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why my rabbit havin babys

22 10:53:59

Question
hi my rabbit has always been seperate from the male  and even when they in play hut they got their own , yesterday i went feed my rabbit and notice she hads two babys  , these are her third litter over ttwo yrs , but how did this happens as she hadnt been in contact with the male since last yr before her second lots, thanks

Answer
Hi Shirley,

The male had to be able to have contact with her through a shared wall or space, somewhere, sometime.  He may be able to hop a smaller gate you have, or he may be able to get to her through common bars/fences.

There is no way that female rabbits can have a litter without the male rabbit inseminating them.  The act of sex causes females to ovulate shortly afterwards, so there has to be sperm present in order to fertilize the egg that is released.  He's just getting to her through a common/shared wall/gate/fence or he is able to make it over a barrier (or under, or around) in a way you are not aware of.

It isn't totally surprising that your male has figured out a way to do this.  My guys have surprised me in their abilities to go places I didn't think they could go, even the places that I consciously tried to keep them out of.

I strongly recommend spaying and neteuring your rabbits, as it appears you have had several accidents like this and aren't trying to breed them.  You'd never have to worry about this again, their behaviors that are hormonally driven will mellow out, and the boy won't be so frustrated, and the girl will live twice as long (most die around 5-6 years from uterine cancer).  

You need to find a good rabbit vet (one that has a good record of surgeries and regularly handles rabbits).  Go to here if you don't already have one:

www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

and find a House Rabbit Society recommended vet in your area.  If you don't find any where you are, check for close ones in neighboring states or call up your local rabbit rescue group and/or animal shelters and ask who they would go to if they had a rabbit that needed surgery.

Lee

Lee