# Pregnant again?



## Lamb Lover (Jun 14, 2015)

I'm watching ten rabbits right now and I think the mother is pregnant with her third litter. Her first two litters were a surprise because they thought they had two males. The biggest of the first litter, Teddy, has developed very very quickly and began to get very friendly with the mother Pebbles. I'm not sure how old they are now, over two months though and Pebbles is two or three years old. 

Anyway, Teddy has mated with Pebbles and I guess my question is if he is over two months old but almost fully developed is it possible that she is pregnant? She's ripping out her fur and is trying to build another nest and has gotten much larger in the past few weeks. I quite honestly don't know anything about rabbit breeding and I want to make sure I can expect new babies instead of a third surprise litter. The other two males have tried to mate with her and all the other girls but obviously don't understand how.


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## Hens and Roos (Jun 14, 2015)

Welcome ....are you able to separate the males away from the females, that way you will not have any more surprise litters being born.  What breed of rabbits are you watching- as they have different maturity dates.   So both litters are over 2 months old but you aren't sure how many months?


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## Lamb Lover (Jun 14, 2015)

I don't have the ability to separate them because they have a joint cage and we have no other place to put them. They are going home soon, so I guess one group can be put in the hutch and another can be kept in the cage.... I don't know the breed and I'm not sure if a picture would help you. They have short hair, small ears, they look like any other rabbit so I can't describe them. 

The first litter should be nearing three months, the second should be at 2 months. I'm not certain though, it's just a guess. They are all a month apart though. (The father has since passed and we know how to sex them now so that's helpful.)


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## Bunnylady (Jun 14, 2015)

Theoretically, rabbits (bucks AND does) can become fertile at about 3 months of age. Whether a male can sire a litter before that or not is something that a lot of people will argue about, but of which I've never seen scientific proof to back up the claim. I have definitely seen young bucks mounting things at very young ages, but just because he's mounting things doesn't mean he's mature. Does will mount each other, too - it can be a dominance display. Most people feel that if you separate by gender at 8 to 10 weeks, that should be early enough to prevent any surprise litters.

A rabbit doe is capable of becoming pregnant immediately after she has a litter, so if she is with a fertile buck, she can have a litter about once per month (the gestation period of rabbits is 28 - 35 days; most litters are born at 31 days). That really isn't good for her. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to convert plant material into babies and milk for babies; does can get really pulled down having back-to-back litters like that.  

Does typically pull fur as the last stage of nest making, just before the kits are born. However, sometimes a doe may pull fur when she wasn't pregnant to begin with. A doe may pull a little bit of fur when her hormones are at peak readiness for breeding. Sometimes, just having another animal mounting her may make a doe's body think it is pregnant, and she will experience a "false pregnancy." She will go through all of the motions, even making a nest and pulling fur, but no babies are produced. If you don't see babies within the next couple of days, that's probably what has happened here. Whether she has babies or not, if a fertile buck has access to a doe that has been pulling fur for whatever reason, I can just about guarantee you a litter in 31 days.


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## Lamb Lover (Jun 14, 2015)

Thank you @Bunnylady! We never even knew she was pregnant for both litters. But you're right, the male did get her again right after the first litter was born. It's been over a month now since all were born and she seems to be doing better. But like I said, Teddy is pretty much fully developed and actually fights his brothers when they try and mount Pebbles. I didn't see him mount her but I'm almost certain it happened because of his behavior and all the time they spent alone together. She has pulled a lot of fur... I think the oldest female from the first litter is too because it all can't be Pebbles... The owners will pick them up soon so I'll be sure to tell them everything. If she does have more I'll be sure to let you know.


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## Latestarter (Jun 14, 2015)

@Lamb Lover! Glad to see ya here! How did you get stuck babysitting the rabbits in the first place, that the owners didn't know were male and female? Even after having multiple litters? And what did they expect would happen with only two cages and all those rabbits together? Am I missing something here? Maybe misunderstanding what you posted? Anyway, I'll bet you'll be glad when they are back with the owners and become their problems again!


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## Lamb Lover (Jun 14, 2015)

Thanks @Latestarter, glad to be here! Well the owners went to Peru, and I was left with mama and nine babies when I had no prior experience with rabbits. (We were their last option other than taking them to the Humane society.) They did eventually find out who was the dad, but they ended up eating him so we thought we didn't have to worry about anymore rabbits... Obviously that might not be the case since Pebbles is acting and looking the way she is. If she does have another litter though they have to get rid of the other nine and they don't want to. It's a big mess! I'll be happy when they go back home, mostly because they stink, but I'll be kinda sad too because they are such friendly little things. Rabbits beat a potentially pregnant moody Border Collie anyway! (Yes, puppies and more baby rabbits. Dont know how I feel about that.) Either way I just want to know if she's pregnant, and what I'm supossed to tell the owners.


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## Bunnylady (Jun 14, 2015)

When a doe is collecting nesting material, she doesn't care where it comes from. I have occasionally kept a few older does together in a sort of colony setting, and have seen  some of the sorts of things that go on. A doe doesn't only pull her own belly fur for the nest; she will grab fur off the backside of any rabbit unwary enough to sit where she can get to them. I remember someone that had an unexpected litter from a pair of pets wondering if the buck pulled fur too, since so much of his fur was in the nest (their buck and doe were different colors).


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## Latestarter (Jun 14, 2015)

OK, maybe I'm compounding things here, but did you say that one of the young females or the oldest female might ALSO be pregnant? So TWO pregnant does? in one cage? along with several males? who are fighting for breeding rights? Oh boy... those folks better get back home like lickety split and build a whole lotta cages!! They're gonna be bunny rich!


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## Bunnylady (Jun 15, 2015)

Yeah, sounds like a mess to me, too. Any buck that is 3 months or older may be fertile, and any doe that over 3 months of age might be pregnant. A litter that is born in a crowded cage is pretty likely to get trampled to death in the chaos that ensues as the buck(s) try to breed the newly-kindled doe. Some people will tell you that bucks will kill kits; I personally have never seen a buck show any interest in the kits at all, just the doe.

I have also seen bucks show a very unfortunate amount of interest in each other. Even if these bucks are separated from the does, they may still fight. Rabbit fights can be vicious; they have sharp teeth and claws and they know how to use them. I have seen what happens when a buck can't get far enough away to suit a more dominant buck; including castration (nasty!).


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## Lamb Lover (Jun 15, 2015)

Oh no! Ugh this is awful. They are actually supossed to get them today but we're running out of daylight so I'm not sure what's going on. Yes @Latestarter, two potentially pregnant does. The younger one is with all the boys since they are from the same litter so I would worry more about her. Mama is with the second all female litter so she should be ok. I should start writing this down because it's getting crazy. Thank you both for your help, otherwise I'm afraid we would have had a problem. I'll keep you updated, but as of right now I've got to try and figure this out!


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## Latestarter (Jun 15, 2015)

All I can say at this point is you are a saint! The people you are doing this for owe you a HUGE debt of gratitude! You stepped way outside your comfort zone to help them! I'll bet you'll think twice the next time they ask for a favor! I'm real interested in finding out how all this turns out. I hope you'll update the thread over time. Hope they made it to pick them up. Hang in there!

Edit to say in all the commotion I almost missed the possibly pregnant, moody border collie...   Puppies is a whole different thing than rabbits!!  YAY for puppies!


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## Lamb Lover (Jun 15, 2015)

Well thank you, I try to be saintly.... haha. Well, she came to pick them up and both does are in fact pregnant. I get to meet the new litters when they are born too. These will be for sale but she is keeping the others. She also let me keep two does from the second litter. They're named Clover and Monkey.   

I know I'm so excited for puppies!!!! It was all an acident but we are having her checked out tomorrow. I hope she is! I'm also getting two lambs, and we already have two cats and two other dogs besides the Border Collie! We also want chickens and horses but living in the city doesn't leave much room for that...  The only way we are getting the lambs is because they won't get that big. Believe me, if I had room I would have one of everything at least.


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## samssimonsays (Jun 16, 2015)

WOW! I am so sorry. Those folks are not ones who should be keeping that many rabbits after what I read about the situation... That is not fair to have that many rabbits in one cage. ALWAYS separating bucks from does at 8 weeks and no later has been one of my rules. Boys can stay together until things start to get close to maturity which for small breeds is a heck of a lot quicker than giants. Baby does stay together until they start to scuffle or if they don't they stay together until breeding age, which is rare. Mom is always separate from ALL the babies by 8 weeks. This prevents any oopsies, it also prevents mom from getting aggressive with any babies trying to sneak a snack. 

Congrats on the puppies and new bunnies though! And enjoy your lambs!


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## Bunnylady (Jun 16, 2015)

_Please _tell me you have checked your local zoning, and are allowed small livestock. Over on BYC, we see threads all the time about someone who has a few chickens, and they have to get rid of them because the neighborhood isn't zoned that way, and a neighbor complained. I hope you are - sheep can be such characters!

And congrats on the bunnies - letting you keep a couple after all the bother and anxiety seems like the least they could do.


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## Lamb Lover (Jun 16, 2015)

@Samantha drawz yes it ws a bit of a mess. They do have a large hutch at home that we weren't able to bring to my house but we turned them out in the pen each so they got to stretch. Everybody is ok now and I've had an interesting day with my two... They really like to jump on me and scratch. Gonna have to do something about that. 

I know that we should have separated them, we just didn't have the ability. I wouldn't dare leave them in the pen at night what with the dog sized raccoons we have here. But the owner informed me I could meet the new babies, and that they would be sold to responsible owners. I'm happy for her, and glad that they are out of my hair! 

@Bunnylady I did check. I called the extension line and checked the websites. We are in the process of getting everything ready for them. But we do have a friend that is willing to house them if need be as long as we help with her horses. I LOVE HORSES. We are actually going to go see the lambs this weekend and hopefully find our two, if not we can pick a new set of bummers. All the sheep got shuffled around and sent out to graze so I'm not sure if they are at the ranch or out with the herders....


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