Should rabbits be desexed?
There are a number of benefits to desexing your pet rabbit. It is a big responsibility to care for a pregnant animal and her babies, and it’s the right thing to do to help prevent large numbers of unwanted rabbits who end up in animal shelters needing new homes.
There are also health benefits to desexing your rabbit. If undesexed, female rabbits can run the risk of developing cancer of the uterus, mammary tumours and can have phantom pregnancies. It would also remove the risk of testicular cancer in males.
If you’re housing more than one rabbit together, it vital to prevent pregnancies and aggressive behaviour between rabbits. Same sex couples will fight, with the chance arguments will seriously escalate to cause each other grievous harm.
How early can rabbits breed?
They reach their sexual maturity when they have grown to about 75% of their body weight, meaning smaller breeds will reach sexual maturity earlier. Rabbits can breed as young as four months of age and can have 10-11 litters in a single year, with up to 12 kittens per litter (24 was the record!). Within a few years, undesexed rabbits and their offspring can produce thousands and thousands of baby rabbits.
How much does it cost to desex a rabbit?
The cost to desex a rabbit varies between $150 and $250. Females are more expensive to desex because the surgery is more invasive.
If your rabbit requires desexing you can book in at a RSPCA Victoria vet clinic.
Post-desexing care
Your rabbit (either male or female) would have a surgery when it was desexed. You need to check the wound area daily to make sure that it has not become infected or swollen. If this occurs, you should take your bunny to the vet clinics immediately.
The sutures, or stitches, do not have to be removed but will dissolve over time. When you get home with your rabbit continue to monitor it to make sure that it is behaving and eating normally.
