Well, we finally got those rabbits. The trouble is they came for free! 1 female, presumably young, as she is about a head smaller than the Californian, 1 Californian and 1 brown rabbit that looks similar to a Rex. The Californian and the Rex have been in the same cage for some time (length unkown) and have not produced any babies. However I have seen them mating. The smaller female rabbit is white with light brown patches. They came from different sources about a week apart. OK, here are the questions.

1. Will a fixed male go through the motions of mating or is the female simply too old to produce a litter?

2. Does anyone know what type of rabbit the other female is?

3. Can anyone just give me some general help on the subject? These are the first rabbits I've ever owned.

Thanks a bunch! annette

-- annette (j_a_henry@yahoo.com), June 29, 2001

Answers

Annette, Don't know if this will help, but I'll try! 1. I've never heard of a fixed male. If your sure it's a male, his testicles are probably undeveloped. Not to worry though, those things come with age! 2. A small Rex? Could be a mini-Rex. They are they same in coat/color, but the females do not have a Dewlap. (that's the pouch of skin under a females neck.. looks like a double chin) 3. I've had rabbits all my life, thus some experience. Feel free to email me if you have any more questions. In the meantime, check out the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA). They have a wealth of information available.

-- M Noldy (mnoldy@yahoo.com), June 29, 2001.

First are you sure you have a male?females will mount each other[ as will males].Is it hot were you are? as bucks can go sterile in high temps[ will be ok once it cools down].

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), June 29, 2001.

Yes, I'm sure of the sex. As for high temps, how high is high? I'm in the Northwest and it rarely gets over 85 max. It hasn't gotten that high yet this year. annette

-- annette (j_a_henry@yahoo.com), June 29, 2001.

I rasie rabbits and have done so for 3 years now with our "herd" ranging from 40 to 60 rabbits. Rex and Mini rex both have very distingushable velvety fur. Female mini rex do have dewlaps- at least our 8 does do, they develop on females over 1 1/2 years or so. The dew lap is not a large as other rabbits can have. Many unknown breed rabbits are often mutts. As far as the mating routine... if a rabbit (buck or doe) is overweight, they dont mate, or the mating is incomplete- no "tie." Bucks will mate with any thing with fur that is rabbit sized and doesnt attack- underdeveloped bucks included. Rabbits can be hard to sex until they are over 6 months unless you have done it for a while. (i still cant tell on the young ones- my wife handles that department). As far as raisning rabbits, if you ever plan on showing rabiits- get the best stock you can first- spend the money... it will save a lot of head ache later. If you plan on raising pets, mutts are fine (and ofen more excititng due to you never know whats going to pop out... although mini rexes are really neat to work with. If you want meat rabbits, Satins, Californians, New Zealands, Floridas and Flemish giants are all good and grow quick. Flemishes require sturdy housing as they can weigh up to 30+ lbs. If you have use need or market for fur, satins have the best fur type of the meat rabbits. As far a feeding: 1 tuna can per rabbit per day of quality (purina or the like) pelletized feed takes care of the rabbit completely- no snacks or salt licks required. If you see that there is still food left the next day, reduce the amount a little- the object being the rabbit should eat all of its food and be hungry but not starving come feeding time the next day. Obviously, water needs to be provided at all times... heavy glass crocks work well for watering as they wont tip, rabbit bottles are a pain as the algea up quickly. Remove the buck from the females cage after you see a tie. Bucks will eat young ones or the female will get upset and let the young ones die. A suitable breeder box filled with shredded newspaper should be provided for the female at 29- 30 days after them tie (you can let them tie 3 or 4 times to insure she is pregnant)... a tie is produced when the buck falls over after mating and often squeeks... A doe carries litter for 30- 32 (and occasioannly longer in warm weather) days... anything else, please email.

-- kevin in NC (vantravlrs@aol.com), June 30, 2001.

Annette, its not hot anough, has to be over 90 to cause temporary sterility. Is the doe over weight? that can cause her to be hard to breed.

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), June 30, 2001.

Annette, some people do have male rabbits "fixed" if they are going to be pets because they keeps them from spraying so much! Some females which are pets are also fixed because the vets say that keeps them from getting ovarian cancer!

Males will mount other males and females will mount other females.

We have a terrible time telling which is which until a female has bunnies and then we KNOW for sure she is a doe! We keep all our seperate unless we want them to breed...that whay you have more control over when the babies are born, etc.

I have raised rabbits for pets for several years and have been raising English Angoras for their fur (you cut it off, you don't kill the rabbit) for about 18 months.

I don't think it has to be 90 for a male rabbit to be sterile. It depends on the bunny and the humidity. If it is hot and humid here it affects the productivity of mine!

Good luck and enjoy the bunnies! They all have unique personalities!

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), July 01, 2001.

Re feeding your rabbit: Just pellets are not enough. Rabbits should be free-fed all the good quality hay they will eat. It will prevent a variety of problems including wool-block (which is a much worse problem in the long hair breeds but still can occur in the short hairs). They need the roughage.

Also give them twigs and small branches/pieces of wood to chew on. It helps to keep their teeth in good condition. Willow and oak and apple are all ok, not sure what other tree varieties are safe off the top of my head.

We always made sure our rabbits had salt blocks, even when they were on a pellet diet.

There was a thread here a little while back about alternatives to pellets for feeding rabbits. I posted a long message about how to feed your rabbit something other than pellets. I wrote that up several years ago and was asked to clean it up for publication by ARBA but I never did, for one thing all the feed mixes are nothing but a rehash of information from JD Belanger's book about keeping small livestock. Didn't feel I had put enough original information in it to warrant putting my name on it. I don't know if the woman who asked me about it went ahead and did it herself or not. Anyway the info's good if you're interested.

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), July 01, 2001.

The one thing that I am worried about is the fact that the Californian is bigger then the female, who you think is a Rex. If the buck is larger then the doe, sometimes the kits are too big for a live delivery. I've seen some of my Dwarfs rip babies in pieces to deliver them. You could also loose your doe this way.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), July 02, 2001.

I agree with Dee, I dont think it is wise to try and mate a pair when the doe is less than 1/2 the size of the buck, I personally probably wouldn't go below 3/4 the size.

Also, I've had inexperienced buck that would try with all their might and just not connect. Which makes for a slimy doe. You should watch them closely when you think they are mating and make sure they are connecting. I don't think they mind at all.

-- Kellie Duncan (kashaa@swbell.net), July 05, 2001.