The site navigation utilizes arrow, enter, escape, and space bar key commands. Up and Down arrows will open main level menus and toggle through sub tier links. Enter and space open menus and escape closes them as well. Tab will move on to the next part of the site rather than go through menu items. Photo courtesy of John Sullivan. Rabbits are noted for their prolific breeding ability, but the popular phrase "breeding like rabbits" isn't quite the whole story.
Many animals bear a lot of offspring, so what makes rabbits so special? A few factors make the eastern cottontail rabbit — and rabbits in general — notable in the breeding department. To start with, cottontail rabbits are able to begin breeding at a very young age, as young as 2 months to 3 months old, according to the Animal Diversity Web.
Rabbits also have a short gestation period, between 25 and 28 days, which means they can have several litters of babies each year. They are born hairless, blind, and deaf, however after 10 days, they will begin to properly develop.
Kits are usually fully weaned when they are between weeks old. You should continue to keep a female rabbit separate from males during this time, as female rabbits can be re-impregnated hours after they have given birth! Occasionally rabbits experience a false pregnancy. In cases like this, the doe may exhibit typical rabbit pregnancy behaviours, such as nest building. The best way to know for sure whether your doe is pregnant is to take her to a vet. Once the uterus is free, the embryos move in.
The result is that a female hare can shorten the time between litters from 42 to 38 days and deliver up to It is not yet know if other members of the hare genus Lepus can go through superfetation also known as superconception. Rabbits, however, may be less likely to share this trait with their hare relatives. Rabbits and hares belong to separate subfamilies that diverged evolutionarily around Doing this helps to prevent rabbits from becoming fearful of people in their adult lives.
Before handling kits, as mentioned earlier, it's a good idea to stroke the doe first, rub your hands in some of the used, unsoiled nesting material or wipe a clean cloth over the doe and then the kits. This helps keep scents familiar as well as avoids transferring human scents which can reduce the risk of the doe rejecting her kits.
From about three weeks old, kits need plenty of safe space in which to explore, exercise and play, as well as suitable objects to investigate and interact with.
The digestive system in rabbits is highly specialised and so it's important that they receive the correct diet throughout their lives to help prevent dental and digestive problems. Weaning can be a particularly tricky period for rabbits - it's crucial that they build a healthy digestive system during this time. Did you know?
To help a baby rabbit establish normal gut bacteria, they eat their mother's caecotrophs a special type of faeces! Good quality hay is the most important part of any rabbit's diet. It can be introduced from ten days of age and any owner should make sure that it's a constantly available food source for their rabbits.
When the kits are about five weeks old and are eating hay well, they can then be gradually introduced to small amounts of nuggets and greens. However, these greens should be introduced one type at a time, to avoid upsetting the young rabbits' digestive system. Serious illness can be caused if young rabbits are fed these items when they're too young or in large amounts as they're simply unable to digest greens and nuggets as well as adults.
Generally, kits will need to stay with their mother until they are eight weeks old, by which point they should be fully weaned. The best way to avoid unwanted litters is to get your rabbits neutered. It's also important to correctly sex the kits identify their gender , as in just a few weeks time they'll also be able to breed.
Vets can advise on the gender of your rabbits if you're unsure. They'll also be able to talk to you about neutering. Rabbits prefer to live with at least one other friendly rabbit, and neutering is the only way to ensure that this can happen.
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