Help!!! Lots of fur in hutch this morning!!!

Help please.

I woke up this morning and did my morning ritual of changing water and food in the bunny hutch and give them all a cuddle and when I opened the top part of the hutch (it's like a little bed area that you can't see into from the outside) there was a MASSIVE amount of fur. It's all come from my youngest bunny, Nala (7 months old). I checked her to make sure that there was no blood, bald patches, etc, but there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary with her (apart from her lady bits looked a bit bare but not bald or enough to make me really worry).

As I haven't had a young doe before I'm not sure if this is normal (had my buck from 6 weeks old and adopted my other doe at 2 years old and got her neutered a week after). I've had Nala since she was 6 weeks old. She has never fought with the other 2 and has always been accepted by them. They live in a 4x5ft hutch and all fit in it comfortably (Nala is a lionhead lop, Molly is a lionhead and Kakashi is a netherland dwarf, so plenty of room, plus they don't tend to spend much time in there when me or my partner are at home).

I really need to know if this is normal and what I should do....? I'm at work at the moment but I woke my partner up this morning before leaving and asked him to keep an eye on her and to make sure that they are all out of the hutch to make sure that they are not fighting (although this would be the first time ever).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I feel like pulling my own hair out atm (recently had a bunny with undiagnosed syphilis for 2 years and had to go to the vets with him every week for the past 5 weeks =().

Thanks =)

I'm no expert but i would ask;

Are all buns neutered?? Hormones/Pregnancy

If so she will possibly be having a phantom pregnancy...at 7 months this is highly likely due to her maturing.

You can't do anything with phantoms just let them run the course......BUT she will become very terrotial of that nest and could possibly lead to fighting

Hi

Thanks for your reply. Both my eldest, Kashi and Molly, have both been neutered by Nala hasn't been done yet as she has only just turned 7 months old. So I know she isn't pregnant for real because she only associates with the 2 buns she lives with.

I'll keep an eye on her and make sure she's not fighting with the other 2. How long does a phantom pregnancy usually last? I know this probably seems like a silly question but this has never happened to me before lol.

Thanks

If there is no possibility that she has had contact with an entire Buck, even for 30 seconds, then it is a pseudopregnancy. To enhance the quality of her life and protect her from the high risk of uterine infections and cancer in later life I would advise you to get her spayed.

Pseudopregnancies are stressful for the Doe, they can happen very frequently and they can lead to aggression and fighting with other Rabbits. So in the short term ie the next week or so the possibility of fights between your group is very high and you need to be mindful of this fact.

Dont remove the nest, she will just build another one stressing herself out more. It will stress the other two out aswell especially if she starts plucking fur from them aswell as from herself.

ETA Pseudopregnacies can last for several days, removing the nest can prolong them.

Like I say I'm no expert. But if she is not neutered are you 100% sure she is pregnant....no little wildies jumped in!

Some phantoms last a day or some last the full term. You should keep an eye on her to make surer she is eating pooing etc fine.

I think it's deffo time for a spay to be honest.

Thanks for your reply and info regarding the pseudopregnancies. Would it be a good idea for me spilt them for a while? Before they lived together Nala used to live on the top half and Mol and Kashi lived in the bottom, I just blocked of the hole where the ramp goes between the floors. Or would this make it worse for them?

Thanks

kashiandmol said:

Thanks for your reply and info regarding the pseudopregnancies. Would it be a good idea for me spilt them for a while? Before they lived together Nala used to live on the top half and Mol and Kashi lived in the bottom, I just blocked of the hole where the ramp goes between the floors. Or would this make it worse for them?

Thanks

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It depends on how much you are able to observe them on a daily basis. Not only for fighting, but for indication that fighting might happen eg is she pulling fur from the other two ? Is she defensive of the nest ? Are they all eating and pooing as normal ? How large is their living area ? If they are confined to a hutch with no attached large run then fighting may be more likely to occur because they will be less able to get away from each other.

I'm 1000% sure she's not pregnant lol she only lives with 1 buck and he's been spayed (2 years ago) and they all live inside so no chance any wildies would have been able to get her lol. I've just called my vets to enquire about getting her spayed, hopefully going to be getting her done very soon.

I will defo being keeping an eye on her and spending more time with the buns to keep the peace, as much as I can.

Due to me working full time, unfortunately, I'm not able to keep an eye on them all the time. However my partner is off work today and usually gets a 2 hour break through the day so he will be able to keep a good eye on them for me. Their hutch is 4ft x 5ft and have plenty of room to run around and when me and partner aren't at work or when he gets a break they are out of the hutch and have the full run of the apartment (which is HUGE).

With us not being able to keep an eye on them as much as we would like do you think it would be a good idea to seperate them for a while, while Nala's going through whatever she's going through?

They are all eating, drinking and pooing as normal, they were straight at their food like usual this morning. However, I have noticed that Mol and Kashi are spending more time downstairs and not going up as much and Nala seems to be spending more time upstairs on her own so from that observation I would assume that she is being terrotorial.

Is there anyway to be sure that it is just a pseudopregnancy and nothing more serious? I was so scared this morning when I saw it but they all seem fine with no blood or bald patches.

Thanks

I would be almost certain that it is a pseudopregnancy

If you do separate them then it would be best not to attempt to rebond them until she has been spayed and has had a good few weeks to recover and her hormones have settled down.

If I were in your situation and unable to observe them for several hours at a time I would separate her as if a fight does occur it may not only result in serious injuries but it would make being able to get them all living together again extremely difficult if not impossible.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

I've managed to get her booked in for neutering this friday =) my partner has been at home all day and there's been no fighting, thank god. Also my other doe is currently up top with her and Nala was cleaning her which is what she always does.

I'm hoping this will be the one and only time this happens after she's been done and that she calms down, she's a nightmare atm always scratching and biting. It worked with my other doe at least lol.

Thanks for all of your help =)