# Rabbit nuttering



## Blackhereford boy (Jul 31, 2012)

My vet said he could nutter a rabbit but he doesn't know the right anistisha (don't know how to spell that but the shot that makes them sleep for surgery) so does anyone on here know how much to use?

Thanks
     Blayne


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## ksj0225 (Jul 31, 2012)

I sure wouldn't trust a vet that doesn't know the right medicine to perform the surgery.  I would find another vet.

I mean geez, he could have looked it up in a vet book...


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## Blackhereford boy (Jul 31, 2012)

I was thinking that to so we might just go up to OSU exotic animal hospital!!


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## secuono (Jul 31, 2012)

Do not fast/starve the rabbit before the surgery.


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## WhiteMountainsRanch (Jul 31, 2012)

*Surgery on rabbits is a lot harder than cats and dogs, if he doesn't even know what anesthesia to use I sure would find a different vet!*


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## ChickenPotPie (Aug 2, 2012)

I, too, would advise finding a vet that at *least* knows what kind of anesthetic to give a rabbit.  It can be difficult to find a vet that know much about rabbits - even amongst those who say they are rabbit vets.  Did your vet recommend the surgery or did you ask for it?  There is really no reason to do it.  It's easy for a male rabbit but for females, it is one they don't always come out of.  Not trying to scare you - at all.  It's just that the lack of basic knowledge of your vet makes me think of those that tell their clients that rabbits must be neutered and then charge $140 - $230 to do it.  If it really must be done (can't think of many cases that is it must be done) you can find a rabbit spay/neuter clinic that can do for about $50.  So you might want to shop around.


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## terri9630 (Aug 3, 2012)

Any particular reason you want him neutered?


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## Andrei (Nov 25, 2013)

If it is a him it is not that hard to do it yourself.
And no anesthesia needed.


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## Bossroo (Nov 27, 2013)

Andrei said:


> If it is a him it is not that hard to do it yourself.
> And no anesthesia needed.


 I have castrated hundreds of male rabbits ...  done right and at an early age , no anesthesia  is needed and is virtually painless.  Snip, snip and done and immediately they go back to eating , playing, or just relaxing.


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## Andrei (Nov 27, 2013)

And you are 100% right.
I was a teen when I assisted my dad in castrating rabbits and it was a simple procedure.


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## VickieB (Nov 27, 2013)

Out of curiosity, why do you castrate the male rabbits? Unless you save them for breeding why aren't they just dispatched? Or do you castrate before dispatching? (I'm sorry for all the questions, but I'm still new at all of this)


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## Andrei (Nov 27, 2013)

VickieB said:


> Out of curiosity, why do you castrate the male rabbits?


Why do we castrate pigs and bulls and rams?
To be able to harvest more meat and a better tasting meat.
It is known that female meat taste better then male meat due to testosterone.
By castration one can keep more animals in the same finish enclosure and sacrifice them at a higher weight.
But for rabbits it makes the difference of 2-3 lbs and most do not bother and sacrifice them as teens.
Mature male rabbits are like roosters that will fight for dominance and a lot of blood is spilled.


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## Bossroo (Nov 27, 2013)

If one has 2 or more rabbits in an enclosure... when testosterone starts to flow fights start soon after. This is to establish dominance and for breeding rights. I have seen some cases of male pets where the more aggressive male rabbit wins the fight then proceeds to eat the hind quarter of the submissive one. One owner came running over to my place bawling her head off... then  I saw  where 2 of her pet male rabbits in a cage where one ate the entire hind end off another and it was still sitting there alive and still being eaten.  Now you know / or want to know about male rabbits.


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## Andrei (Nov 27, 2013)

I had 2 adult males get at each other overnight and in the morning one was missing an ear and the other has disappeared.  
He showed up few days later and he was limping and the fur was hardened with dry blood.
I had a 48 X 48 cage used for fastening rabbits and they stayed there for 1 - 2 months and get high protein/carb food before they moved into the Arctic.


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## VickieB (Nov 28, 2013)

That is horrible! You shouldn't see any of that behavior before 12 weeks, should you? I've separated my buns when they go to their grow out cages by gender, putting the bucks together and putting the does together. I would hate for something like that to happen to any of the bucks.


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## alsea1 (Nov 29, 2013)

Wow. I have never seen this either.


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## Bunnylady (Nov 29, 2013)

VickieB said:


> That is horrible! You shouldn't see any of that behavior before 12 weeks, should you? I've separated my buns when they go to their grow out cages by gender, putting the bucks together and putting the does together. I would hate for something like that to happen to any of the bucks.


Some male rabbits are more precocious than others, and some of it depends on the breed. I had a litter of 5 Jersey Woolies that turned out to be all bucks. They started mounting and chasing each other at a surprisingly early age. At about 10 weeks, I decided I was seeing so much fur around the cage that I really needed to separate them. I should have done it earlier. It seems that there was one buck doing the damage, and it wasn't just fur that he'd been removing. He'd been biting the other bucks' nether regions, and had mutilated several of them to the point that I couldn't even sell them as pets. He was an extreme case, but I learned my lesson. I watch for signs of aggression in the growing litters, and separate the troublemaker at whatever age it appears.


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## P.O. in MO (Nov 29, 2013)

Thanks for posting this.  Something to definitely watch out for.  I separate by gender too, but 11 weeks is about the longest I have ever waited to butcher.  Appreciate the warning.


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## Andrei (Dec 2, 2013)

I have a silver fox young buck that is only 3 months and he is .... nuts.
He try to mount anything he has the opportunity to and he fights if refused.
He will grow isolated.


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