Advise please. Help help help

Hello. I recently bought two "female" lionheads from my local petshop who I was told were sisters. Everything was fine until I caught them mating and after checking them over it seems that one of them is male. I have since separated them however I came down 2 days ago to find that the female has begun to build a nest. I gave her some additional hay and expected a litter to arrive. Nothing came and she seems to have lost interest in completing the nest. She hasn't become fatter at all over the past few weeks and I feel nothing in her tummy although her nipple are predominant. Is she having a phantom pregnancy????

How old are they? How long have you had them?

About 4 1/2 months.

I'm not sure how old they are

I think they weren't mating..
Rabbits hump to show dominance too

Are you going to spay them?
Or vaccinate them?

When you go to the vets, tell them to check the genders of both buns.

I do plan on vaccinating them. Not spaying though as Im not keeping them together. Maybe in the future but funds won't allow that at present.

You've had them 4 and a half months? That'd make them at least 6 months old... Pregnancy is very possible at that age I'm afraid
Keep them seperate, a male can impregnate a female as soon as she's given birth

I understand that it's possible that she could be pregnant. However I've read that rabbits usually build a nest within a day of expecting their litter. I also read that I should be able to feel the babies in her tummy kinda like marbles but I feel nothing in there and she hasnt given birth over the last 2 days. This is what lead me to believe that she may be experiencing a phantom pregnancy.

Could be a phantom, but it's best to be on the side of caution when babies could be coming. As far as I know it can be a bad idea to try and feel for babies unless an experienced vet shows you how to do it safely. Someone may correct me there but I'm sure I've read it.

Ok thanks for your advise. I guess I'll just keep her stocked up with hay and keep an eye on her I'm a little worried I'll upset her when I need to clean out her cage if I move her nest.

I think it might be best to leave the nest for a week or two. A rabbit's gestation period is 31 days so if you watch her carefully for that time and if there are no babies then she wasn't pregnant.

I'm not hugely knowledgeable about these things but I wouldn't palpatate her stomach, you might damage any kits, your best course of action is to see a rabbit savvy vet who can do that for you safely.

Even if it is a phantom pregnancy, don't touch the nest she has made for a while as it may upset her if you remove it and she may feel the need to rebuild. You can clean out around it for now.
Did you say you have separated them both for now?
Best thing to do is to take both rabbits to a rabbit savvy vet who can correctly sex them for you, then you will know for sure.
Two does should live together ok whether they are speyed or not, though being unspeyed my increase the risk of aggression and also the girls will probably have phantom pregnancies every now and then anyway. It makes me feel very sorry for them when they build a nest and wait expectantly for something to happen, perhaps that's me being silly but I felt it was much nicer for my girls once they were speyed that they didnt have those urges, they seemed much less stressed.
Keep an eye for babies and keep them seperate for now. If you do find they are both girls you could re introduce them on neutral territory (there are lots of threads and info about bonding on here) to avoid fighting.
I know funds won't allow you to spey right now but please do bear it in mind. As well as allowing them to live together happily, and be less stressed with hormones etc there is also a high level of instances of uterine cancer in unspeyed domestic does, so speying removes that risk too.
Good luck with them. I hope there are no babies and you can get them to a vet to be sexed for sure.

Fairy13 said:

Two does should live together ok whether they are speyed or not,

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I'm afraid my experience hasn't confirmed this. My two spayed girlies would not get on, I can't imagine two unspayed girls although my friend has three unsprayed girls who get on :shock:

I'm just saying it isn't always the case that you can put two girls together, the personality is far more important, least in my experience, than the sex.

Schuette said:

I'm afraid my experience hasn't confirmed this. My two spayed girlies would not get on, I can't imagine two unspayed girls although my friend has three unsprayed girls who get on :shock:

I'm just saying it isn't always the case that you can put two girls together, the personality is far more important, least in my experience, than the sex.

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Ok, sorry yes, i've had unspeyed girls who lived together fine which i then speyed for health reasons and noticed then that they were calmer and nicer to each other. But that is just my experience. It will always vary, as you say, according to the individual buns personality etc. Sorry i should have been more thorough before writing that.
It should read more like ' two does may live together ok if unspeyed, but it depends on the individual buns'.
Thanks x

Please, please don't palpate her (feel her tummy) because you have no idea what you're doing or feeling for and could harm mum and potentially kits.

Rabbits can build nests from three weeks into their pregnancy and keep them until after they give birth. Equally, I had a pregnant girl build it on day 5 of pregnancy and it was spectacular. She didn't keep that one but demolished it after a few days.

You need to count 35 days from when you separated the buck and if you have no babies after 35 days then you're in the clear.

Fairy13 said:

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Ok, sorry yes, i've had unspeyed girls who lived together fine which i then speyed for health reasons and noticed then that they were calmer and nicer to each other. But that is just my experience. It will always vary, as you say, according to the individual buns personality etc. Sorry i should have been more thorough before writing that.
It should read more like ' two does may live together ok if unspeyed, but it depends on the individual buns'.
Thanks x

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I'll buy that I had a pair who were inseparable (The Dopeys) and yet when Sunny stayed with her mum Sandy, Sandy was so nasty and hormonal and horrible.

Also, OP, a neuter (if that is what is needed) is often significantly cheaper than a spay if that is an option?

Tasha.Cropper said:

Ok thanks for your advise. I guess I'll just keep her stocked up with hay and keep an eye on her I'm a little worried I'll upset her when I need to clean out her cage if I move her nest.

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I would personally take her to a rabbit savvy vet, who can check if she's pregnant.
If she is, then an emergency spay can be done, which will spay her and stop any babies from getting born.

:wave:

Tasha.Cropper said:

I do plan on vaccinating them. Not spaying though as Im not keeping them together. Maybe in the future but funds won't allow that at present.

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Do you know how much vaccinations, spaying costs ?

VHD Vaccination £15-20 [Once yearly]
Myxomatosis Vaccination - £15-20 [Twice yearly]

That is for one rabbit, for two its double that. - £120 roughly for both rabbits yearly.

A neuter for boys is - £50-80
A spay for girls is - £50 - 100