Emma Jones
Neutering rabbits can have many benefits. Because in addition to the fact that this prevents unwanted offspring, aggression among rabbits can also be reduced. Read everything about neutering rabbits here.
Unwanted rabbit offspring can have fatal consequences for both the owner and the young. Because if neither space nor buyers are available, this usually means great suffering for the animals. Neutering can prevent unwanted rabbit offspring.
Why is neutering necessary for rabbits?
In addition to preventing unwanted offspring, neutering rabbits has other benefits as well. Rabbits are social animals and desperately need one or more of their own kind to live with. If they don’t, they can develop behavioral disorders, mental atrophy, and become ill.
However, if only rabbits of the same sex are kept together, there can be aggression among the animals. This is not a problem in the wild, but in an enclosure, the animals cannot avoid each other. It is therefore advisable to keep rabbits of different sexes.
In order to avoid uncontrolled offspring, the castration of rabbits is essential. Castrated animals have not only lost their ability to reproduce, but they are usually also more peaceful – also towards their humans, by the way. Female rabbits in particular can become biting when they reach sexual maturity.
What must be considered when neutering rabbits?
If you have decided to have one or more of your rabbits neutered, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Depending on their stage of development, females can be castrated from the age of four months.
- Males can be neutered as soon as their testicles can be felt in the scrotum. Depending on the breed, this is the case from the age of three and a half to five months.
- After castration, the animals should be kept on clean towels for about three days so that no bedding can get into the surgical wound.
- Males can still be fertile two to three weeks after castration because there are still sperm in the vas deferens.
Risk of anesthesia in the castration of rabbits
However, there is one fly in the ointment associated with castration: the risk of anesthesia. Unfortunately, it is higher in rabbits than in dogs and cats. To reduce the risk of anesthesia, you should note the following.
- Unlike other animals, rabbits should never be operated on sober. It is best to feed the animals good hay beforehand.
- In the first few hours after the operation, during the anesthetic sleep, the rabbits must also be kept warm until they are fully awake, as they cool down easily.