Rabbit Mating – I’m so scared!

[threebunner4]

I have three New Zealand bunnies: two girls and a boy.  They are all about 4 months old.  They are still too young to receive neutering and spaying, so my family and I separated them using X-pens.  While I was cleaning one of my girls’ pen, I forgot to close her gate and she jumped into my male’s pen.  They hid inside of a wooden tunnel, and I couldn’t reach in to get them out.  They were in there for a little less than 1 minute, but when they came out, my boy was on top of her.  I quickly picked up my girl, but I’m scared she is already pregnant.  I can assume that he was already on her as soon as they went into the tunnel.  Can she get pregnant so quickly?  Should I assume she will have babies?  My parents won’t let me keep their babies…. I’m really scared that she will get pregnant.

[Wick & Fable]

At this point, there’s no way to ascertain if she’s pregnant right now– it is possible since it only takes 3 seconds for a male to impregnate a female, and I believe 4mo is a viable age of pregnancy for a female. You should assume that she may be pregnant, so please monitor her behavior moving forward and when signs seem to show, book a vet appointment to get some informed guidance and assessment on her. … at 4mo, his sperm may not be super fertile/reliable, so that works in your favor that she may not be pregnant, but ultimiately the possibility still exists for a litter.

Please read through the following links thoroughly and I highly recommend you speak bluntly with your parents that this may be a possibility and they too need to be aware of monitoring for signs and how to keep the babies (if she is pregnant and she has the litter successfully, you cannot separate the babies from her until they are weaned, so temporary arrangements for several weeks are still needed before any rehoming can occur): https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Pregnant_rabbits , https://flashsplace.webs.com/accidentallitters.htm

Since BinkyBunny prohibits the topic of intentional breeding, not many users have kit care/pregnancy experience; therefore, the resources above will likely be more helpful than us.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[threebunner4]

I forgot to say this earlier, but thank you very much for your reply!  I looked at your links.  I found them very helpful and have taken note of its info in case she is pregnant.

[DanaNM]

Have the male’s testicles dropped? At 4 months, she technically could be spayed (and yes could have gotten pregnant). The best thing is to talk to your vet about what happened. They can determine if she got pregnant and do an emergency spay.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[threebunner4]

I checked him, and it doesn’t really seem like he has anything yet.  Can bucks hump without having grown it?  I will talk to my parents and vet about them.  Previously, my vet said that we need to wait until 6 months before spaying since she’s still a baby.  I read that it takes 10-12 days to start feeling babies inside their stomach.  Can they already detect if she’s pregnant before then?  It has only been 3 days since the incident since I posted right after it happened.

[ParsleyBun]

In my opinion, she could possibly not be pregnant. Larger rabbits go into heat later, but 4mo. is the age things like that can happen. My bun Carrotina went into heat at 4mo., but she is under 3lb., and like I said, rabbits her size are prone to sometimes being able to make families sooner. I hope she is not…. but she very well could be. 🙁 I know this is a tough situation, wishing you the best of luck.

[threebunner4]

Thank you very much!  There’s not much I can do about it now, except to wait.  I will be bringing her to the vet around the 10-12 day mark.

[threebunner4]

I checked him again and his testicles had, indeed, came out.

[DanaNM]

Some vets will spay at 4 months, but others prefer to wait until 6 months.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[threebunner4]

Yes.  As is the case for my vet… But I will still bring her to my vet for advice and results.

[Author]

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