bunny pregnancy

Question
QUESTION: My friend has two male bunnies and a new female bunnies, one pair had mated four times, yesterday the female bunny suddenly start collecting a lot of grass but when my friend brings her bac to the cage then bac to where she was collecting grass she acted normal again. Will this mean she'll have babies soon?

ANSWER: Dear Lavender,

I hope the bunny did not have a secret burrow in the garden, and has already had her babies.  This is a very distinct possibility, and if the mama has not yet had any babies, then your friend should let her out and surreptitiously follow her to see if she goes down a burrow she has made to feed her babies.

I had this happen once, a very long time ago.  Mama was building a nest, and when we put her back in her pen we noticed the blood at her vulva.  Sure enough, she had dug a tunnel and had already had her babies--in minutes!

Please share this information with your friend:

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

and especially:

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

I hope this helps.

Dana

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

QUESTION: But she didn't make any burrows because she was kept in the grass area inside a cage except there's no floor, my friend said when she and the male first mated happened like almost five weeks ago, but she can still get pregnant because they also mated twice after right?


Answer
Dear Lavender,

Ah, okay.  You didn't mention the specifics, so I thought I should err on the side of caution.

Rabbit gestation lasts 28-31 days, so start counting from the second time to get an estimate of when the mother might deliver.  But seriously, PLEASE make sure your friend reads this very important article:

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

and prepares with this:

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

Dana