young bunnies

Question
I have two bunnies and they are about 4 and a half monthes old.... im guessing... they stay in the same cage n i still dont know what sex they are. about three days ago the white one (ashes) started just being really lazy she just lays down all the time, and when i pet her she just pushes me away... about the same time the grey one (smoke) started getting really aggressive.. i have alot of other animals (8 cats 1 dog 1 farret) and ive always come into the bunnies room smelling like the the other animals, but the rabbits never minded... when smoke got aggresive he/she would punch my hand, and jump around at me stomping his/her feet. but when i wash my hands and pet smoke he/ she doest care. Ashes will still push me away though.......and today i saw ashes pulling at her chest hair... i didnt see any come out though.... i was thinking are they just ready to mate, is one pregnant, or what????

Answer
Hi, Amanda.

First, separate them right away. That is the most important thing I can tell you. It is imperative. Unaltered adult rabbits (regardless of gender) need their own cages. Aside from preventing pregnancy, rabbits are territorial by nature and need their own space.

You will want to determine the sex of your rabbits. The following website has information on the process. I could easily explain it here, but it provides pictures to accompany the explanation. http://islandgems.net/sexing.html

Assuming she is fact a doe, I would err on the aide of cautious that the one pulling fur might be pregnant. I would also advise against using palpation to determine whether or not she is preganant. Palpation should be done around 14 days. If you are unsure how far along she is you could risk hurting the unborn rabbits.

After giving her a new home, give her a nest box. Nestboxes are generally 2 inches longer and 1 inch wider than the doe. Once again, a picture might be helpful: http://islandgems.net/nestbox2.html

Make sure the nestbox is lined with shavings and filled with plenty of clean, fresh straw. The full gestation period is 28-32 days. If that times passes without any babies, you can remove the nestbox. The fur pulling may have been a false pregnancy.

If the doe does in fact have babies, I would mostly recommend leaving them alone until they are a few weeks old. If one gets out of the nestbox too early, it is fine to pick it up and place it back inside.

By 4 weeks they should be eating pellets and weaning should take place 6-8 weeks. After that the babies can stay together for a few more weeks at most, but will really need new cages as well.

Good luck!