need some advice on pregnancy and birth....HELP PLEASE : 0 )

I posted this orginally in the technical part.....sorry : 0 (.

Hi everyone...
I am new to this website and need some advice badly about pregnancy and birth.
Around Halloween two of our bunnies...male and female..were put into the same cage while we were modeling(accidently!). None of us actually saw them mating but within the past few days the female has become ALOT bigger around her abdomen. I "think" she might be pregnant! I have no idea what to do!!!!
I read on the internet what some of the symptoms of pregnancy are and she has manyof them. She has started to pull out her hair, her nipples are becoming larger and she has started to eat more.
I read that she will need a nest box? I called a few local pet stores and nobody sells them. I plan on ordering one today via the internet but I am afraid it wont make it here on time. What can I use? What matterials do I put in the cage with her? Is it safe to handle the babies?
ANY advice is greatly appreciated and needed. As you can tell, I have never had a bunny before these and have no idea what to do!
Thanks again for your help!
Nicole (nana_of_bunnies)

Hello there and congratulations on your rabbits pregnancy
The best way to tell if your doe is expecting, is to hold a male rabbit near her cage/hutch. If she is pregnant she will let you know by grunting. Breeders do this about 1 week after mating the rabbits.
As for a nest box - I never used one. The female did a good job at building her own nest though she did use the closed in area of her hutch.
Good Luck :thumb:

hi,
i agree with emma u dont need a nest box none of mine have nest boxes just shelter, the doe should be pregnate for and 30-32 days. some doe show no sighs of pregnacey one of mine was m8ed up and made a nest but never had any babies just a phantom pregnacy but some u will find will get really agressive if pregnante. some does wont eat anymore then normal but do usually drink more.
i handel my babies from birth but a first time mom i would i would use a brush or something to clear away the fur just to check on them and if there alive, once she is used to th idea rub ur hands in her fur and then u can handle them for a bit
if there r any more quesions just ask
becky

It works!

The hutch we have for her doesnt allow her to have any bedding. So all the fur she has pulled out has just fallen into the collection bin on the bottom. I took the advice of another member and bought a closed in litter pan for her nest box. She took to it right away and started to build her nest. : 0 )
This bunny, Oreoelle, is the most passive bunny we have. My daughter took one of the male bunnies and put him outside of her hutch and she just went nuts! Ive never heard so much noise come out of her...GRUNT GRUNT GRUNT!!! lol
So I guess now we just wait and see what happens!!
Thanks again for all your wonderful advice!
Nicole

Sounds like she has a few "Buns" in the oven then

I have always found that, when handling babies a day after birth, that its best to maybe stroke the mother first, so her sent is still on the babies rather then our sent.... if that makes any sense at all :lol:

Gosh I miss being a breeder – but my time is over for all that….it was a lot of work, and it wasn’t cheap either. :?

don't just rely on the doe pulling fur, provide her with straw and hay as nesting material and protect the hutch from draughts. Babies born outside the nest or with insuffficient bedding will chill and die very quickly even indoors. Keep a very close eye on her and be ready to warm up any scattered babies and put in the nest if she doesn't have them there.

Check them once a day as any dead kits will quickly chill the others, if she seems bothered by you checking the nest remove her from the hutch 1st so she doesn't see you doing it. Increase her food as she will need alot more in order to produce milk. The babies can start coming out of the nest at a very young age less than 2wks sometimes so if you have the type of cage with a wire bottom, check the wire is small enough to prevent the babies legs becoming trapped, if not, I suggest you put a piece of cardboard or wood over the bottom and add shavings until the kits are older.

Good luck, but try not to raise your hopes as 1st time does sometimes don't know what to do and the kits die.

Thank you so much for all the advice. I dont feel so "lost" anymore. Its 430 am here now and the little bunny has been active all night making a bunch of noise! No babies yet but I think it will be happening really soon!
I do have some concerns that I dont really know if they even apply to rabbits.
I hate even typing this question for it really bothers me just the thought but.......do I have to worry about her eating her babies? I know that some animals will do that.
She has become very aggressive within the past 24 hrs. My daughter and myself are the ones who care for all the bunnies she so knows our scent very well. Is this normal? We have been checking in her cage to make sure she is ok and often she growls ( I THINK rabbits growl) and will charge at our hands. What do you suggest we should do?
I feel responsible to check on her and make sure she is doing ok but at the same point I dont want our good intentions to cause her or her babies harm by becoming so stressed.
Thanks again!
Nicole

if she is growling and rushing at you she is telling you your presence is unwelcome. Alot of does get like this when pregnant, I find they normally start to revert to there usual friendly selfs when the kits are around 3wks old. She obviously wants to be left alone at this time so it is best to respect her wishes or she may become distressed and that is when problems with the babies can occur, with her either kindling on the wire or eating her litter. There are 2 main reasons a doe may eat her litter, 1 inexperience causes her to clean them too thoroughly and you may find them missing an ear or a limb or 2, she feels she is protecting them from some percieved harm and will eat them to keep them safe :roll:

As she is showing her displeasure at your attention at the moment then it is a possibility she may eat them if she feels your attention is a threat to them. Try to disturb her as little as possible, just to feed and water, and once she has the kits it sounds like she is the sort of doe who will be better if removed from hutch and given a distracting treat before you attempt to examine the nest. Once the kits start coming out of the nest by themselves you will probaly find she will become more relaxed at your presence and start to trust you with her babies.

Yvonne

Thanks Yvonne for the advice. I know when I was preganant with my daughter I wanted to be left alone too! So I can 100% respect that!
You mentioned to remove her from the hutch before checking her young. When she returns, wouldnt she feel more stressed/ threatned that I took her away from her babies?

Pulling fur mean two things; She is either a) pregnant
or b) having a false pregnancy

As the symptoms you mention are occuring now, at around 28 days I would say that option a) is more likely.

If the fur pulling was starting at around day 14 (which was about 2 weeks ago!) it would've meant option b).

If she is an outdoor-kept rabbit, has she got a wooden compartment in her hutch to use for making her nest (you will not need a nest box in this case)?? As it is getting cold just ensure she has adequate hay in the compartment for building the nest (& eating!). Also keep the food topped up as she will need to eat more.

Obviously just ensure no more meet-ups between mummy & daddy or litter number two will arrive in another month! :wink: (they can get pregnant immediately after the birth) Rabbit are very quick when it comes to mating & it is often difficult to tell if succesful or not as it can be over in a split second!

I would say be prepared as you could have babies within the next 24 hours. Having said that nature is a wonderful thing & tends to take care of the birth with little or no human intervention. You may just get a surprise in the morning.