*Newbie raises hand to ask a question*

Hello! I'm new!

I have a 8 month old Dwarf Lop called Milly - she's white with grey ears and a grey tail and she's just gorgeous!

Recently we tried to mate her with another rabbit, but we're not sure if they managed to 'do the deed'. They were very friendly though!

I just wondered how you do a search on this forum, as I wanted to look up any threads about rabbit pregnancy and birth. Can anyone help?

If you got a male and female rabbit together I'd say you're almost guaranteed to have babies, not sure why you want to tho :? :?

there are lots of babies in resuce, if you want another bun, you could start there...much easier than caring for a new mum and her kits, which is hard work, also lots of buns lose their first litters

Please have a look about the forum and you'll see what I mean.

Just a friendly word of advice Welcome to the forum, you will learn lots

Hi and welcome :wave:

Good luck with all the babies, do you have homes ready for them?

Hi and welcome!

Raising a litter is alot of work. Finding homes also isn't always that easy. Hopefully we will be able to help you with any questions you have!

Good luck with the babies if they are on the way!

Hi, and thanks for the welcome!

My boyfriend gave me my rabbit as a gift for my birthday, however I am concerned that she may be lonely on her own. So, following some advice, we considered mating her and then keeping one of her babies, as I was of the understanding that she would be too territorial to accept any other rabbit into her cage now. Is this not correct?

How can you tell if a rabbit is expecting?

Hello Manda :wave: Rabbits will except other rabbits we live in a group of five and mummy has lots of other bunnies that live in familys XXX

If you bunny is pregnant when she is close to popping she will make a nest and she may change in personality, other than that you can't really tell XX

Good Luck with your babies and i hops you find good homes for them X

Hi The Buns!

How do you mean by changing in personality? She's certainly got more destructive over the past few days, and she's refusing to use her litter tray, which she's used pretty much from the start. Her cage is a mess; she keeps upturning her litter tray and shredding the newspaper that we put down under the wood shavings.

She's also sleeping a lot more.

But then I understand that this could just be her 'maturing' I guess.

We already have prospective homes for any bunnies that may come along. Next door neighbour's rabbit died recently so they are keen to have two more, also my boyfriend's niece is always helping out with Milly so she will have two so long as she continues to show responsibility. And a couple of my boyfriend's friends are keen to get a rabbit; they are planning to go to the local rescue home if Milly isn't pregnant.

You can get her a friend. If they are introduced properly on neutral territory they will most likely get on. She is just as likely to be territorial if she is living with her daughter. When the daughter reaches sexual maturity around 4-6 months old they may start fighting.
Have you thought about having her spayed? It is a good idea in females as 80% die before they are 5 years old from uterine cancer, spaying will prevent her from developing it as well as helping with litter training and behavioural problems.
The best companion for her is a neutered male. There are lots to choose from here

http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/sear...=Single&RabNeut=on&County=%&Submit=++Search++

When was milly Mated Manda? the behaviour she is showing sounds as though she is just growing up! Usually there personality towards you will changeXX How old is Milly?? Sorry if you have already said being bunny's were not to good at reading stuff!

Thar's ok! Milly is around 8 months old. We introduced her to a male bunny (a 'stud' who was on loan! ) They got on incredibly well, but Milly wouldn't let him anywhere near her in that way - well, at least not that we saw! She did try to hump him a few times though!

She's no different towards me, if anything she's been more affectionate than normal but nothing else.

I was of the understanding that she would be too territorial to accept any other rabbit into her cage now. Is this not correct?

Click to expand...

Most rabbits will accept another rabbit into their 'home' if this is done correctly, for the easiest method it is better to have 2 neutered rabbits and introduce them on neutral territory, then to thoroughly clean out your cage removing any smells of the original rabbit from their. If you just place another female or a neutered male into your females cage without introducing on neutral territory you are more than likely to have a serious fight on your hands.

A pregnancy last approximately 28 days, if you rabbit is not pregnant I would recomend that you contact a rescue, there are many people on here who volunteer within small rescues who can help you. If you get your second rabbit from a rescue, the majority of good rescues will start the introductions off for you which will save you lots of stress and worry. The best and easiest pairings are a neutered male and female.

Many rabbits do not have equal numbers of babies of each sex, which can make rehoming them more difficult. ARC who is the rescue I am involved with recently took in a female rabbit who was obvioulsy pregnant who within 2 hours gave birth to 8 babies, of these 1 is a female, the other 7 are all male. The problem then can be that 2 males can live happily together if they are neutered as soon as their testicles drop, however at times this does not work and they start fighting and will need to be split.

If you wish to search out information about pregnant does there is a search facility in the grey bar at the top of the page, key words then need to be entered.

I hope things work out for you.

Janice

Would you consider getting her a friend from a rescue home if she isn't pregnant?

Thank you jrn1310, that's very helpful.

Yes, I think we will get her a new friend from a home if she's not pregnant. Will need to get her neutered first though.

I found when we put the 'stud' and Milly together in a run they got on very well almost immediately, and then Milly accepted him into her cage, so hopefully we will be able to settle a new rabbit in easily.

Any more tips would be greatly appreciated!

When did you introduce the 2 rabbits together?

Janice

She is a good age to be spayed now. They recover quicker when they are younger. Let us know how you get on and whether or not she has babies. I think it takes 30 days or so.
I know some people who's rabbits accidentally mate get the female spayed straight away to prevent having babies but if you want the babies you will have to wait until she has given birth and weaned them.

Janice - We introduced them 28 days ago - so if Milly is going to have babies, she'll be having them very soon!

Estelle - I read somewhere that it's best to get them spayed before they're a year old, so will definitely get her done soon if she's not pregnant.

By the way Estelle - your bunnies are just gorgeous!

Thank you! You don't have long to wait then. Has she made a nest?

She may not make a nest until just before she gives birth, some bunny's don't X

Most vets will neuter at 6 months, some slightly earlier. A leaner bun usually recovers a lot quicker than a chubby bun. There is some really good advice about neutering on this link http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/tam/viewtopic.php?t=5758

Janice

Thanks for the link Janice.

She's not made a nest, but she has made a real mess of her cage! What do they usually make nests out of?