Worried

Hi im new to the forum, and would like to ask some advice

Yesterday my 2yr old doe who is a very much loved family pet is a single rabbit a very happy bunny always full of binkys loves her nose rubs escaped from my garden into next doors...
now my garden has been rabbit proofed these past two years or so i thought...
next door have a buck and well i think they may have mated?
both are uneutered
as this morning i have gone and checked on her and she is running around hutch with straw and hay in her mouth and trying to dig around in her house making alot of noise ie scratching...and seems to me she is building a nest even found little tuffs of fur in it... now i havnt touched the nest as of yet.. but this is most unusual behaviour for her could she really have mated yesterday and the urge to build a nest this quick really kicked in that fast? i thought it was days b4 they kindle they build a nest? or could she be having a phantom pregnancy??
any advice would be much appreciated many thanks

It sounds like she could well be pregnant, but I have never heard of a nest being made this soon either. So in that sense, it could be a phantom pregnancy. I think your best bet is to take her to the vet and see, the sooner you do, the higher the chace of getting rid of the babies (if that is what you want, bearing in mind its near impossible to find homes for rabbits right now). Otherwise, it should give you plenty time for reading up on what you will need to do. :wave:

Once this is over, please do get her spayed, its in her best interests.

You're right in thinking that the nesting instinct usually kicks in a couple of days before the birth, so this is most likely to be a phantom pregnancy.

However, as there is a strong possibility that she may have mated with the buck yesterday, I would advise you to seek veterinary advice and to get her spayed as soon as possible.

I'm not sure what the implications are for a doe to have her first litter at the age of 2, so somebody else may be to advise on that aspect, just in case you are thinking of letting the *possible* pregnancy proceed.

KarenM said:

You're right in thinking that the nesting instinct usually kicks in a couple of days before the birth, so this is most likely to be a phantom pregnancy.

However, as there is a strong possibility that she may have mated with the buck yesterday, I would advise you to seek veterinary advice and to get her spayed as soon as possible.

I'm not sure what the implications are for a doe to have her first litter at the age of 2, so somebody else may be to advise on that aspect, just in case you are thinking of letting the *possible* pregnancy proceed.

Click to expand...

^ This. Since it happened so recently it's probably safest for your bun to get her spayed ASAP. Good luck xx

KarenM said:

You're right in thinking that the nesting instinct usually kicks in a couple of days before the birth, so this is most likely to be a phantom pregnancy.

However, as there is a strong possibility that she may have mated with the buck yesterday, I would advise you to seek veterinary advice and to get her spayed as soon as possible.

I'm not sure what the implications are for a doe to have her first litter at the age of 2, so somebody else may be to advise on that aspect, just in case you are thinking of letting the *possible* pregnancy proceed.

Click to expand...

Agree with Karen completely. I'd personally have her spayed in an emergency by a rabbit savvy vet. Is that plausible for you?

yup will do asap ive brought a run today aswell so no more escapes from the garden...
trying to rack my brain to think if there was any possible way she could have got pregnant i dont think rabbits can mate through a wire fence?
my gut instinct tells me this is a phantom just wish i could be sure?
just checked on her again and omg the fur she has pulled out!!!!!!
i gave her extra hay as she is very occupied in her task in building i spoke to the vets and they want £91. for her to be sparyed is that a reasonable price?

well thats what my vet charges aswell for female x

Mine charges £56 for spays

My vet charges a little less I think but £91 is in the normal price range for a spay; it's quite an involved procedure. The most important thing is to make sure the vet is experienced with rabbits.

It's doubtful that they could have mated through a wire fence but if you are in any doubt at all about what happened (which sounds very much the case) then it is still best to go ahead with the spay. Unspayed does are also very much at risk from uterine cancer so that is another good reason to spay.

*cough* Ignore me

If she escaped yesterday, is there any possibility that she has escaped a few weeks ago and got back without you knowing? Therefore that she could be further along in the pregnancy than one day.

I agree with what the others are saying about emergency spay ASAP, especially as *I think* 2 years is getting on a bit for a first pregnancy. This advice would change though if she could be 3 weeks or more into a pregnancy as it would be more dangerous to risk the spay than let the pregnancy continue in that case.