Advice please

Hi I am from the UK, I adopted 2 bunny's from the animal shelter 5 weeks ago. I had to wait a bit longer as Norah(my doe) was recovering from her spay operation. Anyway I eventually got her and a neutered male (Jimmy)for company. They are best of friends. However today Norah has started building a nest with her fur, obviously I am Confused by why this is happening.. if she is expecting babies I will be very dissapointed in the rescue as this should have been avoided as they have very strict rules and guidelines.. she doesn't look pregnant although I don't know what a pregnant rabbit looks like. Can it be a phantom so soon after her spay? Could the rescue have gave me 2 rabbits that were fertile when they say they were fixed?I am just learning how to care for the rabbits I don't have a clue about babies.. I'm very concerned. Any advice about what to do next or what to expect. Thank you in advance , I'm pretty worried.

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glitterdust said:

Hi I am from the UK, I adopted 2 bunny's from the animal shelter 5 weeks ago. I had to wait a bit longer as Norah(my doe) was recovering from her spay operation. Anyway I eventually got her and a neutered male (Jimmy)for company. They are best of friends. However today Norah has started building a nest with her fur, obviously I am Confused by why this is happening.. if she is expecting babies I will be very dissapointed in the rescue as this should have been avoided as they have very strict rules and guidelines.. she doesn't look pregnant although I don't know what a pregnant rabbit looks like. Can it be a phantom so soon after her spay? Could the rescue have gave me 2 rabbits that were fertile when they say they were fixed?I am just learning how to care for the rabbits I don't have a clue about babies.. I'm very concerned. Any advice about what to do next or what to expect. Thank you in advance , I'm pretty worried.

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Hi there and welcome to the Forum :wave:

If the rescue has spayed her as they said, then it must be a phantom pregnancy. Can you get back to the Rescue and get them to double check their records?

Some info on phantom pregnancies:

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/Pseu_preg/pseudo_en.htm
(some graphic images)

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?392017-How-long-does-a-phantom-pregnancy-last

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?381557-Rabbit-false-pregnancy

Thank you for the info. I will ring the rescue tomorrow. i really do hope it is a phantom pregnancy brought on by the dominance humping. The first 2 days they were introduced that was all he did to her thisl was 35 days ago. The last couple of days she has actually been doing it to his face. I just thought once spayed they couldn't have phantoms.. thank you for getting back to me

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Hi there, I have two spayed does and one of them from time to time still decides to make a 'nest'! Picking up bundles of hay and moving them about, so hopefully if the rescue did what they said and spayed your doe, it should just be that she is having a bit of a moment!

glitterdust said:

Thank you for the info. I will ring the rescue tomorrow. i really do hope it is a phantom pregnancy brought on by the dominance humping. The first 2 days they were introduced that was all he did to her thisl was 35 days ago. The last couple of days she has actually been doing it to his face. I just thought once spayed they couldn't have phantoms.. thank you for getting back to me

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You're welcome

It can happen occasionally in spayed females, but as hormones settle more and more, it should happen a lot less.

Hi, our girls are 6 years old and were spayed at 6 months old. They always build a nest out of the hay every year, Coco more so and in fact there's one in the run at the moment and it's very impressive! Though they've never pulled out their fur to add that in.

If your doe has been successfully spayed then it's definitely a phantom pregnancy and she could very well do this every year so don't worry about her doing that. I quite like to see mine with mouthfuls of hay, I think it's really cute actually plus it gives them something to do!

However, if you're unsure as to whether she is pregnant or not, pop her either back to the rescue and see their vet, or go to your own vet (the latter will definitely charge you a minimum of around £30 just for the examination however), to put your mind at rest.

Chances are it's just hormones settling but like I say, mine have done it every year, a couple to three times a year, since they were spayed. I think they just enjoy doing it!