HELP: Did my rabbits breed?

by Kaitlin
(Missouri)

We put my female mini lop in with my male a few days ago. He would mount her, get off, hop around and go back. However, the doe never stretched out or lifted her hinny. A couple times I reached in and lifted it but he wouldn't mount her then. She started nipping at him and scratching him so we removed her.

We put her back in his cage about 11 hours later and repeated the breeding. Once again again she hunkered down and would not stretch out or lift her hinny. I again stretched her out and I think he may have gotten her at least once out of the two sessions. I couldn't really tell if he ever "got in" but he mounted her quite a bit and when I looked at her vent both times afterwards it was shiny but pale, not red. Do you think that a sufficient breeding occurred?
Thanks! Kaitlin

****Karen Sez***
I have a doe right now with 9 kits...she allowed the buck to breed her once, and then got all stubborn on him. It only takes once.

Pale is okay, since rabbits are 'induced ovulators,' meaning they send the eggs down the chute when they actually breed. Does are super-ready when you see dark red or purple, but 'pale' doesn't mean she can't conceive. "Shiny" means you see the buck's secretions at the vent, not simply the moisture of her own mucus membranes. If there was buck secretion around the vent, your chances for bunnies soar.

You've done an excellent job describing everything Kaitlin. I can't say for sure if the doe actually got bred. But I'd say you'd oughtta be marking the calendar for 28 and 31 days, because there's prolly a better than middling chance for bunnies.

If by chance she doesn't take (it's autumn...she might not), you can always give them another whack at it in 35 days.
K