Doe impregnation- NO CONTACT w/ ADULT MALE

Question
QUESTION: My sister and her fiance bought two rabbits off kijiji- a boy and a girl. They were in separate cages when they met them and picked them up, and a little under a month later there was a surprise litter of babies in the doe's cage. We read up, and learned that we should leave the babies with the doe for at least 8 weeks. Between the 8-9th weeks, the babies were removed from mom's cage because she is clearly nesting again (We're expecting another litter it seems).
What we want to know is; did the baby boy (balls have not dropped) impregnate her or did she retain sperm from the first impregnation by the adult male?

ANSWER: Dear Jessica,

An eight week old baby is too young to impregnate anyone.  But a female rabbit who gives birth can be impregnated by the adult male within *minutes* of having given birth.  This is probably what happened.  I hope the two adults are now separated until the male can be neutered.  Please read:

www.rabbit.org/health/spay.html

and

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/breeding.html

This will also help:

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

I hope all goes well.

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I understand that mom can be impregnated again just minutes after birth, But the adult male was never in contact with the mommy bunny after my sister picked them up in seperate cages- we have NEVER had mom and dad anywhere near eachother, except to nuzzle noses through BOTH their cages. If mom and dad rabbit weren't in direct contact since the conception of the first litter, where is this new litter coming from?!

Answer
Dear Jessica

That's pretty weird.  Rabbits don't store sperm, so I wonder if the bunnies somehow got together.  If they are in adjacent cages, it's possible, though it might seem incredibly unlikely.  But I've heard of this happening.

Is there anyone in the household (kids?) who might have "felt sorry" for the bunnies and let them together "just to play" when no adult was looking?  There's always that...

Where there's a will, there's a way.

Dana