Baby Rabbits

Why it’s better to adopt adult rabbits and not baby bunnies.

We agree that baby rabbits are indeed adorable to look at, but this article is to explain why we do not rehome rabbits as babies and why it’s much better to adopt already bonded adult pairs of rabbits instead!

Baby Rabbits

A baby rabbit when being sold by a breeder or a pet shop is usually between eight weeks and four months old.

Baby rabbits should never be separated from mum before eight weeks old. Unfortunately we do often see them for sale as young as four weeks, as they can appear quite independent at that age, but this is absolutely too young. They need to stay with mum to build their fragile immune systems and learn good eating habits.

Baby Rabbits in Rescue

When we have rabbits under four months old signed over to us, or if they are born in our care when mum comes in to us pregnant, they will stay with us until they are old enough to be spayed and neutered.

This is the key reason that we do not rehome baby rabbits. Rabbits cannot be spayed or neutered until they are over four months old, usually around six months old.

Spaying and neutering is vital for pet rabbits. This means there will no risk of even more accidental litters. It means they won’t develop reproductive cancers. It also means they won’t display hormonal aggression towards other rabbits or humans.

Adopt an adult pair instead!

We absolutely encourage someone looking to adopt a pair of rabbits, to look at our already bonded and already spayed and neutered pairs. You can see some of our available rabbits here.

We do often see trepidation towards adopting an adult pair as there is a myth that you need to have baby rabbits to bond with them. This is absolutely not true. You can bond with rabbits of any age.

The next major advantage is we can match rabbits to your family as we’ll know their adult behaviour. A baby rabbit’s behaviour can change once their hormones begin to develop from three to four months of age.

The “Baby Bond”

We have now seen pet shops and breeders acknowledge that rabbits are happiest in pairs, but unfortunately this has led to pairs of baby rabbits being sold. This does NOT mean they are bonded.

A pair of siblings will appear adorable and cute together until they hit around three to four months. This is when their adult hormones begin to develop and this can come out in the form of aggression towards each other and to humans trying to handle them. This “teenager” phase can be a hard one to get through for an inexperienced rabbit owner.

When we have a litter and they’re old enough to be sexed and weaned from mum, we will split them into same sex groups initially. Did you know as soon as those hormones kick in, female rabbits can become pregnant? Yes, even to their male siblings. Male babies could even reproduce with mum. A female rabbit could potentially reproduce from as young as four to five months old. Once they are split we monitor behaviour very carefully and will get them booked in for spaying and neutering as soon as we feel they have matured and are healthy enough to do so.

Once they have been spayed and neutered they will be allowed a month to heal and for the hormones to reduce. Did you know a male rabbit can still reproduce up to a month post neuter? All the more reason to allow them time to heal. Once this time has passed they are ready to be bonded and go on to their new forever homes.

So if you know someone who wants to have rabbits and is adamant they must have babies, please send them this article and encourage them to adopt, don’t shop!