16 week old rabbit Q's

[Duckchick2011]

Hey guys,

Me and my family recently purchased two 16 week old Flemish Giant mixes. The first is a very dark rabbit with a brown cast to his fur, I was wondering what color that would be?
The second is a little blond agouti rabbit who is very friendly and we are pretty sure is a female.

My main question was, is it possible that this little(well medium sized) bunny is pregnant already? The reason I ask is because before we purchased her she was kept in a pen of other male and female bunnies her own age. Part of me thinks she looks a little plump compared to the other rabbit whom we are reasonably sure is a boy but another part of me thinks it's pretty far fetched. Plus the little brown rabbit isn't showing much interest in her beyond the fact that he was behaving a little protectively of her.

Anyway, to summarize, could a 16 week old rabbit be pregnant on arrival and about when should we expect to know for certain whether or not she is? Also (since we did mean these two to be a breeding pair at some future point) what color offspring could we expect?

Oh! And what is the best way to acclimate a rabbit to being help, these two, although somewhat friendly, are not very keen on the idea of being help in anyway, shape, or form. >.>

Thanks for any replies guys!

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

backyardherds.com

You will have many more responses, and knowledgable

Just go to the rabbit section, (after you've joined of course), and theres a bunch of people willing to help w/ preg rabbits and colors

Oh, and if you think shes preggo, put in a 'nesting box' for her to pull hair in and all, and if she is preggo then dont count on her being perfect- first time moms are still figuring it out, so I'd suggest just keeping an eye on her

 

[Duckchick2011]

Thank you, I'm already registered on backyardherd's though

I just post here because this forum is more active

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Oh, I see, well BYH is great for other livestock, and they'll answer pretty quickly if its an emergency

 

[Duckchick2011]

Yeah, it is a pretty awesome site. It's always been there for my goat Q's and I've always gotten good answers. I went ahead and posted on there and I've already gotten quite a few views (seems the rabbit forum is much faster than the goat forum ) or perhaps the forum has gotten more popular since I've been there...it has been a few months.

In any case your advise is the same I would have given to anyone else I just posted here because I happen to enjoy the company that is here

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

LOL!

The goat forum and sheepp forum are fastest, with rabbits right behind. Horses, mules, and donkeys are the slowest

 

[Duckchick2011]

LOL Thinking back it may actually have been the Horse and Donkey forum that led to me believing the site was slow

I once posted a Q that took a whole day to get answered >.> ...though in the forums defence it was a rather long question >.< LOL

 

[Bunnylady]

In theory, it is possible, as does are supposed to become reproductively viable at about 12 weeks of age. The gestation period of rabbits is 31 days, plus or minus a couple, so you should know for sure within a month. Colors? That's a bit tough. The buck may be a sun bleached black, or something else, it's not really clear from your description. The doe could be what in Flemish is called "sandy." If they are siblings, that means that there may be a wide range of possibilities.


As for rabbits not liking to be held - that is very, very normal. Most rabbits don't like to be picked up. I once had a rabbit that was so friendly, you could have petted him until you rubbed all of his fur off, and he wouldn't have thought it too much. Had a real "no strangers here, just friends we haven't met yet" attitude about people, too. But if I picked him up to trim his claws or for any other reason, he trembled and whimpered the entire time he was being held.

If you are gentle and careful to support them properly, rabbits can learn to tolerate being held, and some may learn to like it, but I wouldn't count on that. Most rabbits are calmer if you hold them on their backs, but that takes a bit of practice to learn how get them there and back, right side up in a cage without upsetting them or getting scratched.

 

[inthesticks]

Hey guys,

Me and my family recently purchased two 16 week old Flemish Giant mixes. The first is a very dark rabbit with a brown cast to his fur, I was wondering what color that would be?
The second is a little blond agouti rabbit who is very friendly and we are pretty sure is a female.

My main question was, is it possible that this little(well medium sized) bunny is pregnant already? The reason I ask is because before we purchased her she was kept in a pen of other male and female bunnies her own age. Part of me thinks she looks a little plump compared to the other rabbit whom we are reasonably sure is a boy but another part of me thinks it's pretty far fetched. Plus the little brown rabbit isn't showing much interest in her beyond the fact that he was behaving a little protectively of her.

Anyway, to summarize, could a 16 week old rabbit be pregnant on arrival and about when should we expect to know for certain whether or not she is? Also (since we did mean these two to be a breeding pair at some future point) what color offspring could we expect?

Oh! And what is the best way to acclimate a rabbit to being help, these two, although somewhat friendly, are not very keen on the idea of being help in anyway, shape, or form. >.>

Thanks for any replies guys!

Hello there! Congrats on adding rabbits to the family. Normally larger rabbit breeds do not become sexually mature till roughly 7-9mths of age, give or take to each individual rabbit.

As for telling if one is a girl or not, pick it on up & place it on your lap tummy up with it's head to your stomach - you can then hold the hind legs with one hand and use the other to check for testicles found on the sides they may not have dropped but you will see two bald patches - as for what they are working with - bucks will have a cone like shaped penis with more space between that and his anus, does will have a much shorter space and will sport a pyramid looking hoohaa

-To check for pregnancy -if the rabbit is a doe- in about 12 days from the suspected mating take the doe and place her in the corner of a room , if she is a wriggler, and sit behind her- with her head facing the wall take both hands and use your fingers to palpate her abdomen, if you feel anything larger than a 'rabbit pellet' Then you would want to get things ready because in just a couple weeks there will more than likely be some kits being had! Most rabbits will kindle in the middle of the night/ early morning - this can vary depending on how many litters they have had, comfort level on where they are & surroundings, & their owner.

As for colors - I am just starting to really play with colors- I have a Netherland dwarfs pair that are very similar colored to yours - my buck is a black with dark chocolate hilights & my doe is a more chestnut agouti - they had their first litter together last week & I got 2 black otters & 1 chestnut agouti - on another note my other agouti doe bred with my sable buck resulted in 1 chestnut agouti, 2 black otters, & 2 blue otters. It really gets into their family lines as well- I've had two rabbits have a litter of bun which looked NOTHING like them, but did look like the grandparents. Once you get going with them you will begin to see a pattern and will be able to start figuring out what to expect

The holding- you will get scratched & they will wriggle but being persistent is key - you can use one arm/hand to wrap right under their front legs then cradle up their bum with the other then bring them into a baby position - when you get a hold of them lay them on their back on your lap couch floor etc.. and gently rock them up & down(has a soothing effect for most rabbits)


I hope I have helped out - If you need photos of a buck that is about that age I can go take a pic - one of my Lionhead bucks is right around that age.