Phantom pregnancy, brought on by me being pregnant?

Good morning all,

I am a fairly new bunny owner after rescuing a young (under 8 months) doe from my street - I have quite a few other animals so am not new to animals but I have never had a bunny before!

Primrose is a mostly white English and is in beautiful condition, other than she has recently started pulling out her belly fur and storing it in her bed at first we thought she was shedding due to the hot weather and her not having any bald patches or sore skin.

Today though I have noticed that her belly is bald (see pic) the skin is healthy with no scabs, rash, scratch marks etc (even though it looks a little red in the pic its just the camera). As you can see its quite close to her teats and they feel quite lumpy - the lumps are squashy and don't really seem to cause her any discomfort.



Upon searching it seems everyone says shes is pregnant but we have had her for just over 2 months now. She does enjoy ripping my magazines to bits behind the sofa which I was told could be her nesting but shouldn't she have had them by now?

I had a gently feel of her belly which is lovely and soft (I must admit I wouldn't know what a pregnant bunny feels like but there was no lumps or hard bits!)

Othere than this is is really happy, eating well, playing, washing and not scratching - any help would be appriciated

*Sorry for the long post!*

If you've had her for 2 months then she *probably* won't be pregnant as I believe they're only pregnant for 30-ish days. But then there's something in the back of my mind that says does can store sperm to use at a later date - hope someone can confirm or deny this as I may be making it up!!

However, an unspayed doe is highly likely to have phantom pregnancies and will display all the normal nesting behaviour. I'm not sure if there are any tests a vet can do to determine whether a doe has been spayed or not but I'm guessing your little rescue hasn't been. But even some spayed does still occasionally nest - my 8 year old doe recently made a mahoosive nest :shock: despite having been spayed at under 6 months old.

I'd take her to the vet and discuss spaying.

Thank you for the info, I think I will take her to the vets tomorrow for peace of mind if nothing else!

I will keep you updated!

Been keeping an eye on Primrose and it seems her fur is growing back She is still showing nesting behaviour though my grampy build me a large run that is now attached to the hutch and she has been running around with hay in her mouth - its really cute!

I don't know if its worth mentioning but I also have ferrets and our breeding pair has been in season and our Jill is now pregnant, I am also due my first my first baby in two weeks - could either of these things maybe have had an effect on her to cause a phantom pregnancy?

So glad you're all well!!!!
I have no experience in such effects although I know bunnies are very sensitive to hormonal smells. My bot used to back off from me when I was premenstral!!!!
Fingers crossed for all pregnant ladies in your house!!!

XXXXXX

sheri said:

Been keeping an eye on Primrose and it seems her fur is growing back She is still showing nesting behaviour though my grampy build me a large run that is now attached to the hutch and she has been running around with hay in her mouth - its really cute!

I don't know if its worth mentioning but I also have ferrets and our breeding pair has been in season and our Jill is now pregnant, I am also due my first my first baby in two weeks - could either of these things maybe have had an effect on her to cause a phantom pregnancy?

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