DOES

Question
Hi

I have just taken in two rabbits mum and daughter i believe. The reason i have taken them in is one i love rabbits and i have two of my own as pets and two the person who had them was just going to let them go in the woods, i have had rabbits as pets for over fifteen years but have never had a pregnant doe i am 99% sure that both these does are pregnant what i would like to know is because they are related could they stay together with kits or do i have to seperate them they do get on really well, and also you say that two rabbits should not leave together bu i have a spayed buck and doe that live together is there a reason for saying they should live on there own, as i thought rabbits liked company, thank you for your advice

Answer
Hi Nancy,

Please don't listen to the people to tell you that rabbit shouldn't be kept together.  More often than not they are breeders that don't care about the social activities of rabbits.  I would keep the two rabbits together.  Give them both a nesting box in case they don't want to care for their babies together.  Chances are they will both have the babies in the same box.  I do not breed rabbits anymore but in the past I had successfully kept multiple does together in large box stalls and never had a problem.  I also had a few mother daughter combos that I would keep together in a large cage.  I once had 19 babies and both of their mothers in the same 48x38 cage and they got along fine.  As they grew it got a little crowded and I had to make a cage modification to make sure they had plenty of room.  Just make sure there is a lot of room and they should be fine.  If they start to fight then yes you can separate them and after they raise their babies you can have them spayed and re-bond them.  Once you separate them for any length of time they will lose their bond and you will have to re-introduce them again in a neutral space.

I truly hope that you are wrong about them being pregnant but if they are you can read this article for assistance:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/surpriselitter.html

Good luck

Pam