First of all, I am a novice with rabbits, so please be patient. I know most of you would probably eat this guy (I read your posts and notice most of you are raising rabbits to eat, not as pets, but give this little guy a break for me, please!). I don't think my netherland dwarf has ever been very friendly. He doesn't like people much. He is a little over a year old, and we keep him in a hutch in our barn (unheated barn). Well, we got him a friend, a male, and this baby was only 6 weeks old and we put them together. The mean rabbit tried breeding with him many times until I had to rescue the baby. Yuck. I thought I was going to vomit. I thought I was getting a warm fuzzy friend to help keep him warm this winter! So, I waited about 6 weeks and put the young, sweet, friendly rabbit back in. He still wants to "mess around." He chases and chases that poor rabbit. Question is this: Will he stop doing this soon so they can be friends, or is he gay or what? I am laughing while I type this, but I really need help. I will get rid of him if he doesn't stop this stuff. The new rabbit hates it. What should I do?

-- carla s. miller (carlasmiller@hotmail.com), September 28, 2001

Answers

If you missed the "out of control dog" post yesterday you won't get this but........don't let him in the bathroom when someone's taking a shower!!! LOL

-- Robin in Kansas (robinatt@salpublib.org), September 28, 2001.

Carla...sounds like the "mean" rabbit needs to be neutered. Male rabbits tend to be "friendly", with other rabbits or sometimes the owner. I would not put two male rabbits together...most rabbits are raised in separate hutches from what I have seen. I raise Angora rabbits...having just had a litter 9-13-01. The one fault of my sweet Angora Male rabbit (1 1/2 yrs old) is that he tends to always tinkle on my lap when I groom him...be it 15 min or an hour into it. Maybe you should keep the sweet little new guy and find a new home for the older one. Good luck.

Sherrill Cabin in the Woods Farm Graham, Washington

-- Sherrill in Washington (cabininthewoodsfarm@yahoo.com), September 28, 2001.

I've never raised Netherland Dwarfs, but I've heard both that they are great, and that they are mean. Can't help you with that.

Generally speaking, however, two bucks won't usually get along at all. They're not good with the buddy system!

As for your older buck possibly being gay - don't feel bad! My male dog has a semi-serious relationship with one of our male barn cats! We've got a gay, interspecies relationship happening here! :-)

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), September 28, 2001.

Carla, you can't keep two males together unless one or both are neutered. Just doesn't work. But you can have your pet neutered by a vet familiar with neutering rabbits, costs about the same as a cat, I've had it done to our pet rabbits. The behavior you explained is normal for a male rabbit.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), September 28, 2001.

Carla--We have Netherland Dwarf rabbits. Your male rabbit needs neutered. If you want him to be a friendly pet, he needs more interaction with you. It's not gonna happen in a barn. These little guys are no more than two pounds. Get him a nice cage with urine guards, and bring him in the house so people are around him a lot more. You can even build him a nice little bunny playpen so that he gets some exercise. Give him safe toys. They love to run through oatmeal cartons that have the ends cut out. They also like to push and toss little balls. Handle him gently and eventually you'll have a nice guy. And DON'T put him in a cage with another rabbit. Or if you still want to keep him in the barn, still build the playpen and bring him in the house for part of the day. Hope this helps.

-- vicki in NW OH (thga76@aol.com), September 28, 2001.

One this I love about this forum, you can always learn something new. I had never heard of a neutered rabbit. Sorta sounds like poor man's toy eunuch. :>)

-- Joe (CactusJoe001@AOL.com), September 28, 2001.

If you think neutering a rabbit is strange, how about spaying a chicken. I swear this is the honest to Goodness truth. My husband went to my vet's house to help her with a surgery she was doing (he helps her with the lifting of the larger dogs when she needs it) and she had a chicken on her surgery table. When he asked her what the heck was wrong with the chicken she explained that the chicken was a pet of a little old lady and she was tired of finding the eggs all over the house so she decided to have the chicken spayed. My vet did it for her. Doesn't that beat all?

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), September 28, 2001.

Carla, please find the House Rabbit Society on a search engine. Their site will tell you everything there is to know about proper rabbit care. And yes, your male needs neutered, but that won't necessarily make him nice. My experience has been that the dwarfs are the nastiest, and the biggest breeds (Californian, Flemish Giants, others) make the best, gentlest pets. (As an aside, I have found the Flemmies to be fragile health-wise). I will be happy to give you more information via e-mail if you want.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), September 28, 2001.

Oh what a week for strange posts! First We had a over-sexed dog (kinda reminds me of a few dates I had). Now we have a gay rabbit that should be neutered and a story of a spayed chicken! Is there a full moon? Of course, we had the strip down patient(I'm still not sure about that one)! At least today we had a few laughs. God bless and I hope everyone has a good weekend!

-- Ardie from WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), September 28, 2001.

I've heard this but have never tried it and probably will never try it. But, I've heard that you can train a rabbit to use a kitty litter box inside your house. They say he will be just like a cat. I don't have cats in my house either!

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), September 28, 2001.

There is a tole painting store in Mansfield Missouri just off the town sqr. Anyway she has a pet rabbit in her store that is litter box trained. He is big and its the funniest thing I ever saw. She keeps him in the back room where she gives painting lessons. She took us back there to see some of the work people had done. Well she had a baby gate up in the doorway between the two rooms and she took it down for us to walk through. We were looking at some painting and she yelled " Where do you think your going" and when I looked up she was looking at the little hall with the baby gate. The rabbit put on his breaks and came running back in where we were. HAHAHAA She said if she dosn't keep an eye on him he sneeks up into the store so he can chew on the wood items she sells to tole paint. I had never seen anything like it. LOL

-- Teresa (c3ranch@socket.net), September 28, 2001.

Carla, Rabbits are neat little animals and are great pets too. Ans rabbits can deal with cold, like an unheated barn much better than a Kansas summer with temps over 100 degrees. But like most people they must have their own space. Your older rabbits' space is his cage. He does not want to share it with the young sweet friendly bunnie. You need to put the new bunnie in his own cage. Rabbits do not keep each other warm. If you put them in a big pen together they might get along a lot better. Plus, are you positive the little one is a male? If you want a pet bring them in the house, they are easily litter box trained. If you put a strange baby rabbit in with a doe(mama rabbit) they will kill it so your guy isn't that mean.

-- Karen in Kansas (kansasgoats@iwon.com), September 28, 2001.

I agree..you little rabbit is neither mean or gay...just being a male rabbit. I have had neutered bunnies that do well togther, but usually all of mine are in separate hutches. I have 9, 7 of them angoras. Males, especially seem to like their own space. That could be just mine though. I have only had one Netherland Dwarf rabbit and she was not at all friendly and seemed more nervous than the larger breeds I am used to. I have to tell you guys...never heard of spaying a chicken!!! That really gave me a laugh!!

-- Jenny Pipes (Auntjenny6@aol.com), September 28, 2001.

When my husband was in pilot training in Texas-eons ago, mind you, another pilot's wife had two pet rabbits she let have the run of thier house. Both were litter box trained, and she kept the bottom shelf of the refridgerator for them. They were allowed to get in there and eat lettuce leaves when she opened the door for them. Had little steps for them and all. I thought that was really gross! Haven't met anyone with a spayed chicken, but aren't capons neutered roosters? Now that has to be a delicate operation... Jan

-- Jan in Co (Janice12@aol.com), September 28, 2001.

Rabbits are territorial and do much better in their own cages. I have kept does together up to about 4 months and then they need their own space. Bucks by 12-16 weeks will start fighting. If they are nuetered or spayed some people have success in acclimating them to be house pets together. I would never leave them alone unattended as it just takes a minute for one to injury the other. ( Daughters let two of our does loose while cleaning the barn one time, and the one injured the other in just a moment) Also rabbits can be house trained for a litter box, We used to rabbit-sit one that was! If I can help with other questions let me know. Good luck with your bunnies. Denise

-- Denise K. (Rabbitmom2@webbworks.com), September 29, 2001.

Whew! First of all, thanks to all of you for your help and a HUGE thanks for all the good laughs. I got so much excellent information from you really nice folks. I have made some decisions after reading these posts, and I also wanted to make sure all rabbit-lovers out there know I would never hurt my "mean" bunny. As a matter of fact, he is in my living room right now (in his cage and very warm) alone. I will not put any bunnies together ever again, I promise, unless they are neautered and all parties have signed appropriate papers, etc.. I had gone to the House Rabbit Society page several times, and I am pretty sure it is the site that told me to get him a friend. Also, I cannot keep him in the house with two little bitty girls who want to squish him and kiss him. We had him indoors for a year before he went to the barn. I held him, sang to him, let him run around the living room, told him jokes, bought a harness to go on walks, petted him and played with him. I call him "mean" because I think he has a skittish temperament which is not his fault. My sweet little rabbit is much more friendly and wants to be with us. That said, I have decided to check into neutering him (if the cost is ridiculous, no way will I do it as I have many animals), and then put them together if that works out. If not, I plan to take him back to his original breeder and see if they can find a home for him. Again, thanks for making my week!

-- carla s. miller (carlasmiller@hotmail.com), September 29, 2001.

I've had several house rabbits and loved them-but DO wipe down all your electrical cords with pepper sol every few days-I wound up with some very short TV cords from being gnawed thru & respliced!

-- Mitzi Giles (Egiles2@prodigy.net), September 30, 2001.

I am Sorry but Shannon ir right nutering is not a labotomy it probably wont change the behavour at this stage. keep his seperated for breading or our pleasure, failing that e........

Julian

-- Julian Young (streamdreams@yahoo.com), October 02, 2001.