Rabbits bonding instead of breeding?

[Hollandblaze03]

I am trying to breed my 4 year old holland lop doe (this will be her last litter) to my 7 month old holland lop buck (this will be his first litter). But they won’t breed? They are acting like newly bonded rabbits (grooming, mounting each other, laying there together) but not breeding. My little buck is trying to mount her but she won’t lift. In about an hour there was only one fall off and I don’t think he even hit the mark. Has anyone experienced this before?

 

[Catlyn]

I'm not sure that newly bonded buns mount, but then again i have no exp with that. Maybe give them more time? Don't be too disheartened though if the doe just decides to say "no" to his attempts.
Maybe she's already had enough and resists?

 

[Hollandblaze03]

Ok thank you

 

[Mariam+Theo]

Maybe she only thinks of him as a friend (that sounds so weird!). I would just wait and see what happens, but if he is not successful I would remove him. She might breed with another male?

 

[LavenderLopLover]

I am trying to breed my 4 year old holland lop doe (this will be her last litter) to my 7 month old holland lop buck (this will be his first litter). But they won’t breed? They are acting like newly bonded rabbits (grooming, mounting each other, laying there together) but not breeding. My little buck is trying to mount her but she won’t lift. In about an hour there was only one fall off and I don’t think he even hit the mark. Has anyone experienced this before?

She probably isn't gonna as easy as some to breed if shes 4 years old since they tend to no longer lift or take well especially if she hasn't been bred in a while.... If you want to still breed her i'd suggest apple cider vinegar in her water. You could also try table breeding if she really is resisting. Holland Lops are especially known for being hard to breed.

 

[Hollandblaze03]

Yea, it’s kind of weird to think that my buck has been friend zoned

 

[majorv]

I agree that table breeding might be your only option for those two. It’s also possible she is done with breeding. We had a 6 year doe who was great at being bred, a great mom, and I thought I’d get one last litter from her before retiring her. She had other ideas...she wouldn’t cooperate and basically told me she was done, so I retired her and found a good pet home for her.

 

[Hollandblaze03]

Sorry I haven’t responded. Thank you all very much for your input. It looks like that first fall off did the trick. Yesterday she started digging and cleaning her cage. (When preparing for babies she cleans her cage by gather all of her hay into a pile and eating or moving any stray poops) today is day 11 after breeding so I am hopeful

 

[Preitler]

Well, I got a young 8 months old buck this year, no clue what he was supposed to do. Let the 2 does and him in the garden during daytime for 3 weeks, and he also spent some nights in their hutch - such a lovely sight, lots of cuddling, grazing, lounging, never witnessed him showing other interests, but I got 2 litters, although almost 3 weeks apart. Took him some time to seduce Chantal.

 

[Hollandblaze03]

Great idea! Thank you. I’m not sure if she took but she destroyed her litter box last night digging. I’m hopeful!