Phantom pregnancy?

Hi, I'm new here :wave: Didn't realise such a place existed.

Anyhow, we think our rabbit is having a phantom pregnancy. She keeps pulling out tufts of fur and trying to make a nest in her hutch. Is this normal? She also keeps trying to mate with our female guinea pig :lol:

She is about 1.5years old, but I'm not sure of her breed.

Should we be doing anything?

Hello :wave:

Is she neutered? Most un-neutered females often have phantom pregancies as a result of hormones!

If she is neutered then I think that too is also normal, my jessica has started to pull out her fur and make a nest - i think partly because she was trying to keep warm in the cold weather! I think its 'mating season' soon (spring) so that may have an affect on the phantom pregnancy.

As for trying to mate with the guinea pig I don't know but someone should come along soon with some help.

xx

Thanks Suzy. Ours is called Jessica to, Jessica rabbit - geddit? :lol: She actually looks very much like the black and white bunny in your picture.

Jess hasn't been neutered no. Should we get her done? Is it cruel to not have her done? She only lives with the female guinea pig, no other animals so no chance of babies.

Yes - I would advice that you get her done, so will most the people on here . You will reduce her chances of having cancer by the time she is 5 by 85%. You will also see a change in her behaviour, neutered females often calm down after they have been done, and you will notice the phantom pregnancies will die down.

xx

Gosh I had no idea! I will talk to the vets about it.

one of my girls is making a nest at the mo - it's Spring fever and they do it every year around this time - I leave the nest a week or so as they get upset if you clear it away - they usually lose interest after about 3 or 4 days.

As for the guinea pig :? I have 17 piggies and they would be scared to death if a great big bunny kept pouncing on them - if they even survived such continuous attacks the stress would be reason enough to rescue them from such circumstances - Maybe you should consider rescuing your poor piggie?

I can't say much for the rabbits but as for the Guinea Pigs..rabbits and Guinea Pigs should NOT be kept together under any circumstances. Mating the poor pig could cause injuries which over on GP forums we see wayyy to often with bunnies and pigs that were "friends" and "lived happily". Another reason is their dietry requirements are completely different and you can't really risk each other eating each others food (rabbit food I know can be particularry bad for pigs), vegetables that can be fed to rabbits are very dodgey for pigs. Rabbits are more sociable , they will try and groom and interact with pigs whereas pigs (although need company) don't usually groom and this can upset the rabbits and pig.

One of the biggest reasons is rabbits carry a certain bacteria that although they can live with happily and it never cause them problems if they Guinea Pig catches it - its airbourne - they could get a URI which I know from experiance is usually fatal.

Please seperate them both, and see about getting them friends of their own species.

A few Links:
Pete Gurney - THE man on Guinea Pigs advice
http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/rabbits.htm

http://www.diddly-di.fsnet.co.uk/Guinea Pigs & Other Pets.htm

Yup, get her spayed as it'll stop or at least significantly decrease her hormonal behaviour.

Rabbits hump either when they're frisky, usually spring time as it's mating season, or to assert dominance. Either way, the piggy will not be impressed and probably terrorfied, please separate them as they really should never be housed together even if they're appear to be best of friends.

Phantom Pregnancy

Hi
I too have a bunny that is having a phantom pregnancy, she isnt agressive but has been making growl noises at me. So I too will make enquiries of getting my bunny nuetured.
Never considered this but will now.
Thank you