Newbie question

[nerdynork444]

Hi, very new to here, but have asomewhat urgent/awkward question. So here's the situation: I got a male and female sibling pair of lionheads for my cousins thinking they would hopefully always stay apart. However, this was not the case, as one night they got out. We thought this was no big deal and separated them the next morning. A month later..oops. We had baby bunnies. Contrary to our misconceptions, the babies were seemingly normal- four legs, two ears, eyes, nose, cute, furry-you know. So, I took them off their hands and managed to find good homes for all but one, which I kept as a preference. I thought she would a great buddy for my other female lionhead..Again, I was wrong, because as my luck would show-we found out "she" was actually a "he." Now we are afraid that within the 16 days they were together, they might have bred. So my question is, even if they were to have bred with a super inbred rabbit, would the newcoming kits have serious ill effects to them? I'm sorry for the lengthy paragraph, but I would appreciate any help on the matter. Thanks!

 

[kirbyultra]

I don't really think so because I do think that breeders do something similar in a line -- I could be wrong though. I know your intention was not to breed these bunnies but I bet folks in the rabbitry will be able to put your mind to rest. - Moving this thread over there.

 

[RabbitLover94]

It should be perfectly fine. Siblings are often bred together to bring out the best traits in a line. Rabbits are also bred back to parents and most pedigrees will have the same rabbit(s) show up more than once. All these rabbits also have "4 legs, 2 ears, eyes, nose, cute, furry" Lol! =D

 

[leo9lionheads]

No you wont have any problems I have a buck whose dad was bred to his daughters for 4ish generations if not more to lock in really nice type with little to no faults.

 

[Debacus]

Inbreeding i.e. brother to sister can be done with very careful consideration. People will choose to do it to set good points but it will also set bad points and will bring to the fore any genetic abnormalities that may have gone unnoticed if it had been bred to an unrelated animal. If your inbred bunny appears to all purposes to be healthy then a breeding to an unrelated bunny shouldn't pose any further problems.
That's not to say that unrelated rabbits can't produce these problems but it's just the chances are slimmer due to them not sharing virtually identical genes.
Most people are aware of malocclusion and split penis being a hereditory problem that arises more often in closely related rabbits, but I'm sure there are other genetic abnormalities... worry not, it'll be fine!

 

[nerdynork444]

Thank you all so much! This helped a lot and put my mind at ease. And I appreciate the fast responses and the welcoming atmosphere of this forum as well!