Generally you should separate the buck from the doe before they reach 14 weeks of age and only introduce the doe into the buck's cage, when you want to mate them, and that, only under your supervision. Once they have been separated for a while, if you put the buck in the doe's cage she may hurt him, and if you leave her with him, in his cage, she still might hurt him. If you really have a pair, then you should probably separate them before they reach two months of age. They should never be kept together again. If they have been together all along, and they haven't bred, it makes me wonder if one or the other is infertile. If kept together from the time they are little they might not fight. But it would be a problem if the doe ever became pregnant.

Hope this helps!

George
Tahlequah, OK

thank you for the info. they have been together for several months, however the buck is two months younger then the doe. my doe has begun to pull her hair out and make a nest. she is still very affectionate towards the buck, and has tried to mount him, i'm wondering if she is ready to mate but he is still to young?.?

Ya, dont leave the buck in the cage. after the rabbit gives birth he could make her pregnat again, that moment after the babies are born, which is tough on poor mom! make sure you are good friends with mom, b/c then you can look at her babies and make sure they are all ok and let them have your scent on them and mom will still accept them. remove any dead ones too, but i bet you already knew that. rabbits will give birth 30 days after the "deed" is done. i have read that bucks eat babies, but we had a "surprise" litter when we were on vaca and our neighbor who was taking care of my animals saide that there were 6 babies born. when we got back, the babies had been alive for 3 days with the buck and mom all in the cage, and all babies accounted for! but, i would remove the buck, for eating reasons and breeding reasons. Also, baby bunnies are born blind, deaf and naked, and thier skin color is most likely what thier hair color is going to be. 3 days, thir ears start to open up and they can hear somewhat, also, they grow peach fuzz. i havent had a litter in a while, but i think at a week old, they open thier eyes, but they will still be blind. some bunnies get "gunk" in their eyes, clean it with a warm wash cloth, and then make sure they open thier eye(s) when you r there so that u know that u got all the gunk out of it. make sure the bunnies stay in the nest and leave mom poo in there, they eat it. baby bunnies grow rapidly, my dwarf lops grew 1oz every three days for about 1-2 1/2 weeks. make sure to take pictures! its amazing to look back and see all the changes they went through!

It should be evident if she is pregnet just pick up by the nap of the neck and the teets and a big belly will show, I wouldn't palpate her though this late,3 days till birth if NOT a false pregnetcy

Oh yeah, rabbits have false pregnancies. They build nests and pull fur even.

One other thing they do is resorb fetuses. There's nothing more aggravating than to palpate a doe at about 14 days, and then have her resorb. I personally don't recommend palpating more than twice as you can damage the doe's organs if you manipulate her too much.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dr Mark Waldo's site on Raising Rabbits

Yes, rabbits can and do have false pregnancies... but they usually end around the 17 day mark. "Mama" builds nest, pulls fur... but does not kindle, of course. Most breeders feel it is best to rebreed immediately if this happens. Never seen it myself, but I've heard a fair bit about it over on the HT Raising Rabbits for Profit forum.

lil-chick-lady,how old are you rabbits? If they're still under 3 months,then there's the reason for no litters yet. I breed and raise dwarfs and mini lops, I keep the male with the female for about 2 weeks , Actually I bring the female over to the males hutch for 2 weeks then put her back into her own hutch for the birth and rasing of her young. Safer this way,you don't want the buck in there mounting her after she kindles ..I've had 2 litters within 2 months from the same doe once,because the male was still with her after she had the kits. Rabbits reputation is there for a reason!! hahaha!
if you want to keep the 2 rabbits for breeding,I recomend having 2 nice hutches beside eachother. this way the male won't get lonely. or if you don't want to breed them,I would neuter the male and then keep them together in harmony...good luck!

my doe is aprox 10 months old and the buck is around 4 months old. i think i have had my first " false pregnancy", silly seeing how i have 5 boys of my own. but anyways the fur pulling was well over a week or so ago and no signs of any babies to speek of. i guess i should seperate them, it seems like they would miss each other, they always sleep side by side, and have been together since the buck was 8 weeks old. but i would like to raise a litter, so maybe another hutch for the buck would be a good idea. i was so looking foward to watching the little ones grow, i heard it changes so quickly, oh well maybe next time??

I keept my buck and doe in together after i breed them is that bad. The babies should be here on the 30th! i'm so excited. Do you think that i could take a picture with out the mother eating them?
Thanks,
~~Natalie