday was 2 weeks postoperative for him, sigh. I am not looking forward to putting the 2 boys together, am hoping the marking will lessen soon before seeing how they'll do.

 

[missmissi]

I put down Dad and 3 boys in October. Mom was in the first group to be spayed, she died 2 days later. The saddest thing I've ever seen. All on our deck in an insulated aviary so cool. 2 boys are separated by a common wall, with 2 or 3 girls with them.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Just found your post....I used to raise New Zealands, Lops & Rex, they were kept in separate cages. Unless they are kept together from start, they usually do not get along even when altered. Males tend to be "nicer" then females. I understand your love for them but like every living thing it takes time, a lot of time spent with a animal to "tame" it. It's easier one on one cause they're depending on you for everything, having a litter mate, they tend to depend on each other. You may want to rehome those that you have and start over with one. Contact a 4H leader in your area, they may have kids interested. Good luck, sorry for your bad/sad start....

 

[Kroelies]

I'm sorry you lost the mother

The boys can be fertile for two more weeks after being neuterd, and it takes some more weeks before the hormones are out of the body. So better wait a few weeks more before putting them together. Hopefully the spraying gets less by that time.

I let my rabbits out in the yard during the day, I have 2 boys and one girl and they go along fine. They had problems with each other at first, see if you can search some information on bonding groups of rabbits before you let them all together.

Are the rabbits more used to you yet? If they are still scared of you, try sitting in the aviary and wait until they come to you. I'm lucky to have cuddly bunnies, but a lot of them prefer to keep their feet on the ground :/