Well i have a male bunny who is 7 months i got i supposedly other male from a pet store a few days ago my male started humping the young one so i seperated them and called a friend who breeds rabbit she said my young male is actually a female she is 16 weeks roughly if she is pregnant will she be ok? If she has babies should i seperate them and rear them myself or will she manage alone? I had a rabbit years ago that had young we rescused her and she had baies two weeks later she was 4 and she killed on and then she ended up dying when babies were days old i had to hand rear them all so if i had to do that i would know what to do hope someone can help
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pregnant rabbit??
- Thread starter ali888
- Start date
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
If she is pregnant she may not provide a nest before she kindles, she may over-clean her kits which can in the most severe cases lead to the kits losing ears/legs. So you will need to be observant and calculate when she is likely to kindle, usually approx 32 days after mating. The Doe usually builds a nest just before her due date and she will go off her food about 12 hours prior to kindling.
If you take her to a Vet about 10-14 days after mating the Vet should be able to detect any foetuses. Prior to that the foetuses will be too small and after about 14 days it can be much harder to differentiate between foetuses and internal organs.
If you take her to a Vet now then the Vet may consider an early spay to be a safer option than to risk allowing any pregnancy to continue. You could also arrange to have your Buck castrated too. This would have been essential anyway even if your new Rabbit was a Buck. Two entire Bucks will fight, sometimes leading to fatal injuries to one or both Rabbits.
If you decide to adopt a 'wait and see' approach and the Doe does kindle a litter then I would not remove the Kits from her. This thread may be useful to read
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?327923-Accidental-Litters-and-Taking-on-Babies
If you take her to a Vet about 10-14 days after mating the Vet should be able to detect any foetuses. Prior to that the foetuses will be too small and after about 14 days it can be much harder to differentiate between foetuses and internal organs.
If you take her to a Vet now then the Vet may consider an early spay to be a safer option than to risk allowing any pregnancy to continue. You could also arrange to have your Buck castrated too. This would have been essential anyway even if your new Rabbit was a Buck. Two entire Bucks will fight, sometimes leading to fatal injuries to one or both Rabbits.
If you decide to adopt a 'wait and see' approach and the Doe does kindle a litter then I would not remove the Kits from her. This thread may be useful to read
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?327923-Accidental-Litters-and-Taking-on-Babies
Whitelighter
Warren Scout
Rabbits are excellent mothers, and even young mothers with naturally look after their Young 99% of the time. As humans we have a deep routed need to interfere but it really isn't necessary. Yes some rabbits abandon their Young but in my plentiful experience (including a bun who had a litter of 7 at 20 weeks old) if you leave them be and provide them safe warm and comforting environment then they will do just fine.
16 weeks is right on the cusp of fertility so she may not be pregnant. If she is gestation is 28-31 days.
I wouldn't worry too much about over grooming or any of the other negatives mentioned above. Again, we tend to over complicate some things that are very natural even for a young bun. You'd be amazed.
If caution against an early emergency spay at this age. Pregnancy should be avoided but I don't see any value in putting your bun through a risky procedure at a less than ideal age just to avoid it.
You should definitely get your buck neutered, that's a simple procedure that many vets can now do with keyhole procedures with little risk to the bunny.
16 weeks is right on the cusp of fertility so she may not be pregnant. If she is gestation is 28-31 days.
I wouldn't worry too much about over grooming or any of the other negatives mentioned above. Again, we tend to over complicate some things that are very natural even for a young bun. You'd be amazed.
If caution against an early emergency spay at this age. Pregnancy should be avoided but I don't see any value in putting your bun through a risky procedure at a less than ideal age just to avoid it.
You should definitely get your buck neutered, that's a simple procedure that many vets can now do with keyhole procedures with little risk to the bunny.
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
Yes
MightyMax
Banned
Yes this would be normal behaviour for a pregnant rabbit, but also for a hormonal female who isn't pregnant.
If you are sure she is 4 months old then I doubt whether she is pregnant, but, if she is, has she somewhere private where she can make a nest? She will need hay for the nest and she will have the babies around 30 days after she was mated with.
If she is in an indoor cage then this can make them very aggrerssive as they have nowhere to run away from you, so they growl and pounce, to defend themselves. Also rabbits do not like to be approached from above. A boy/girl pair is the best so it's perhaps a good thing she is not a boy. When you have discovered if she is/is not pregnant you can have her neutered and bond her with the boy, who can be neutered now. She will need to be about 6 months old to be neutered.
If she is in an indoor cage then this can make them very aggrerssive as they have nowhere to run away from you, so they growl and pounce, to defend themselves. Also rabbits do not like to be approached from above. A boy/girl pair is the best so it's perhaps a good thing she is not a boy. When you have discovered if she is/is not pregnant you can have her neutered and bond her with the boy, who can be neutered now. She will need to be about 6 months old to be neutered.
Whitelighter
Warren Scout
Yep, that's definitely hormonal behavior. In a pregnant bunny it starts about 2 weeks ish into the pregnancy.
She'll spend her days rearranging straw in her house now if she is pregnant.
Just before she kindles she'll pull fur and make a nice cosy nest. Baby rabbits are usually born in the small hours and by the time you are up they will likely be clean and dry in the bottom of the nest. She may nake a nest even if not pregnant. In this instance you can leave it for a day or so before cleaning out, though thoroughly check first as fist litters may only be 2-4 kits and they will be small.
Keep us posted on progress.
she woke me at 4 this morning ripping up the cardboard box i gave her to use as a nest (vet told me to use this) i gave her extra hay and went back to bed woke up at 6 and shes had babies i think theres 4 but there maybe more she hasnt ripped alot of her fur out but has the babies kept under the hay they are moving alot and shes a indoor rabbit will they be warm enough?
Whitelighter
Warren Scout
If she is indoors then they will be warm enough.
They use collective heat very effectively
They use collective heat very effectively
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
She wont have moved them, Rabbits do not pick up their kits. They were probably latched on and feeding and she hopped away. Are they all still well covered with nesting material ?
First of all they make a nest out of hay about a week or 2 before the babies are due..and then they make a nest out of hair about a hour before having there babies..some of my rabbits made there nest and finished just as the babies were coming..but if she cant get up then I would suggest go to vet..unless there is nothing wrong she should be good
good luck with your little bunnies.
good luck with your little bunnies. Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
All sounds to be going well at the moment. How is Mum doing ? If she is used to eating veg then dark leafy greens can help encourage milk production. She may drink more whilst lactating too.
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
MightyMax
Banned
Yes they will be well warm enough indoors!
Whitelighter has some very sound info on how to deal with a doe who's been pregnant and just given birth :thumb:
