purebread lionhead breeding to a non purebread

[kmtangelkrystal]

i have an issue , my rabbit kane has always been with jojo my female we have them in seprate cages yet they play as normal on my birthdad kane started mouning her and i don't think he is of age cus thats all he dose to her he dosen't do it right. we want to breed them but i think jojo is to big any advice?

 

[mouse_chalk]

How old are your bunnies?

Depending on the age, the doe may very well be pregnant already. I think from like 12 weeks is the minimum age? Hopefully someone who knows more might come along and clarify that... It doesn't take a long time to happen though that's for sure!

If I were you I'd separate them ASAP until they are neutered/spayed...

 

[Becca]

My buns are both lion heads and they were together for about a month (they were already 8 weeks) so they were about 1 month and 10 weeks together then he started mounting her and didn't make anything of her - they are separated dunno what would happen if we put them together now though :S

 

[gentle giants]

Like mouse_chalk said, it's possible your doe may be pregnant already. We really need to know the ages of your rabbits, how long they have been together, etc. before we can give you any answers.

Also, why do you want to breed them? Just for pets? What are you going to do with the babies? If you plan on just finding them homes, please go to the Rescue Me section and see how many rabbits are desparately looking for homes every day. Most of these rabbits are in shelters, and even with the best efforts of the thousand-plus members here, many are put to sleep every day.

 

[Maureen Las]

I think that sometimes people don't realize how serious it is to bring another litter of rabbits into the world.
If your doe is pregnant and had 7 babies... 3 were boys and 4 were girls. In several months you would need to separate the boys from the girls and in another few months you would need to separate almost all the rabbits from each other. Teenage rabbits tend to have vicious fights with each other.

That would mean youwould have to get as many as 8 cages for your 8 rabbits, get health care for all of them, hay and feed for all of them and space to keep them.
If you decide to give them away or sell them it could be to irresponsible people who won't love them or care for them properly.


very serious things to think about...

 

[Becca]

angieluv wrote:

I think that sometimes people don't realize how serious it is to bring another litter of rabbits into the world.
If your doe is pregnant and had 7 babies... 3 were boys and 4 were girls. In several months you would need to separate the boys from the girls and in another few months you would need to separate almost all the rabbits from each other. Teenage rabbits tend to have vicious fights with each other.

That would mean youwould have to get as many as 8 cages for your 8 rabbits, get health care for all of them, hay and feed for all of them and space to keep them.
If you decide to give them away or sell them it could be to irresponsible people who won't love them or care for them properly.


very serious things to think about...

Definetly - i decided against breeding becuase of all those reasons - Hope you get this all sorted out soon

 

[polly]

People are right we need to know what age they both are. Sounds like he is starting to get hormonal. You really should not put them together until either they are neutered/spayed or she is at least 6 months old.

But why do you want to breed a non lionhead with a lionhead? is it to improve the breed? or is it because you want babies?

Because there can be a lot of heart ache with breeding rabbits and it isn't all fun and thats from me coming off 2 nights worth of shifts while waiting for my does to have their litters!!

Breeding rabbits is not about getting any 2 rabbits and getting them together its about trying to improve a breed and breeding for type, temprement etc

Please have a good think about this before going ahead especially if they are still young !

Edit toadd here is a linkto have a look at before you consider breeding them its full of information to help you make a decision

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=20295&forum_id=12

 

[naturestee]

Oops, Polly that article isn't quite finished yet and probably isn't visible to the general public.:lookaround

Just to add a few things, when Polly says that breeding can be a heart ache part of it is because things can go wrong, especially with smaller rabbit breeds because they're more likely to get stuck kits that require a cesarean to save the mom. There's also peanuts and runts who don't thrive (not to mention stillborn babies), uterine infections (a breeder here lost half a litter to that, required surgery and antibiotics for the momand the surviving babies had to be hand raised), mammary infections, 1st time mamas who have the litter out of the nest or hurt/kill them, and sometimes healthy kits get very ill right around weaning and they can't always be saved. If you're going to breed you need to learn what problem signs to look for, what can be done immediately and when you need to run for a vet. And of course having several hundred dollars set aside for an emergency vet visit in the middle of the night.

As someone raising two (eep!) litters from one mama that I'm fostering for a shelter, I would never ever want to breed without having an experienced breeder nearby to help me with problems. Shoot, I'd settle for someone who is good at telling genders on 5 week olds! I and manybreeders here consider a mentor for breeding essential for newbies. A forum and a phonenumber aren't always enough.

Also, please don't let them play together at all unless you are planning to get her pregnant right this moment. You may see him mounting her head, but all it takes is a split second in the right position and she's pregnant. It's also possible for him to impregnate her through the wire- yes it does happen- so it's not a good idea to keep them where can reach the other's cage while playing, or have cages right against each other so that they can touch. Letting rabbits play together is for same-sex rabbits or spayed/neutered bun only.

Not to mention that the last thing we need is more pet rabbits in the system. Check out all the ones being euthanised in Rescue Me because shelters and rescues are full. At least when show breeders breed for standards and show purposes many of the babies will find homes with other show people.