My rabbit gave birth to a boy kitten last August. When the rabbit gave birth i took out the father and put him in a seperate hutch. The baby rabbit is now 8 months old. Recently the two rabbits (mother and son) have been mounting eachother. I was wondering can they breed if they are mother and son and will it have an effect on the babies. Also when i put the dad rabbit with the mum they attack eachother, so we have to keep them seperate (dad in one hutch, mother and son in other). How can i stop them fighting.
2007-04-15 06:12:29 · 29 answers · asked by leedeedi 3 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
a baby rabbit is called a kitten
2007-04-15 06:26:26 · update #1
Hello,
To be honest if the Son is 8 months old now, it's a surprise that she hasn't produced another litter already as the bucks become sexually mature at around 6 months.
Mating mother to son WILL NOT cause any birth defects, it is, in fact, the most common way of breeding called "Line Breeding".
Father to Daughter, Son to Mother, and Grandparents to Grandchildren is absolutely fine. The only mating cross that causes genetic defects is full BROTHER to full SISTER. This is to be avoided at all costs.
Do not try to put the two bucks together, they will fight, sometimes to the death over territory and a doe. The only way they might learn to get along is if you get BOTH bucks neutered and try to introduce them slowly to live together or leave the bucks entire and house them all separately.
Hope this helps!
2007-04-15 06:57:33 · answer #1 · answered by Carla L 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes, Mom and Son CAN and WILL breed and no, it will NOT cause deformities. But it will cause a population explosion!
I am sure that Mom is already pregnant and she will most likely have more than one baby. Separate her from the son now. Since Son and Dad don't get along, you are going to need three cages...
You really should have ALL of your rabbits fixed -- spayed and neutered. Then you can work on letting them get to know each other and maybe, just maybe, some of them can live together. Rabbits, like almost all animals, are much happier when they have others of their own kind around.
And honestly, you need to do a LOT of research to learn about your pets. You shouldn't be breeding at all until you are an EXPERT. Bringing a life into this world is an awesome responsibility and should never, ever be taken lightly.
Your rabbits are totally dependent on you to provide them with the best life possible, including health care, a proper habitat, exercise, play, company, food, water, everything. I hope you are up to it all... Cathy
2007-04-23 00:41:35 · answer #2 · answered by luvrats 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes the mother and son can breed and produce babies. I'm not sure if there would be problems in-breeding rabbits. I think it would depend partly on what you decide to do with the new babies, and if you intend to keep breeding. I have known people who inbred rabbits all the time, but used them for food and it didn't seem to matter.
I would remove the son, put him in a different cage for sure. And, when you want to breed the mother back to the father, you need to put her in his cage, not the other way around. She will be submissive to him if you put her in his cage, but if you put him in hers, she may fight over her own territory.
Good luck.
2007-04-23 13:03:45 · answer #3 · answered by Lili 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Two males will fight , so they should never be together, even father and son. Usually the father will try to kill off any other males in the area for teretorrial reasons. It is possible for the mother and a son to mate, but it might bring out the bad reccesive genes in the baby kits, so it is better that you don't allow them to mate. You should put a divider in the cage so that they do not mount each other. or either just put another cage next to the mother and put the son in that.
2007-04-15 15:02:29 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, mother and son can breed. At eight months, that's not a baby any more, and he needs to be removed post haste.
In terms of inbreeding...well, let me put it like this. Ancient scare-mongering myths aside, what causes genetic problems in a colony is *sustained* inbreeding over many generations. The occasional isolated incident is unlikely to produce any adverse effects; in fact, any animal breeder will tell you that when trying to breed in a desired colour or other noteworthy characteristic, every so often you'll find it necessary to mate fathers to daughters.
Frankly, your biggest problem is the simple prospect of ending up with 3,786 rabbits if you fail to keep males and females apart once they're sexually mature.
2007-04-15 13:18:54 · answer #5 · answered by dorothea_swann 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Your mother and son rabbits will breed, they have no idea they are related. There may be problems with the kits but it's unlikely, rabbits in the wild will mate with each other all the time. You will be best having your male rabbits castrated, it will probably, not deffinitely, stop the two adults fighting but check it out with your vet.
2007-04-19 04:40:14 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I really wouldn't put mum and dad together again, they're bound to fight. As for mating with mother and son, they will, given the opportunity, but might not make very healthy babies. They can live quite happily separately, mine has lived on his own for 10 years and is very active. However, if you don't want any more babies, then keep them apart.
2007-04-15 13:17:34 · answer #7 · answered by Nicky T 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
We had a male and a female rabbit who fought. It stopped when we had the female spayed. I would like to echo what another poster wrote about having your pets neutered. If you want a fourth rabbit, adopt a homeless pet.
There is a website called petfinders.com which has information on homeless pets, including rabbits.
2007-04-15 13:23:58 · answer #8 · answered by Tricia R 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
first i would take out the son rabbit and leave mother for few days on here own ,u shuld keep son from mother cos it will cos probs with her babys ,dont not breed son and mother babys will b deformed,,and if u wish to breed mother agin u should never put buck(dad) into mother cage always introduce the female(mum)into dad(bucks)cage ,u put dad into mums cage thats why she was fightin with him ,also u could had son fihtin with dad ,most males fight wen in together unless they together in cage fron young ago hope this is helpfull
2007-04-20 12:50:04 · answer #9 · answered by shirl g 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Your mother and son WILL breed if they havnt already!!- mine did and produced 6 normal healthy kittens!!!! apprarantly inbreeding is common in rabbits- as long as it isnt same generation ie:- brother and sister!
2007-04-18 15:44:03 · answer #10 · answered by Rebecca 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋