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pregnant rabbit?!

Q

qwertyuiop

Young Bun
my rabbit had a litter of 6 babies in july that i ended up hand-rearing because she had a womb infection and so i hand reared all of them...i kept the runt myself but i ended up having to get her put down at 11 weeks old as she had bad teeth. anyway some friends of mine bought me a new rabbit and they were told it was a girl...i didnt think to check and put it straight with my female, it wasnt til a week later (last week) that i realised it is actually a boy, and he was trying it on with my female - who was not interested and kept sitting down. She has started to eat alot more but as she was slightly overweight from her pregnancy before its hard to tell if shes put anymore weight on. i tried to palpate her to see if she actually is pregnant and at 9 days from when the male was put with her i could feel a small pea shaped blob, but i havnt felt it since and cant really feel anything else. Considering until the day i separated them i never really saw him trying it on with her, and the male is only 10/11 weeks old (although fully intact!) is it possible that she is pregnant or not??
 
The buck will be able to impregnate the doe. Perhaps she was pregnant and has re-absorbed the babes for some reason?


Personally I'd get her to the vets for an (emergency) spay; then take the buck separately as he'll be able to get neutered soon; if not straight away.
 
I guess it is certainly possible! Could you take her to the vets to be checked? I'm sure I have read somewhere that you shouldn't try and feel a potential pregnant doe's tummy as it can cause problems or hurt her. I'm sure you know what you are doing though - hand rearing 6 babies must be tough. :D I have certainly heard of 12 week old bucks getting does pregnant so I would go get her checked out asap. :)
 
Depending on how you felt the stomach it is quite possible you actually felt a kidney.

Its very hard to successful palpate for kits if you dont know what you are feeling for and even then you normally need to wait around 21 days to be sure.

Your vet can do a scan on her to see if she is pregnant and if she isnt far gone can also disscuss an emergency spey to abort the pregnancy.

Are you 100% the other rabbit is male as females will mount each other to establish dominance.
 
yep hes definitely a male...has got all the right bits lol! well altho i cant feel anything, i put her and the male in the same room today to see how she wud act and she was fine as long as he wasnt trying anything on (and he didnts for about 15mins) but as soon as he did she bit him, growled at him and chased him across the room! i think thats enough sign isnt it??
 
If your male is unneutered, I would not recommend putting him with your whole female. You may be lucky and your male may not be fertile yet, however if he is already fertile you may already have a pregnant female. If your female has already had a litter where one of the babies has had teeth problems, it is highly likely that any more babies she has would also develop have problems.

If your male is already fully developed I would suggest booking him in to be neutered before she becomes pregnant again, if she isn't already.
 
once i discover he was male i seperated them immediately...i just put them in the same room for a few mins today to see how she would react...to try to determine if she is pregnant or not. i imagine he is fertile as he is completely fully formed in all areas if u know wat i mean! i cant book him in to be done until he 6 months so for the time being i am obviously keeping them seperate! do u reallythink it is possible that any further babies will develop teeth problems...cos the problem with my baby rabbit was that her teeth/jaw wasn't lined up properly so her teeth didnt meet..meaning they didnt wear down when she ate. all the other babies turned out fine, so i would imagine that she was just a dodgy one?!
 
qwertyuiop said:
do u reallythink it is possible that any further babies will develop teeth problems...cos the problem with my baby rabbit was that her teeth/jaw wasn't lined up properly so her teeth didnt meet..meaning they didnt wear down when she ate.
Click to expand...


Usually teeth problems, particuarly in very young rabbits is a genetic defect, some rabbits will take longer to develope problems than others. This is why it is so important to know the full family history of rabbits going back generations if they are to be bred from. Some breeds are more prone to teeth problems than others particuarly lionheads and lops due to the shape of their heads. Some other breeds also are more prone to have problems as well. It doesnt mean to say that all lops and lionheads will develope problems however they are more liable than other breeds, likewise it doesnt mean that all other rabbits won't gon onto require dental treatment.
 
qwertyuiop said:
...i just put them in the same room for a few mins today to see how she would react...to try to determine if she is pregnant or not. ?!
Click to expand...


Unfortunately it only takes one second for a rabbit to successfully mate.

Please can you explain what sort of reaction you were expecting to see to determine if your female was going to be pregnant or not? It would be helpful to know if there are any reactions which are known to determine this as I am unaware of any which do normally occur. My knowledge on this sort of reaction is lacking. I do know very late on that some females can get a little territorial of having a male in with them in the late stages of their pregnacy, however this is not always the case.
 
There is an older breeders theory that a pregnant female will reject the advances of an amarous male, I believe that is what you were trying out today?

Its a very uncertain method, the female may attack the male for a variety of resons other than being pregnant and she may also submit to him again even if she is pregnant as mounting also has a place in social structure as well as reproduction and introducing the two rabbits again can trigger of this behaviour.
 
very good point Sooz22 - its all about dominance too isnt it! And jrn1310 sorry i didnt explain what i meant very well...i was saying that in some occasions if the female wasn't pregnant it is likely that she would accept the males advances and they would mate. if a rabbit IS pregnant then quite often she is very defensive if the male tries anything on with her and will get very angry with him, which is exactly what she said! does that make more sense?! But Sooz22 is right in what they said that it can be for other reasons also! :)
 
Last edited:
oh and thankyou for your reply about the teeth problems...touch wood so far the other babies in the litter have perfect teeth as do both the parents :)
 
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