Breeding Successfully

Very-ready doe, lifting for buck.

Finally!  The weather has been decent for long enough that the rabbits actually agree with me that it is time to start making kits!  (In case you didn't know: rabbit fertility can be affected by light; they are much more likely to be in the mood when they get 12-16 hours of light a day than when they only get 8-10 hours.)

Doe rolled over, she was so excited to breed!

Our blue otter doe, Mena, was so into it, that she had her hind end up on stilts, and her tail lifted as high as it possibly could go, as soon as she was in Tron's cage.  She even rolled over onto her side at one point.  (In talking with others online, this is a common behavior in does that really want bred).

(Tip for beginners: always bring the doe to the buck's cage, or both of them to a neutral territory.  Bucks can be too interested in sniffing around a new area to do their job.  Does can get very territorial, and have been known to castrate bucks.  Also, watch them the whole time they are together.  Breeding can happen in a split second, and one or the other could decide to hurt the other one at any time.)

Circling each other as part of the mating dance.

Of course, there was also some of the usual horny-doe behavior, including chasing each other around in circles, and she riding him (backwards, of course, to keep it more interesting).  He also did sideways and backwards mounts a couple of times, but we still got a good couple of fall-offs from him.

Doe riding buck, backwards.

Buck holds a tuft of doe's fur after breeding.

Mena and Tron weren't the only ones to breed successfully today (although certainly the most entertaining).  BamBam pulled a few tufts of fur out of Lisi's shoulders.  At least he's not as bad as some bucks I've had, which have pulled fur until the doe starts bleeding!

Doe keeps hocks firmly planted to thwart buck.

But, not every story is a success story.  Poor Gem was trying so hard, but Razzle was just not interested.  I checked her vent afterward, and it was a nice red, which just goes to show that checking the vent really doesn't indicate much of anything.  (I've never relied on it--in fact, I only just heard about it maybe a couple years ago.)