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Pregnant?

rhiannon.hughes

Warren Scout
Hi everyone. I've only just joined this forum, I posted the story of how I found my bunny Noel on Christmas day, and she's settling in really well.

Today I went to feed her and she had a mouth ful of fur, warning bells went off and I looked in her nestbox. In it was a perfect nest with a thick fluffy lining of fur. Argh! Do you think it could possibly be a phantom pregnancy? What do I need to provide in case it's for real? I've mixed some higher protein rabbit food with her burgess supa rabbit food, given her extra hay and have covered the nestbox side of her hutch with a towel. I haven't put her in the run today but should I? Or should I keep her in for a bit to be safe? Also can she still have her daily hop around the house?

Sorry to bombard you with questions, i'm just really worried, poor Noel :cry:
 
As you have now had your rabbit for less than 30 days there is a possiblity that she could be expecting babies, on the other hand this could easily also be a phantom. You obviously will need to for now treat this as if this is a real pregnancy until you know otherwise. Normally babies arrive within hours of a nest being built, sometimes the babies will also arrive just before as well. I would advise leaving her alone for now and see what happens, obviously where ever she has these babies you are going to have to leave her living there for the next few weeks. If she does have babies do not touch them until they are up and moving about independently.

As for providing her with an additional items you will need to supply her with additional food which is normal to her, do not introduce anything new at the moment and a plentiful supply of hay and water and lots of privacy.

You should know within the next 48 hours if she is pregnant. If she hasn't had babies by Friday morning you should be able to remove the nest.

Janice
 
aww rhiannon!

fingers crossed its not the real thing. i think its fantastic what you have done.

how would you feel about becoming a grandbunmum?
 
:shock: Grandbunmum! I've only just got used to the idea of being a bunmum. :lol:

I've got to pop home at lunchtime to medicate one of my guineapigs, would it be ok to check on Noel, or should I just leave her alone for a bit?

I love Noel to bits and am really worried, also sad because although Noel has a home here with me for the rest of her days, how can I make sure the babies will have? :cry:
 
It is ok to check on Noel when you get home, obvioulsy don't go digging through the nest, you should be able to work out if there are any babies in it.

Don't worry too much about rehoming the babies yet until you know if you have any, which you will know pretty shortly. Once you know that you have babies, we can give you some ideas about trying to find homes for them and also what to look for when you are trying to find suitable homes.

Janice [/i]
 
Are phantom pregnancies common? I've never had a female bunny before. I'm going to get her spayed I think, i'll talk to my vet about it, my only concern is that I don't know how old she is and I don't want to cause her unnecessary suffering.
 
Oh Rhiannon - bit of a shock for you - my Polly had her litter within a few hours of building her beautiful nest - hopefully Noel is just pretending :wink: but if not - youll get all the support you need here - and if she does have a litter, how lovely that she found a home with you where she can feel secure and lovedxx
 
Some unneutered female rabbits appear to have problems with phantom pregnancies, neutering does reduce hormone related problems such as this and of agression. There is a good article http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/rwf/articles/ViciousBun.htm which does cover some of the problems of an unneutered female rabbit.

I have a large overweight female rabbit who is being neutered today, she was handed over to ARC partly due to the change of circumstances in her owner and partly due to the fact that they could not get near her. She frequently growls at me and has attacked my son, last night she ripped up her vet bed and left it all in a neat pile in her litter tray and added some of her own fur, I think you can say is that she is ready for her operation :lol:

Janice
 
:shock: Good grief! I'm glad Noel's not gone that far!

Thanks guys for the advise, i'll keep an aye out over the next couple of days. Hopefully i'm worrying about nothing, but i'll be pestering you all for advise if she does have baby buns (sorry :oops: ).
 
How very lucky for Noel that you found her! Ihope it's just a phantom - Patchy (now at the bridge) made a beautiful nest before she was spayed. It was so cute to see her hopping around with straw in her mouth!
Let us know how she is.
 
No bubs as yet, hopefully she's just pretending.

Do phantom pregnancies only occur when the bun is in contact with another one? This is what some sites seem to say, and my bun is my only one so she definately hasn't been near another one since Christmas day.
 
My Bandit made a new nest practically every fortnight. She turned out to have a hormonal problem (mucometra caused by a follicular cyst).
 
phantom pregnancies can happen for any reason, sometimes just because the does wants babies, i once had a pair of unspayed sisters that lived together and built a nest together :lol: it was very sweet to see but i think they were a little confused.

Just becuase shes built a nest doesn't mean she'll have babies shortly even if she is pregnant it could be a while, don't rule them out untill you've had her for at least 34 days and then you'll be safe ;) i had a doe who always built her nest around day 12 according to most breeders this would mean she was having a phantom, but babies always arrived on day 31 into a perfectly prepared nest.

but as far as food goes, don't give her any extra untill if/when she gives birth, keep her on normal rations with adlib hay and water, as over feeding could cause any babies to become over-sized and lead her to have problems birthing them

good luck we've got all fingers and paws crossed for you and hope she's just pretending ;)
 
Maa had a phantom briefly when I got her - don't know if the change of circumstances may have triggered more mounting behaviour while the girls settled in, and that might be what triggered the phantom - It lasted about 2 weeks I think, but she hasn't had one since.
 
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