Hi Storm’s mom, welcome to the forums.

Firstly, I do need to make you aware that the topic of intentional breeding is not allowed. It’s a bit of a hot topic. See the Forum Rules and Guidelines

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Personally, Im going to urge that you don’t breed her. There are already an overpopulation of domestic rabbits in the shelter system. So many are euthanised unless taken out but rabbit-specific Rescues.  The rescues are already overwhelmed with buns waiting for homes. 

 It’s lovely that she is so affectionate with you. Rabbits get a lot out of being groomed and grooming others.  

 How old is she? 

 
I’m not certain if you’ve had a rabbit that has had babies before, but rabbit mums don’t actually spent much time with them and at some point, when the babies are moving around independently, the Moms can often want to get away from them! The babies all trying to get milk all the time. Once they’ve weaned, the mum might enjoy their companionship more but it’s only a matter of months before they are then reaching puberty things can head south.

How has she reacted to the boy being in the household now? Is she acting possesive of you? 

What is his story? 

Since you already now have 2 rabbits, I recommend getting them both desexed and letting them become bonded companions. They would both benefit from this greatly and it is lovely to see a bonded pair interact. Left intact, they couldn’t be together like this 24/7.

If that’s the route you chose to take, we can certainly help you navigate that. : )

I agree with Jersey.

Do not breed her. There are too many rabbits without a home. Do not add to that.

I agree with Jersey. I think spaying/neutering and bonding is the best route. Why exactly are you trying to breed? If you plan to sell the bunnies, do keep in mind that ultimately whatever happens to them is a product of your decision to breed. Many people will buy a rabbit for their children, thinking they are easy to care for caged pets- they are not. And often they will just release the rabbit into the wild or it will die in the care of someone inexperienced, and that would be on your conscious (at least, it would stick on mine to know that I enabled it to happen). Or are you doing it for companionship? Because she would be perfectly content to just be bonded to the male. But they both NEED to be fixed. If you wanted to keep those bunnies you would have to have a huge amount of space, and you also have to consider that rabbits who are not spayed/neutered will likely fight when they reach sexual maturity. So you will have to keep the entire litter separated from each other at around 12 weeks.

Honestly, if you want her around for a length of time you should spay her anyway. Incidence of reproductive cancers in females is very high (around 80%).

I just honestly can’t stress enough though, I feel it is really unfair to the animals to do intentional breeding. Think how you would feel if you were kept in a cage and only had contact with your species when you were forced to be impregnated by a stranger. And the cycle repeats. Excuse the explicit example. While I do understand that they are not humans, they still have emotional and social needs like us. So I think it can be damaging to them. But humans seem to think we can just do whatever we please with animals, as if they aren’t capable of having relationships and connections like us…

Even though I know that rabbits don’t have a concept of family relationships the way we (humans) do, I can never stop thinking of Panda and Fernando as having a mother-son relationship, because that’s what they are, physically. Their bond is every bit as close as that between a human mother and child, even if they do behave more like best friends because that’s what they are in reality.

Otherwise, I don’t have much to add to what’s already been said. I think the best thing I can say is that breeding purposefully is really outside the purpose/competency of this forum (not to mention being both an emotional landmine and a topic with all sorts of ethical complexities and complications), and that there are other forums, some of which have deeply passionate house-rabbit communities of their own, which are better suited for such discussions and have members who are best-fitted to offer advice on the topic.

Boop.

The Handmaid’s Tale. Because that’s what popped into my head when I read BN’s post. So no. Please don’t.

Posted By Q8bunny on 9/27/2017 7:48 AM

The Handmaid’s Tale. Because that’s what popped into my head when I read BN’s post. So no. Please don’t.

Now that you mention it, I see that I basically described the Handmaid’s Tale…. I tried to watch it…. but it was too dark for me!

Everything said above and then some.  There are far too many rabbits who are in rescues and shelters and living in terrible conditions to add to the volume.  Both my girls were used as brood mares, bred several times without concern for them or their health, just to make a profit for their owner, who never gave them love and attention.

If you love your rabbits, then just….don’t.

My own Panda was, as far as I can tell, bred (possibly unintentionally), and then given up to the shelter while she was pregnant. From what I understand she did come from a Polish-rabbit breeder; I doubt I’ll ever know for sure but one possibility I’ve speculated on is that she was rejected because her ears weren’t “show-quality” (Polish buns, to be shown, need to have their ears touch from bottom to tip). It’s a kind of miracle that all four of her babies – I believe this was her first litter – survived and thrived and that she and her kits were all rescued and found their forever homes (including with me).

Im glad we didn’t completely scare you away. It’s one of those topics people get passionate about for all animals.
Having said that, we will need to leave the topic of breeding out from further discussion now.

Is that her in your profile pic? She looks rather netherland dwarf like also but it’s such a small pic, hard to tell. More pics are welcome!
That is really sad about the boy and the conditions he was kept in. And not even a name? Im glad he is now in your care.

Thanks for taking him in and caring for him. He must feel like he’s won the lottery