Coco the rescue mama & her babies

[LacyH1011]

Hi there! I rescued Coco after an irresponsible pet owner dumped his rabbits on the river parkway here in Sacramento a year ago. In the intervening months, calls to Animal Control and neighbor visits to the perpetrator, and even though there were many predators (coyotes, owls, and mountain lions), the bunnies multiplied! Two of my colleagues who live nearby rescued first a male, named Apple Jack, and then a female, who we named Coco. I took her to the vet to get spayed, but the vet said there were babies on the way. I've attached a picture of me holding Coco the Friday before she gave birth. I was so amazed at how willing she was to be handled having either been dumped onto or born onto the parkway. Little did I know just how pregnant she was, this pic was just 2 days before she gave birth on Easter afternoon to 11 babies! One was stillborn, and 4 more didn't make it through the first week. But the remaining six are now 8 weeks old and doing great!

Coco the friday before by lacybauer
Coco and babies by lacybauer
babies up close day 1 by lacybauer
Annika and Digger by lacybauer
Jake and Digger by lacybauer
Meeting Rooey by lacybauer
Naptime by lacybauer

 

[LacyH1011]

As the babies grew bigger, it became clear that some are Lionheads. The vet confirmed this and also sexed the babies for us on 5/21, but wants to see them back on 6/5 to confirm. That is also when he'll spay Coco, he wanted to give her a couple more weeks for her milk to dry up. My question is this: three of the babies (Tule, Canelo & Peanut) are double maned Lionheads, one is a single mane Lionhead (Luna), and two are neither (Digger and Strawberry). The vet said either daddy bunny is a Lionhead, or Coco's parentage could be where that is coming from. But I read that the Lionhead gene is dominant, so it would seem to me that if it comes from Coco, she would have to be a no-mane Lionhead. The male bunny captured by my colleagues the day before (Apple Jack) looks just like Coco. If Coco's something else, it's likely that Digger and Strawberry are that something else, and not no-mane Lionheads since (1) that's rarer, and (2) they're rescues/mutts. Does anyone have any speculation about what other breed might be manifesting for Coco, Strawberry, and Digger? I did the quiz that's posted on this site, but it didn't get me anywhere. Here are pics of the 3 double-maned Lionheads singly and together, followed by the single-maned Lionhead and the two mystery babies. We are adopting out four of the babies, and I'd love to be able to tell their new parents what breed they might be.

Canelo by lacybauer
Tule by lacybauer
Peanut by lacybauer
Lionheads by lacybauer
Luna by lacybauer
Digger by lacybauer
Strawberry by lacybauer