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Rabbit Pregnancy?

xleannex

Young Bun
I couldn't find a section for breeding so I hope its ok to post here. I am not a breeder but recently got my first two rabbits and got two girls (4-5 months old now). I found out last week one was actually a dude. Due to his behavior I took him with me to a pet store when i went to stock up on supplies and had 3 opinions from the staff and what i thought was a she was in fact a he!!
I have reason to believe the female is now pregnant, i noticed over the past week or so how much more rounder she has become and all of a sudden she will not let us pet/hold her when she was fine with this before, starting yesterday she seems to be building a nest, I kept checking on her and for hours she was carrying hay and paper around. Later I looked in the cage and it looks like the start of a nest. I gave her extra hay today and she started this again. She has not been pulling out fur or anything yet.

Does anyone know what stage of pregnancy this behavior suggests she is at?

**I called the vets yesterday to book a consultation as i wanted to be sure she was pregnant, they said it would be best to not take her down as it would do more harm than good if she was in fact pregnant and they said her behavior suggested she was, they were helpful with advice etc but I'm still left guessing everything and have no clue about this stuff**

Also, a slightly different topic, for obvious reasons I have now separated them, would the separation affect their bond? they get on so well and as soon as he is spayed and her babies have moved on can i just put them together again?
 
There is a sticky at the top of this forum about accidental litters, so that would be worthwhile looking at.

What you're describing are very general signs and could be attributed to a pregnancy, or just a false pregnancy. They also happen at at stage of the pregnancy. However, generally rabbits do not 'show' so it may be that she is just growing or getting fatter and becoming an adult.

When he has been neutered and she has been spayed, 6-8 weeks post both of those you will need to totally rebond because they won't know each other at all.
 
Yes by splitting them you have broken the bond, when both are neutered and it has been a month or two to let the hormones settle, you can then re-introduce, but you will have to bond them properly following the proper bonding procedures. But dont worry about that, first things first, as you cant do that until they are both neutered anyway.

Do you want her to have the babies? Bear in mind this will mean finding homes for them, and homechecking those homes so the rabbits dont end up snake-food or neglected pets or in poor accommodation. If you do, let things take its course. If you dont, I'd whip her down to the vets, making sure it is a rabbit-savvy or exotic vet, and ask their opinion as to whether an emergency spay can be performed. I would also want your boy's sex confirmed, as although a boy at 5 months is fairly obviously a boy, pet shops are renowned for missexing, and they missexed them once before didnt they.

At 4-5 months old it is likely she is pregnant if he is a boy, but it could be a phantom. I hope for you and her that it is. Where is she making her nest? Make sure you give her plenty of hay.

Just checking, he isnt a lot bigger than her is he?
 
Yes by splitting them you have broken the bond, when both are neutered and it has been a month or two to let the hormones settle, you can then re-introduce, but you will have to bond them properly following the proper bonding procedures. But dont worry about that, first things first, as you cant do that until they are both neutered anyway.

Do you want her to have the babies? Bear in mind this will mean finding homes for them, and homechecking those homes so the rabbits dont end up snake-food or neglected pets or in poor accommodation. If you do, let things take its course. If you dont, I'd whip her down to the vets, making sure it is a rabbit-savvy or exotic vet, and ask their opinion as to whether an emergency spay can be performed. I would also want your boy's sex confirmed, as although a boy at 5 months is fairly obviously a boy, pet shops are renowned for missexing, and they missexed them once before didnt they.

At 4-5 months old it is likely she is pregnant if he is a boy, but it could be a phantom. I hope for you and her that it is. Where is she making her nest? Make sure you give her plenty of hay.

Just checking, he isnt a lot bigger than her is he?



I'm going to let nature take its course, I'll still hope for a phantom pregnancy but if not, I'll do my best to find them loving homes. I've also queried her nest with the vet, she has built it in the open section on the cage, in the corner and behind a log tunnel, its quite a well hidden space and this is also her favorite place, I've always found her in this spot.
With regards to size, Yes he is quite a bit bigger than her, they are different breeds. I got the one who turned out to be a male from a breeder (I've also found out this is not the first time she's made a mistake, my sister has new rabbits due to her making this error with someone else local) and because we thought he was a she, she only had males left so we got her companion from a pet store making sure they were the same age etc and introduced them straight away.
I'm gutted about having to separate them so hopefully it is phantom and can get them neutered and back together again.

How long do i wait until determine whether its phantom/pregnancy as I've no idea when/if they mated?
 
I'm going to let nature take its course, I'll still hope for a phantom pregnancy but if not, I'll do my best to find them loving homes. I've also queried her nest with the vet, she has built it in the open section on the cage, in the corner and behind a log tunnel, its quite a well hidden space and this is also her favorite place, I've always found her in this spot.
With regards to size, Yes he is quite a bit bigger than her, they are different breeds. I got the one who turned out to be a male from a breeder (I've also found out this is not the first time she's made a mistake, my sister has new rabbits due to her making this error with someone else local) and because we thought he was a she, she only had males left so we got her companion from a pet store making sure they were the same age etc and introduced them straight away.
I'm gutted about having to separate them so hopefully it is phantom and can get them neutered and back together again.

How long do i wait until determine whether its phantom/pregnancy as I've no idea when/if they mated?

Gestation period for rabbits is a month, so if in a month nothing has happened then you are clear.

Contact your vet about the male being larger, this can cause problems with birthing. You'll need to be on constant alert, as if kits get stuck or she has issues giving birth it is an emergency and cant wait at all, you'll have to see an emergency vet, as in my experience litters tend to be born at night. What breed is your female?
 
Gestation period for rabbits is a month, so if in a month nothing has happened then you are clear.

Contact your vet about the male being larger, this can cause problems with birthing. You'll need to be on constant alert, as if kits get stuck or she has issues giving birth it is an emergency and cant wait at all, you'll have to see an emergency vet, as in my experience litters tend to be born at night. What breed is your female?

she is a cross English/dutch, He is a mini lop
 
She should be bigger than him by about a kg :s I imagine someone's either lied to you about the breeds or they arent pure lines. At least she isnt teeny tiny.

Really :shock:

Here are their pictures taken 5 weeks ago roughly, this is the female,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thatdaisygirlphotography/7711344310/
And here is the male , shes just poking her head out behind him and i think you can tell the difference in size just from that.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thatdaisygirlphotography/7711341538/
 
Oh dear.... I'm afraid yes you have been lied to, she is no english/dutch cross. I'm no expert or breeder but she looks like a dwarf mix, with a fair bit of nethie in her judging by her size and body shape, her ears arent that nethie-like though and her face isnt that squashed, so hopefully not too much. I was hoping she wouldnt have, as nethies are notorious for birthing problems.

If you can find a decent nethie breeder, would be worth ringing and asking them a few questions.
 
I think you need to seriously consider whether or not you will allow this pregnancy to continue because you risk both mum and any potential kits due to his size compared to her size, and given she is tiny anyway, her birth is going to be high risk anyway, without the added factor of him being massive.
 
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After what you've said it sounds as though an emergency spay is needed, the last thing i want is to bring her to further harm, I'll be honest, I have no idea about any of this, I know how to care for a rabbit and when I decided to get two females I read a bit on neutering in case that was ever needed. As you can imagine I'm freaking out right now, I've never had many dealings with vets, these are my first pets since leaving home, I had one rabbit for 11 years. my local vets are closed until Monday, is this something you'd call an emergency vet for?

I am so so glad i came here, I wouldn't of even thought their sizes were an issue and would of let her continue
 
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After what you've said it sounds as though an emergency spay is needed, the last thing i want is to bring her to further harm, I'll be honest, I have no idea about any of this, I know how to care for a rabbit and when I decided to get two females I read a bit on neutering in case that was ever needed. As you can imagine I'm freaking out right now, I've never had many dealings with vets, these are my first pets since leaving home, I had one rabbit for 11 years. my local vets are closed until Monday, is this something you'd call an emergency vet for?

I am so so glad i came here, I wouldn't of even thought their sizes were an issue and would of let her continue

Don't panic. You're doing ok.

My rcommendation would be to start another thread called 'Rabbit Savvy vet needed near *insert your location here*' and hopefully you will get a recommendation from a vet you know you can trust with your bunnies. I personally don't think that now is an emergency but you will need to watch carefully incase she is does start to kindle (go into labour) and meets trouble. Then it will be an emergency.
 
*update*

I managed to get my girl to the vets today, I couldnt take her due to work so had oh take her. The vet couldn't determine pregnancy, she felt two round balls and said that could possibly be bladder and poop.
She didn't want to press any harder Incase and couldn't fit a x-ray in today. She did notice however that she's been pulling her fur out, im mot sure were yet. About the difference in size, the vet said not to worry to much as she isn't that small but did say If we wanted an emergeny spay, to do it ASAP. I think I'm going to call again in the morning and book them both in, then I can at least get them re-bonded sooner. I feel so awful splitting them up :(
 
*update*

I managed to get my girl to the vets today, I couldnt take her due to work so had oh take her. The vet couldn't determine pregnancy, she felt two round balls and said that could possibly be bladder and poop.
She didn't want to press any harder Incase and couldn't fit a x-ray in today. She did notice however that she's been pulling her fur out, im mot sure were yet. About the difference in size, the vet said not to worry to much as she isn't that small but did say If we wanted an emergeny spay, to do it ASAP. I think I'm going to call again in the morning and book them both in, then I can at least get them re-bonded sooner. I feel so awful splitting them up :(

Don't worry you have done the right thing. And just think by getting this sorted now they will hopefully be able to live very long and happy lives together :)
 
*update*

I managed to get my girl to the vets today, I couldnt take her due to work so had oh take her. The vet couldn't determine pregnancy, she felt two round balls and said that could possibly be bladder and poop.
She didn't want to press any harder Incase and couldn't fit a x-ray in today. She did notice however that she's been pulling her fur out, im mot sure were yet. About the difference in size, the vet said not to worry to much as she isn't that small but did say If we wanted an emergeny spay, to do it ASAP. I think I'm going to call again in the morning and book them both in, then I can at least get them re-bonded sooner. I feel so awful splitting them up :(

Glad your girly is okay. An emergency spay is what I would do, as getting pregnant at the first time she can isnt good for her, and with the heightened risk of her size vs his.. if you were an experienced breeder it might be different, but you (like me) wont know the warning signs about when to rush her to the vet if she gets into trouble, so I think it is safer this way.

Let us know what happens.
 
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