Breeding Rex's

[angel1810]

I have a 10 month old Black Rex and an 18 month old Black Doe and Ive recently decided to breed them. 5 days ago i put the Doe in the Bucks cage for about 2 hours, watched them for about an hour of that.

He most definetly 'mounted' her (several times in fact!) but I just dont know if the deed has been done.
Ive read that he's supposed to 'mount' her then slide off and 'squeal'???
I didnt hear any squealing going on at all.
Ive also read that she is supposed to 'lift' and I dont remember seeing her do that either.

I then put the Doe back in her hutch and 24 hours later put her back in the Buck's cage. Again I watched them and the whole process was repeated.
I should add that the Doe has had a previous litter about 8 months ago but this is the first time the Buck has even seen a female apart from his mum.

Now the confusion gets worse!

She has started nesting, pulling fur, shredding paper and cardboard and lining a box with straw/hay - and its only been 5 days!

Is this usual behaviour for the female? I thought they weren't supposed to start nesting til 25 days+.???

Any advice is very much appreciated, including if you've seen this behaviour aswell.

Thanks in advance!

Kerri (Sorry for the essay!)


:?

 

[Maple Front Rabbitry]

Hi, If the doe doesnt lift than the buck isnt going to be able to sucesfully breed her. The only way to know for sure if a sucesful mating has taken place is if the buck squeels and falls off. If the doe is making a nest after only 5 days she didnt take, this is a faulse nest. Try breeding the doe again, but this time if u dont see her lift her tail end then try table breeding, take the doe out of her cage put the buck behind her and lift for her by sliding her legs out. And if the buck falls off and sqeeks than you should get some babies
Hope this helps!

 

[angel1810]

Im just afraid that if i breed her again I may do more damage than good, ie What if she is pregnant and ends up with a secondary pregnancy going on at the same time?

Ive been watching her this afternoon. Shes been shredding more paper and lining the nesting box.
Its cute to watch!

 

[CoolWaterRabbitry]

Just as a heads up, I believe 24 hours between both breedings is a bit too long and can have the chance of causing a second pregnancy. I think the window of conception is between 6-8 hours of the first breeding. They release the egg sometime after the first breeding, so I would try a second breeding within 4-6, or up to 8 hours (but no more) of the first breeding.

I read that somewhere, and tried it with my first litter which went very well; most recently bred two girls the same way within that time period, palpated one and I'm pretty sure she took (too early to palpate the other girl).

Best of luck! :biggrin:

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

Bucks don't always squeal when they are done. They do usually roll backwards though. I have one buck that is very sneaky and does not squeal or roll off but he gets the job done much to my surprise 14 days later when I palpated the does that I bred to him.

Is is possible your doe is already pregnant? 5 days is very early to be going through a false pregnancy.

 

[angel1810]

Well i was thinking the same thing, maybe she was already pregnant, i'd only had her a week before I put her in with the Buck, and prior to that she had been at a local petting zoo, no-one there knows if she had been with a Buck whilst she was there.

So anyway, i put a nesting box in with her and now shes stopped nesting.
I think im just going to let nature takes its course.

If there are no kits in a months time, i'll try them again.

Thanks for all your help anyhow.

I'll keep everyone posted!:big wink: