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Phantom pregnancy.

halfpenny

Wise Old Thumper
Would you class phantom pregnancies as normal in a rabbit, obviously unsprayed. If not how would you describe them as being abnormal.
 
I wouldn't call them normal or abnormal. I would call them common, but something that ideally, if it occurs, the owners needs to try to work out the triggers to prevent it happening again, because I imagine that its uncomfortable and maybe even distressing for the rabbit involved.

Not all flase pregnancies can be stopped, but some can (if like triggered by certain smells, or other rabbits, or if its a healthy rabbit and just not spayed, etc).
 
I have a 7 month old female lop, unspayed (called Muffin), who is bonded to a castrated Dutch boy (called Ben) aged 7 years. They have been together for about a month, perhaps 6 weeks. He mates with her a lot, and also chases her around grunting at her. I have checked with my vet and he is definately castrated. But the doe is now building a nest, pulling out lots of fur and carrying mouthfuls of hay around. She also seems to have milk.
It can't be anything other than a phantom, (I hope), as she has not been with other rabbits since she came to us.... just the boy who is castrated.
Do I move the nest? If I do, will she just make another one? Any advice would be helpful.
Jan
 
A true phantom pregnancy is abnormal, but nesting and other behaviours in an unspayed rabbit is normal. I'd only be concerned if she pulls all her belly fur out, has mammary development or enlarged belly (hydro/mucometra), has a fever or otherwise seems unwell.
Keeping an unspayed female with a neutered male is quite likely to induce a phantom pregnancy as if he has mated her, the act of mating itself will cause a series of hormonal changes as the rabbit assumes the buck was fertile. They should subside with time as the body receives no hormonal signal from the fetus that it exists, but it is highly advisable to get the female spayed long-term, for both her health and welfare, and for the sake of their bond as she may get fed up with his attention and attack him.
 
Thanks for the reply, it was referring to something somebody said on Facebook.

To be honest, up until a couple of years ago none of my females had been spayed and all lived with castrated males- I never had one show signs of a phantom pregnancy.

I have only had 2 rabbits exhibit this- a foster girl who was really hyper and Mallow who was a stray and was not living with another rabbit at the time.

To me it seems if not un-natural, unfair to allow a rabbit to go through the hormonal upset regularly.
 
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I don't think anyone really knows why some animals experience repeat phantoms when others show no signs at all in the same environment, I think experimentally even with the same mate!
So you can't guarantee it will happen, but i think if it does it shouldn't be ignored.
In terms of bein "unnatural", in the wild the chances of an entire female not finding/being found by an entire male would be pretty rare, so phantoms are probably almost non-existent except where hormonal imbalances exist for other reasons e.g. tumours, ingestion of inciting agents, etc.
 
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