Rabbits pregnancy

Hi All
As topic...

I have a couple of angora rabbits. I bought the rabbits 19 march 09 and at that time they were only 1 month old. Until now my rabbit have not shown any sign of pregnancy. I put both the male and the female rabbits together 2 months ago. How long does it take for the rabbit to get pregnant and how do i know whether the rabbit are pregnant. How long does it take for the rabbit to get birth. And how can i make the rabbit pregnant? Because i want to get a baby rabbit.

Hi,

I'm no expert by any means, but firstly a month was way too young to get rabbits, they should be 8 weeks at least for reference if you get any in the fututre. Also if they are brother and sister, you shouldn't really be breeding them if you don't have any experience, and i'm guessing you don't by your questions. Depending on the parents of your rabbits, babies born from brother and sister could be deformed if there is a lot of in-breeding in their family tree, a pedigree or info from the person you got them from would help, but if they gave them to you that young, i don't rate them as knoledgeable! Anyway, females are pregnant for between 28 and 35 days, but most commonly give birth on day 31, count from the day after they are mated. Rabbits tend not to show any visible signs, but sometimes their dewlap, (double chin!) gets bigger if they are pregnant. Rabbits will usually make their own nest, but you need to give her a box to make it in, high at 3 sides and low at one side for her to get in and out, and plenty of hay for her to put in it and she'll pull her own fur too, to make it warm. Obviously after mating the male should be kept away as he will get her pregnant straight after birth which isn't fair on her, or her babies.

All of this said, i am trying to be helpful, but i personally think you need to read up yourself before you even think about trying again, it's really bad that you don't know the basics if you are doing this deliberately, because so many things can and do go wrong unfortunately. Also consider you may lose your pet rabbit that i expect you love by doing this, because some do die becuase of pregnancy/labour. I sound harsh, but it's important for you to consider all the risks first, i don't want you having regrets afterwards without the full knowledge of what could happen. That said they are gorgeous by the looks of your avatar so i don't blame you wanting babies!!!

It sounds like you want to breed just so you can get "a baby rabbit" but you're not just going to get just one. The doe can have anywhere between 1 and probably 10 (For an Angora? Not to sure what their average litter size is.) I agree, you need to do much more research on breeding and I don't think you should breed just because you want to get a cute baby bunny.

Emily

What breed are they?
There are four Angora breeds - English, French, Satin, Giant, and German. English Angoras are the smallest. Their litter sizes are usually 5 to 8. French Angoras are third largest. Their litter sizes are usually 6 to 9. Satin Angoras and the second largest and their litters are usually the same size as the English Angora litters. Giant and German Angoras are the largest. Their litters are usually 8 to 10 kits.

Rabbits are induced ovulators which means that ovulation is triggered by being bred. Gestation is usually around 30 to 31 days but they can kindle any where between 28 to 35 days. It just depends on the doe. You want to put a nest box in at 28 days.
The problem with keeping them together is that if she is pregnant you have know way of knowing when she was bred. I would suggest taking the doe away from the buck for a couple of weeks. After the time is up put her back in and see if he tries to breed her. If it does not work do it all over again.
Brother/sister breedings will not produce deformed kits unless there are deformities in their back grounds.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Emily