SEPARATING THE FATHER Most male rabbits are gentle with their offspring. The main reason to separate off the male is that the female can become pregnant again WITHIN HOURS of kindling! He should be housed where he can still see and contact her as separation is stressful.
Signs of pregnancy
To prevent your rabbit from getting pregnant again, separate the male and female immediately after the female's given birth, but make sure they can still see and smell each other to help maintain their bond. Read our blog: Cat reproduction - 7 facts you probably don't know!
Rabbit pairings
Rabbits can live happily in male/female, female/female, male/male pairings and larger mixed groups.
The babies will have to be separated from mom and by gender in about 5 weeks to avoid more breeding. You can put dad back with mom without worry of breeding BUT I wouldn't try to re-bond them until mom is spayed (+4 weeks for moms hormones to dissipate).
At 8 weeks, you should also separate the male and female offspring, so they do not breed. Male rabbits can reach sexual maturity as early as 10 weeks.
This is also when you need to take steps to prevent unwanted pregnancies. As the first heat can occur earlier in some cases, we recommend keeping intact male and female rabbits separated from each other starting at ~2.5 months of age.
Vital for bonding
If you have a mixed-sex pair of rabbits, they both need to be neutered so that they can live together happily. Even if your female rabbit is spayed, an uncastrated male will still try to mount her, which can trigger fighting and it will cause stress to both rabbits.
If you touch a baby rabbit, its mother will not usually abandon it. Rabbits are excellent moms. All they want is their baby back. If you feel the nest is in a spot where you can't possibly leave the babies until they're big enough to leave on their own, contact a wildlife rehabilitator for advice.
As soon as the babies are weaned, at eight weeks, the mother rabbit should be spayed. She can then be placed back into the companionship of the now (hopefully) neutered male. In any case of domestic rabbit babies, do not remove the babies until they are a full eight weeks of age.
Baby rabbits need to stay with their mother until they are about 8 weeks old. Baby rabbits start nibbling on hay and pellets at about 2 weeks old. However, just because they start eating on their own does not mean they can be taken away from their mother.
Once your bunny is bonded it doesn't take any extra work to care for two bunnies. They share a house, food, water, and litter box. They will groom each other and keep each other clean and healthy.
While female – male bonding tends to be easier, you can certainly bond two females or two males together. Next, each rabbit will require its own space with their own personal things.
The length of pregnancy in the rabbit is 31 days and the doe can produce from 1 to 12 young each time she gives birth. She can become pregnant again within a few days of giving birth. However it is not good practice to allow the doe to become pregnant straight after giving birth.
Any combination of rabbits can live together, whether they are both males, both females, or female and male. Male with female coupling is the most natural because this is how they typically form in the wild.
It is recommended however, that not more than one mating be performed per day for each male as usually, the second ejaculation often contains much more sperm. It is also important to observe a time delay of one day between two mating acts.
When you want to breed your rabbits, put the female into the males cage. If the rabbits are housed separately, you ALWAYS bring the female to the male. Females can be really territorial and may attack the male instead of breeding. The two rabbits will probably run around in circles for a bit.
DO NOT TOUCH OR REMOVE THE BUNNIES. Their mother WILL return to care for them (even if they are hairless and even if you have accidentally touched them.). Leave the nesting material AND the bunnies in the nest and do not mow the grass while the babies are present.
Young rabbits disperse from the nest at 15-20 days old. By three weeks of age, they are on their own in the wild and no longer require a mother's care. This means that young rabbits found on the ground may be completely healthy. Even though they look small, they are not orphans and do not need any human intervention.
Next, you will try to encourage the mother to nurse her babies. You do this by holding your rabbit over her babies so they have a chance to nurse. Stroke your rabbit so that she is calm. If the babies have a chance to nurse, this will most likely fix the problem.
If the nest has been disturbed, the caller should: Remove injured/dead rabbits. Refer injured rabbits to the Helpline. Keep dogs and cats inside until the rabbits have left the nest on their own.
Only rarely does a mother rabbit truly abandon or ignore her babies. If you want definite proof that the babies are being cared for, check them early each morning. They should be warm and round-bellied. If you are concerned please call us for advice.
Rabbits can sometimes eat their own young. This is most likely to happen if your pet is feeling particularly anxious, lacks dietary protein, or has become excessively territorial.
Barring the odd rogue rabbit that likes the lonely life, rabbits generally benefit from the company of other rabbits. They will often be far happier and content with a mate. Rabbits are not that unlike humans, they also get bored, even depressed, and when they do, they often act it out with destructive behaviour.
Rabbits just LOVE company!
Most owners house a pair of rabbits, but keeping three or four are also popular options. Be sure that you have enough space to comfortably house all your rabbits, or else you'll have to purchase multiple runs to create enough space.
Pet rabbits have a life expectancy of 8-12 years. This number will change depending on the breed of rabbit and the quality of care they receive. Wild rabbits have a much shorter life expectancy of only about 1-2 years.