New Baby Rabbits

Question
Hi. We've got a Cashmere Lop male rabbit and he has recently been in contact with (not intentionally) a female Lop rabbit of unknown breed. One month after their little tryst she had 3 baby bunnies. Very cute but they seem to have normal ears, not lop. As the parents are both lops, do you think there is a possibility that she was also with a different rabbit around the same time or do baby rabbits ears drop later in life? Also, the owners of the female are thinking of keeping one of the babies, another female. Do you think this is a good idea? Is it likely that they will enjoy each others company or fight? Thank in advance. Tania.

Answer
Hi Tania

First off lop ear rabbits are born with normal ears.  They usual don't start to lop until they are right around 5 to 6 weeks old.  I recently had one who didn't drop until it was 5 months old that is quite unusual though.

As for keeping one of the babies sometimes it will work and sometimes it wont.  If she wants to get them both spayed it will definitely work.  If people want to keep 2 doe's it is better to keep 2 litter mates rather than mother and daughter.  It is not completely impossible but she will just have to see what happens.  If there are any signs of fighting she will have to separate them.  Generally the mother will get annoyed as the baby starts to grow older.  She normally wants her own space back.  Tell your friend that after the babies are weaned that would be the perfect time to get the mom fixed.  It would take her about a month to recover fully but the baby would still be young enough to be easily bonded with her.  Then when the baby is old enough she could get her spayed also.

It is also safer to get them spayed so that accidents don't happen again.  Plus there is about an 80% chance of uterine type cancers in unspayed doe's as they reach the age of 3 - 4 years old.

Congratulations with the babies and enjoy them.  They are so much fun and they grow so fast so make sure you play with them a lot and get them used to people so that when they go to new homes they are nice and friendly.

Good luck

Pam