• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.
  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Breeding Bunnies

siddles

Young Bun
Hi there. A question for you all. Today i viewed a beautiful male baby dwarf lop and he will be part of our 'family' on sunday 6th april. Now having thought i wont breed Twitchy (a white dwarf lionhead lop), having now seen him and his parents, who are beautiful, i am thinking of letting them have at least one go together!!!!
But firstly, how old will he have to be before he can do the do??!! And also my ultimate goal, and why i wanted another bunny in the first place, is for them to be living together once he has been neutered. Will they still be able to do this having obviously been bred? :D
 
bucks can become fertile as early as 12 weeks or as late as 6 months depends on he individual buck if you are deffinatly keen on breeding them then probably wait until the buck is 6 months this way it will most likely be successful first time.

a few questions to think about though :)

how old is your doe?
have you got the space to keep the babies if you cant rehome them?... your doe could have 8+ babies and one or more could end up with a health problem which will make them unrehomeable my girl Crystal had a unrehomable baby.
have you got money for any emergancy vet appointments or if one of the babies gets ill? i lived in the vets with Crystals babies.

just a few things to think about hun :wave:
 
Hi there. A question for you all. Today i viewed a beautiful male baby dwarf lop and he will be part of our 'family' on sunday 6th april. Now having thought i wont breed Twitchy (a white dwarf lionhead lop), having now seen him and his parents, who are beautiful, i am thinking of letting them have at least one go together!!!!
But firstly, how old will he have to be before he can do the do??!! And also my ultimate goal, and why i wanted another bunny in the first place, is for them to be living together once he has been neutered. Will they still be able to do this having obviously been bred? :D

http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/care/breedingrabbits.asp this is a thread which is worth you reading.

I can only stress the importance of knowing the genetic history of both the rabbits families which you are intended to breed. Having a rabbit with both lionheads and lop eares you must consider that they have a higher tendency to dental problems than many other rabbits, this is one of the reasons why it is important to know the family history for a quite a number of generations.

The other aspect to consider is that you will need to find homes for any rabbits born, there are many lionheads on the RU list of rabbits looking for a home http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/sear...=%&breed=Lion+Head&County=%&Submit=++Search++ and also many small lops http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/sear...=%&breed=small+lop&County=%&Submit=++Search++

Homes are not always easy to come by.
 
Male rabbits can reproduce any time after their testicles drop (from 10 weeks onwards).

Female rabbits should really be at least 8 months old before they have a litter, and no older than 2 years.

If you breed them, you'll have to be prepared to keep the babies if you can't find homes for them (there may be as many as 10 kits! :shock: ). That will mean extra hutches, extra food and extra vets bills. It is VERY difficult to find good homes.

I took in a young rabbit from a woman who's rabbit had 12 kits, and she couldn't find homes for all of them. One that she did find a home for was neglected by it's new owners and died of heat stroke within a couple of weeks.

It's not a decision to be made without a huge amount of thought, and you must be prepared for huge amounts of heartache.

IMO bunnies are much better as pets than breeding machines. :D

Amy
 
thanks for your replies. Twitchy is only just a year so well within the 2 year limit. I am going to think long and hard about breeding them, as i know it is a huge commitment and obviously the main reason for getting her a bunny friend was for company. I will keep them apart for a while in any case cos i will have to get him neteured so that will give me time to think.
 
you also have to consider that things can go wrong during pregnancy and birth and you can risk losing the mother.

before i knew about rescues that was the main reason i wouldnt breed from a pet was because i loved them too much to lose them
 
If you think in dog terms, what you are planning to do is breed two mongrels with no past history. When the dogs homes are overflowing with dogs I'm sure you'd agree it's not necessary and also dangerous as you could be breeding in genetic faults you have no idea about.

Now look at rabbits. There are approx 33 000 rabbits rehomed in the uk every year, so by breeding non pedigree rabbits you will be taking homes from those that are looking to move out of rescues and bad situations. It's the same as the dog situation, no need for any more to be born.

I would not recommend doing this as there is just no need for any more rabbits to be born.
 
Also, as with dog breeding, only the creme d' la creme go on to breed, ie dogs which have won show after show. I assume your female isn't show quality and nor is the male, so why breed them? Also, isn't there a dwarfing gene which is fatal producing kits known as peanuts?

I really hope you decide not to breed them, but whatever you decide, congrats on your new bunny!:D
 
If the doe is already a year old you'll be pushing it as she's a smaller breed as from 18 months onwards, sometimes even earlier their pelvis's fuse meaning it is much harder for them to give birth naturally.
Any buck shouldn't be used as a stud till he's full grown and had his first complete moult (ie lost the baby coat). So around 6 months old at the youngest.
I'm guessing the buck is still a baby so you'll still have at least 4 months before you can consider breeding in which time you'll have two hormonal and lonely bunnies.

Given your approach to this whole breeding malarky, I'm guessing neither rabbit is proven, you aren't aware of their genetic history (going back usually around 4 generations at least) and haven't won any shows.
You should only breed from the very best, but truth be told it's best not to breed full stop and just enjoy your rabbits.

If you get her spayed and him neutered they'll be able to live quite happily together plus it'll stop any unwanted hormonal behaviour.
 
please dont breed from this doe.if she is 1 already her pelvic bones may well have fused and she will need a c-section to give birth. you need to have a first litter by 8 months at the latest really,then you can breed upto the age of about 2 1/2.
 
:wave: Hi

I personally wouldn't breed from them. If the main reason for getting him is for a companion to twitchy then seems a pointless to bring more bunnies into this world when there are so many already in rescues homeless.

Good luck with bonding and can't wait to see piccies.

Lian x
 
Back
Top