Hormones strike again!

Many of you have heard the story about my lovely gentle pet doe, Chocolate Bunny, who turned into a raving maniac when she got pregnant. Now, we have the tale of Ethel, the American Blue, who has gone from "get aWAY from me you nasty human" to a sweet lady who just sits on her rocking chair, knitting, and smiling a lot :lol:

I swear...if she were human she'd be knitting little booties and caps and asking for another cup of tea. I went in to give her a treat and she's just laying on her tummy, looking at me....then she got up and came over to my hand and RUBBED MY FINGERS! :x

:roll:

Sam, the buck, doesn't seem to have been changed by the experience, thank God. He's still the same happy, friendly soul that he was before

Awwwwww... that's pretty sweet, Ann!

Some of the does just love being mommies. Hope she stays as docile after the popples arrive.

Oh, how cool. I hope none of my does turn into psycho bunnies. lol. Nicer would be good.


I love the image of a rabbit knitting booties and sipping tea.

...with an apron and a mob cap, like in "Goodnight Moon".

well, might be a "i'm sick DO SOMETHING" thing See my thread down in Rabbit Care. dunno what to do for her. sigh..how quickly things change, eh?

Aww, Anntann, I'm sorry. I hope she ends up ok.

Usually I chalk up animal spontaneous abortions as nature's way of helping--something must have gone wrong, and since there isn't a crack team of bunny obstetricians on call (with little stethoscopes slung across their shoulders!) this is what happens... don't know if it is true, but a comforting thought for me.

I agree, eco2pia. Something wrong with the pregnancy, or maybe the doe has an underlying problem just now...so she aborted rather than go full term and THEN deliver dead kits or dying in the process.

ah well. At least mama-san is happily knitting little bunny booties. Not sure about Clone, tho.<br /><br />__________ Sun Oct 03, 2010 9:00 pm __________<br /><br />Okay. well. where is the EXTREMELY EMBARRASSED AND ASTONISHED smiley?

I just went up to do evening chores, and to completely change out Ethel's bedding, and what do I find? amongst all the fur that she pulled? (I'd been thinking that she did the whole "i'm kindling, so I must pull fur" when she aborted...)

EIGHT KITS! How the HELL did she get pregnant? eh? She's been in her own area, ALONE since she came home 6 weeks ago. I took her to Sam just a week ago. And yet...we have 5 living, large, fat, squiggly popples! (3 had died..dunno if they were stillborn or just died..there was a huge clot of blood on one, so I suspect they were born dead)

No WONDER she was sitting there in her room looking serene!

The only possibility is that Thor (blue beveren) got out somehow and Mike put him back in his cage and forgot to tell me about it. They're near each other, but on different levels, and certainly not close enough to breed. Unless he's hung like a horse.

The kits are all large, and blue, and since she's large and blue, that's no help. Now...if there had been even ONE white or black one.....then I could suspect the two Angora bucks who have the run of the next door room. They could have snuck out during chores or something.

good lord. I'm switching to horses. At least with mares you can TELL if one is pregnant.

How super! You'll survive the embarrassment, Ann... It's a happy ending, after all!

Congratulations! :mbounce:

She's an excellent mother. And very happy with her new nest tub. I had put the kits and fur in the center of it, surrounded by hay. She moved them back to the far end, directly in the center line and then added more fur.

turns out Thor, who's probably going be renamed Harry (after Harry Houdini) DID get out one night all night, so....there ya go.

And she is very content and happy. Slightly paranoid about anyone coming into the room with them..she watches carefully and if I go near the nesttub, she hops inside and hovers over the kits.

Not eating her pellets, tho, which worries me. BUT she's now drinking again, so that's good. she'll get a large amount of plantain, mulberry and dandelions today, so I hope to stimulate her appetite. Need to go up now to check that they have fat bellies. I'm drying some nettles for her, so tomorrow she'll have those.

goodness. what a week!

What a very nice surprize! I'm so happy for you. I am glad she is doing better.

Still hasn't eaten anything tho Pellets completely untouched, as is the hay. Some greens gone, at least.

ETA: whoopppeee!! I just added a mulberry branch and she ATTACKED it! :bananadance2:

Hmmmm. Are the kits fat? Is she drinking well? I know you said she had started to drink again. Is there any favorite treat you can offer?

thanks for the idea, Leanne. I tried the mulberry, and when I go back up again we'll try some barley. I think the kits are being fed, although they're not FAT round bellies. sigh. have to check again in the morning. Sure don't want to lose them NOW!

Try some kitchen oatmeal if you have any, Ann. Rabbits usually really like it and it will get something solid into her.

I really prefer the name Thor! But, congratulations!!!!