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At what age can a female rabbit get pregnant?

Princess Jess*

Warren Scout
Worried now-Marmite tried to hump Minka today!!!! Grabbed him straight off...but worrying about her now :( don't want her pregnant!!!
 
You need to split them up asap! You can't be there all the time to pull him off her.

You need to get him neutered and get spayed for their sake:)
 
How old is she? They can get pregnant from 10 - 12 weeks i think :(

If hes mated with her, then the chances are shes pregnant :(

You need to keep them seperate for 6 weeks
 
She will have babies in around 28 days if shes pregnant :( You'll have to wait and see i guess.

I dont think the vets would be able to do anything, as shes too young to spey :? Someone with more knowledge will be along soon.

You'll have to be extra careful for the next 4 weeks, make sure his run is fully secure so he isnt able to escape to get at her :( Its really important xXx
 
If she's that young and he was neutered 2.5 weeks ago I'd say it's highly unlikely :) Females don't usually become sexually mature until 12-16 weeks, and once a male has been neutered all that is left to get a female pregnant is any 'leftover' sperm in the system. The two factors together means I'd say it's very unlikely that your little one is pregnant.
 
Santa-thank you :D you've put my mind at rest for a bit. I think it's weird-when I took Minka to the vets on friday...my vet asked why I wasn't putting them together now and I said because I didnt wana seperate them again once bonded. Why would she suggest putting them together if there was a rick of pregnancy!!?? xx
 
I had the same scare that you did! Only I was slightly less worried, because I only caught my male bun humping my females face. He's not the brightest cookie in the jar, if you follow me :roll:

But I told my vet and she just laughed at me for worrying. My girl is 10-11 weeks, and she said it was highly unlikely. And she's also a small breed, so she's like to mature faster than most other breeds. My vet said she'll mature around 3 1/2 - 4 months most likely, so I would say you're still safe. But be careful or baby bunnies will be coming! :shock:
 
This recommendation seems to be growing by the minute...I know that advice moves on as we learn more, but when I first had a rabbit neutered for bonding about 9 years ago, I was told to wait 2 weeks after neutering, and this was the standard rescue requirement. Over the years that seems to have crept up to 3 weeks...then 4 weeks...then 6 weeks, and now all of a sudden 7 weeks seems to be appearing. I do know of rescues who still routinely bond rabbits 2-3 weeks after neutering the male and never have any pregnancies result. I'm all for being cautious about these things but I think this recommendation is starting to get very OTT and is probably resulting in rabbits being alone for a lot longer than is actually necessary.

If the operation is performed properly and the testicles are removed...how on earth can they still be fertile after 7 weeks? Sperm isn't going to stay alive in the tubes for 7 weeks is it? A week maybe, two weeks at the very most? And if there's nothing there to produce any fresh sperm, I'd have thought the only way this could happen is if the op isn't done properly in the first place :?
 
Thanks that's interesting - I honestly don't see how it's possible if the op has been done properly...sperm can't possibly be alive in the tubes for that long.

I would suggest that the isolated incidents where this happens after several weeks are either the result of an incomplete castration or a porkie-pie on the part of the owner! :oops:
 
Thanks that's interesting - I honestly don't see how it's possible if the op has been done properly...sperm can't possibly be alive in the tubes for that long.

I would suggest that the isolated incidents where this happens after several weeks are either the result of an incomplete castration or a porkie-pie on the part of the owner! :oops:

how long can sperm live in the tubes for then sorry to go off topic as my vet also recomemnds 6weeks partly for risk of impregnating..but more so for the chacne for all the hormones to die down and settle. x
 
In humans it's 3-5 days, a week tops. I can't imagine it would be hugely different in rabbits, especially as their reproductive design is such that it is set up for multiple pregnancies in quick succession, with females ovulating when mated, which would indicate there is no biological 'need' for long-lived sperm.

Do vets in the US castrate rabbits in the same way as we do in the UK -i.e. complete removal of the testicles? Or do they just tie the tubes - which may well need a longer period of time for them to settle down and become infertile, just like in human male sterilisation :?

Like I said, I'm not advocating taking unnecessary risks, I just wonder where this ever lengthening recommended period is coming from.
 
In humans it's 3-5 days, a week tops. I can't imagine it would be hugely different in rabbits, especially as their reproductive design is such that it is set up for multiple pregnancies in quick succession, with females ovulating when mated, which would indicate there is no biological 'need' for long-lived sperm.

Do vets in the US castrate rabbits in the same way as we do in the UK -i.e. complete removal of the testicles? Or do they just tie the tubes - which may well need a longer period of time for them to settle down and become infertile, just like in human male sterilisation :?

Like I said, I'm not advocating taking unnecessary risks, I just wonder where this ever lengthening recommended period is coming from.
no idea if us vets do it different im in uk so only use uk vets! (buns would hate the trvel ;) :p) x
 
I was speaking to a vet nurse in our local pet shop a while ago during Bunny Week and she said that the advice went on what tests had been done with dogs.

I do know of someone who had an accident after 2 weeks but also the parents of our baby bunnies had no problems when he was done and PUT STRAIGHT BACK WITH HER because no one at the Vets told them he couldn't! They had already had 2 litters 31 days apart. I guess you just can't be sure so must er on the side of caution.
 
I was speaking to a vet nurse in our local pet shop a while ago during Bunny Week and she said that the advice went on what tests had been done with dogs.

Any idea what those tests showed - the rabbit advice seems to vary from 2-7 weeks so it'd be interesting to see where the results of those tests were on that continuum. Which advice is based on dogs? 2 weeks or 7 weeks, or something else?

I guess what I'm getting at is yes, we must err on the side of caution - but what does that mean? There's a huge difference between 2-7 weeks for a margin of error, especially in an animal that no longer has any reproductive organs!

(PS sorry for hijacking your thread!)
 
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