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Selene UD: back in the trio/vaccs+spay soon

tlcwrites

Mama Doe
Selene, my beautiful black rex, has been behaving somewhat stranger than usual.

I took on her and her neutered brother almost two weeks ago to bond with Elphie. The bond took extraordinarily well. Even today it was fine. I knew from chatting to the previous owners that they had decided to sell all the rabbits after Selene had her first litter. However, pretty much as soon as Helios was neutered, they reintroduced him as 'he was desperate to be with her and their babies.' This has left me concerned that I am going to be left picking up the pieces of someone else's mistake.

When she started losing weight - having more space to exercise and so on - I thought I dodged a bullet. Not so sure now.

I went to clean out the trio this morning after having fed them morning grub and fibafirst. Opened the hutch door, gave Elphie and Helios a cursory stroke and they scurried down the ramp. Normally Selene would be first down, but instead she rushed into the sleeping area. I followed her in there. No nest, but she still shied away from me. She is shy as it is, but even so.

Picked her up. Slight discharge around her butt, her nipples were clear to be seen and quite red.
I have separated her from the others into the hutch/run that is connected to the preexisting one with a pipe. The pipe is blocked off at both ends so Elphie and Helios can't get to her and vice versa.

She hasn't left the hutch since I placed her in it. She still shies away from touch, hasn't made a nest or anything. I have given her a nest box to be sure but I don't know for certain either way if she is. Any advice? Any suggestions? Have I done the right thing separating her for now? I don't know when in the whole process Helios was snipped so I know it is possible she's due to kindle... ugh.
 
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I've never been in this situation, so sorry haven't got any advice. If it did happen to me though, I would do the same as you and separate them. If they bonded easily, I think it would be easy to put them back together again when you know about Selene.

I really, really hope she is not pregnant. That's just not fair on you.

Sending no pregnancy vibes to Selene and hugs to you. You must be so worried.
 
Hi! Black rexes sound gorgeous, never had one! I would err on the side of caution as you have done, otherwise she would have to have her babies with 2 other bunnies around, which could be stressful to say the least. Hope it all goes well for her and you. If she is pregnant you are looking at a good 3/4 months before she could be reunited with her brother etc.
 
Selene, my beautiful black rex, has been behaving somewhat stranger than usual.

I took on her and her neutered brother almost two weeks ago to bond with Elphie. The bond took extraordinarily well. Even today it was fine. I knew from chatting to the previous owners that they had decided to sell all the rabbits after Selene had her first litter. However, pretty much as soon as Helios was neutered, they reintroduced him as 'he was desperate to be with her and their babies.' This has left me concerned that I am going to be left picking up the pieces of someone else's mistake.

When she started losing weight - having more space to exercise and so on - I thought I dodged a bullet. Not so sure now.

I went to clean out the trio this morning after having fed them morning grub and fibafirst. Opened the hutch door, gave Elphie and Helios a cursory stroke and they scurried down the ramp. Normally Selene would be first down, but instead she rushed into the sleeping area. I followed her in there. No nest, but she still shied away from me. She is shy as it is, but even so.

Picked her up. Slight discharge around her butt, her nipples were clear to be seen and quite red.
I have separated her from the others into the hutch/run that is connected to the preexisting one with a pipe. The pipe is blocked off at both ends so Elphie and Helios can't get to her and vice versa.

She hasn't left the hutch since I placed her in it. She still shies away from touch, hasn't made a nest or anything. I have given her a nest box to be sure but I don't know for certain either way if she is. Any advice? Any suggestions? Have I done the right thing separating her for now? I don't know when in the whole process Helios was snipped so I know it is possible she's due to kindle... ugh.

Oh dear I'm so sorry you're in this predicament! I really hope she isn't pregnant but as you say, it seems she may be. I would do the same, separate them to give her some peace and quiet for the time being.

I love the name Selene :love:
 
Thanks for all the non-pregnant wishes. I don't think she is now, but I'm going to keep her separate for another 2 weeks or so to monitor. Maybe even until post-spay.

Here's a photo of the gorgeous troublemaker. She was friendly as anything this morning. :love:

P1060389_zpshsvbstfi.jpg
 
Quick update:

Still no signs of kittens so in all likelihood, probably not! Thank goodness. I didn't want to possibly double my number of rabbits overnight (I wouldn't have felt comfortable putting them into rescue/rehoming when old enough). Her nipples are much less red now, which is a good thing. A part of me is thinking it was either a little bit of a phantom (she never started fur pulling) or she just wanted some time and space away from the other 2.

I'm going to book her (and Helios) in for vaccinations next week and hopefully spay 2 weeks after. So, I'll keep this thread going to update through the process of vaccs/spay/rebonding as it makes sense to keep it all in one place.

One really good thing to have come out of all of this is that it has REALLY strengthened the bond between Selene and I. She's very skittish still, especially when other people aren't around, but she's started to willingly approach for attention, lets me stroke her now, and I can have cuddles with her. She settles in my arms so quietly, it's wonderful. :love: She really is a special little doe and so beautiful too. You can't see it in photos, but if you look closely at her fur, it's like she's specked with silver. She really lives up to her name in that respect. (Selene is the Greek titaness of the moon.) I love this girl.
 
Moment of panic over, hopefully :thumb: You should wait 3 weeks between vaccination and spay as it takes that long for it to become effective. Only another week to wait and you won't mess the vaccs up.
 
Moment of panic over, hopefully :thumb: You should wait 3 weeks between vaccination and spay as it takes that long for it to become effective. Only another week to wait and you won't mess the vaccs up.

Thanks, tonibun. You've given me a lot of good advice lately. :thumb: The vet said a week between vaccination/spay would be enough, but I'll take your advice as I want what's best for pretty girl Selene.

I've reintroduced her to Elphie and Helios, too. The three of them are very happy in their set up - as well they should be. It's a delight to watch them all together agan. :D
 
It's great that the three are now happily back together. Selene is also very beautiful, but then I think all Rexes are lovely (I have 3 :love:). I would also want to wait three weeks after the vaccinations before having her spayed.
 
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