Pregnant rabbits

Because this is a wiki dedicated to general pet rabbit care, we believe all pet rabbits should be spayed and neutered and not given the opportunity to make more babies. With the amount of rabbits available for adoption in local shelters and rabbit rescues, we do not encourage the casual breeding of rabbits without obtaining the healthiest of stock available from reputable breeders as well as a responsible plan for the babies that does not encourage dumping intact unwanted rabbits in the streets or in the shelters. See Breeding for more details.

However, in the event of an accidental pregnancy because you placed two intact rabbits together of the opposite sex out of ignorance or on accident, the following information should be helpful in dealing with the situation.

Some tips about intact rabbits:
 * Males can become sexually mature as early as 10 weeks old.
 * Small breed females can conceive as early as 12 weeks old.
 * Males are not considered 100% sterile until 6 weeks after their neuter. :87
 * Rabbits only need 3 seconds to impregnate each other.

Detecting a pregnancy
Fetal palpation is possible from 10-14 days. Pregnancies can be detected radiologically at 11 days.

If your rabbit is nesting and has pulled out fur, expect babies within the next week unless it is a false pregnancy.

The links below contain more information about how to detect a rabbit pregnancy.


 * Pet Rabbits, How to Care for Pregnant and Baby Rabbits

The following pages are from rabbit breeding sites. Please do not take this referral as condoning rabbit breeding for the common house rabbit owner. We provide these links purely for information.
 * Raising-Rabbits.com, 5 Clues to the Pregnant Rabbit
 * ARBA, Charlcie Gill, The Art of Palpation

Discovering a pregnancy
The domestic rabbit gestation period is generally 30-32 days. About 98 percent of normal litters will be kindled between 30 and 33 days after breeding but a small percentage may kindle as early as 29 days or as late as 35 days. Gestation lengths are generally longer with smaller litters. You can start counting the days from the first observed or suspected mating.

If you have discovered that one of your intact female rabbits has become pregnant, please consider giving the doe an emergency spay to terminate the pregnancy. A pregnancy detected after 2.5 weeks is probably too far along for an emergency spay without harming the mother, but talk to your local rabbit-savvy veterinarian to get a professional opinion. There are enough unwanted pet rabbits in shelters all over the world, and there is no need to bring more into life without the firm knowledge there will be loving permanent homes for every single one of them until the end of their natural lifespan.

Taking care of a pregnant rabbit and her litter
Dandelion greens, dill, and borage are believed to help a doe produce more milk for a large litter.

Please immediately separate the male from the mother if you have a surprise litter. The male can impregnate the female again immediately after giving birth and result in litters 4 weeks apart, which can be harsh and fatal to the mother and the babies.

Necessary supplies
Nestbox. The nestbox should be about 12x14 inches, and the bottom should have a couple of drain holes. The sides can be about 8 inches high, but the front should be no more than 4 inches where the mother rabbit will enter and exit. A cardboard box may do temporarily but will get soggy and need to be replaced.

Bedding. Line the nestbox with a 3-inch layer of clean hay, straw, or shredded paper.

Fur-lined hollow. Make a small bowl-shaped hollow in the middle of the bedding in the nestbox and fill it with fur from the mother rabbit. If she has not pulled any out herself, either try gently pulling it out of her dewlap or clipping some off.

Babies. Place the babies in the hollow you made. They will burrow to the bottom and remain there until the mother rabbit stands over them to nurse.

Birthing process
The nestbox should be provided at around 28 days of gestation. Nest-building behavior from the pregnant rabbit will involve burrowing and pulling of fur from the dewlap, flanks, and belly to line the nest and expose the nipples.

The birthing, or parturition, usually occurs in the early morning during their normal resting period. Even in large litters, parturition will take only 10 or 15 minutes. Uncommonly, some births may span 1 to 2 days and still result in the birth of normal kits. The rabbit kits will be born hairless with ears and eyes closed. A mother will sometimes lick the babies as they are born and quickly eat their placentas.

Some problems that can arise during the birthing process:


 * Cannibilism of the young may occur due to accident, inexperience (first time does), or in response to environmental pressures such as over-crowding. Cannibalism may occur by other female rabbits, reverting to their natural survival instincts to cannibalize kits that do not belong to them, to ensure survival of their own line.


 * Obstructed labor, also known as dystocia, is uncommon but associated with over-sized or mis-positioned fetuses. Obesity or malnutrition of the mother may also predispose to this condition.


 * Uterine prolapse is also an uncommon condition but has been associated with dystocia. The prolapsed uterus rapidly becomes engorged with blood, and contaminated with foreign material. A spay, after first pulling the uterus back into the abdomen, is curative.

Nursing process
After the babies are born, a mother rabbit will leave the nest and return once every 24 hours at night for 3 to 4 minutes to allow the babies to nurse. Only rarely does the mother rabbit immediately nurse the babies after they are born. Usually the first nursing will occur the night after the kindling. The preferred mealtime is between midnight and 5 am.

When she arrives, the mother rabbit will immediately hunch over the young in a nursing posture. She will not lie down like a cat does to nurse. The babies will rear up, find a nipple, and suckle rapidly. Typically, significant amounts of milk are obtained only during the second minute of nursing -- a baby can gain up to a third of its body weight in this short session. A baby rabbit can drink up to 20% of its body weight in a single nursing.

When the time is up, the mother rabbit may lick the babies to stimulate urination and defecation, then jump away, defecate a few hard feces, and leaves the nest, even if some babies may not have received any milk at all due to competition.

Extra resources
See the following links for more information. Also check out Baby Domestic Rabbits.
 * Dana Krempels. Surprise Litter of Babies! What to do now?
 * Sandi Koi. (2011). Domestic Baby Bunnies and Their Mom
 * Esther van Praag. Offspring feeding time
 * Cottontails Rescue. Unplanned Rabbit Litters