We brought home 2 lionheads in October, Peter and Pumpkin, with the intention to neuter both. They were both very well behaved aside from the odd… erm, “brotherly love” that we chalked up to dominance stuff.
When Pumpkin started nesting, I got concerned that our breeder got it wrong, so I checked… as far as I could tell, Pumpkin has testicles. The internet told me that sometimes male rabbits nest, so I brushed it off.
A few days later, Pumpkin is freaking out and bleeding. Peter is mounting “him” again. We call the vet in a panic thinking that Peter has violently attacked Pumpkin. We put Pumpkin in the carrier, and I went to grab some of the nest for comfort… aaaand there are baby bunnies. 5 of them.
Anyway, turns out that pumpkin’s “testicles” were an unfortunately placed mat of fur. Obviously I had never attempted to brush it out, believing it to be tissue.
One of the babies had passed before I found them. I took him with us to the vet just in case, but he was confirmed to be over the rainbow bridge. I’m so proud of my daughter, as she just happened to be home from school that day, and put on a very brave face when we said goodbye. She’s been an amazing help with the surviving 4.
We had one more who we expected to lose, Flopsy, but they’ve made a full recovery and is now the second largest in the litter.
The vet said he’s not concerned about one generation of inbreeding, but Peter has been exiled to the pen outside the crate, and will be neutered asap. We still wanted them to be able to sit next to each other, so they do between the mesh. We plan to only rehome one bunny at a time to avoid any chance at further inbreeding.
Does anyone have any advice on what to look for going forward? I plan to have them looked at again before they’re rehomed. I want to charge something for them so only serious families apply, but I also don’t know how I feel about charging for bunnies who may be medically fragile.
Anyway, pictures from the What-Doing-Bunnies ❤️
by PopularUsual9576
