I bred a Holland Lop doe about 11 days ago. She was ornery and did not submit to the buck - she just sat on the floor of his cage with her tail down. I did raise her hindquarters to try to help it along, and I let the buck have plenty of time to do his thing. However, the buck never did fall off sideways. I put the doe back in with the buck about 6-7 hours later. I palpated the doe yesterday, but I'm pretty sure I didn't feel anything. (Just really small, hard pellets which I'm assuming are droppings.) I felt all around her lower abdomen, but I really didn't feel any blueberry/marble/grape-like things. I've succeeded in palpating a doe before, so I don't think there's anything in there. So: I'm wondering what everyone thinks about re-mating 2 weeks after the first breeding. I've heard differing opinions; some say do it to see the doe's reaction to the buck, and also to get her bred in case she isn't already. Other people say that if you breed the doe a second time, she might conceive in both uterine horns and then give birth to "mummified blobs" instead of kits. Has anyone actually seen such mummified blobs after a second mating? Or have your second matings been successful? And should I breed again, since I didn't feel any kits when palpating?
Also, when I do a Google search for "mummified blobs rabbits", a bunch of pages come up; but under further examination, every description of the mummified blobs is exactly the same - meaning everyone is copying-and-pasting off the others' pages. It seems it was all written by one person. EDIT: The ARBA website does have an article on palpation in which they mention the possibility of double conceptions, as well as these "blobs".
This is one reason why a lot of people won't do forced matings. If the doe won't lift, you can be pretty sure that mating didn't take place, and she is therefore not pregnant. There is a lot of discussion about whether (and how) a doe "cycles," but most agree that there are times when the doe simply isn't fertile. If a doe is at that stage, holding her in position so the buck can "do his thing" can't result in a pregnancy, so you are wasting your time, and you won't know it until considerably later. Apparently, some does will accept service when they are already pregnant, but I can't say that I have ever seen it happen. I have seen does give birth to what looked like premature kits at the same time as fully mature ones, but they were from observed, controlled breedings that happened on one day only. I have also had a doe that gave birth to a few kits one day, and a few more three days later, but once again, that was from breeding that was done on a single day. I can't imagine why anyone would think that a double pregnancy would result in fetal mummies - there is no logic behind that that I can see. I have seen a couple of mummies, though. In one case, the doe was known to have the mummy in her for several months at least, you could feel it in her. When the doe finally gave birth to it, it was a long, kind of snaky looking shriveled thing; the kit had clearly died when it was at least at full term. Should you try to breed this girl at this point? That's your call, but before I tried it, I would check her vent color. If her vent is cherry red, I'd go for it; she is probably actively cycling and that's your best time to actually get her settled. Now, if she's doing a false pregnancy, you may have to wait until she gives birth to the phantom kits to get her to breed for you.
It's quite possible that her cycle was the problem. I think I may try palpating her a second time and, if I truly don't feel anything, I'll try it again. And I'll check her like you suggested. So far she just seems pretty grumpy; but this is the first time I've bred her (I was told by the previous owner that she has had two litters already) and I'm not very familiar with this doe, so I may just be imagining it. Thank you for replying - and so promptly! I do value your opinion.
I did breed her again and it definitely worked better this time - they both seemed to know what they were doing. I guess she just wasn't ready before.
