Double pregnancy in my doe? How to tell?

[Tbgb1912]

So I'm pretty new with bunny keeping (have had two for three or so months now) and my netherland dwarf doe is four months old and has had a litter of two kits a week ago today. However upon inspecting them today, mumma bunny has started digging another hole into her nest, as if she is expecting again? I've tried doing a quick google search about double pregnancies, but nothing has really given me many answers so here I am turning to you experts. I thought maybe due to her only having two kits the first time round then maybe it is likely she is expecting again, or is it normal for netherland dwarves to have small first litters?
Also, side note - my doe and buck have been kept seperate for two weeks since she first showed signs of being pregnant.
Edit: also, besides being slightly fatter than normal, I couldn't actually tell she was pregnant before she gave birth to the two kits. She didn't have a larger neck like I saw photos of other pregnant does online. I also couldn't feel any kits when 'palpating' as Google advised to do. Probably because I'm inexperienced!

 

[ottersatin]

Hello TBGB1912,
If you had been housing the Buck and Doe together in the same cage
it is quite possible that she was re-bred a week after the first breeding
and fertilized in the second horn creating another litter.
Often these things result in the lose of either one or both litters.
She may abandon the first litter for the other, but not always.
This is one of the reasons Breeders house their rabbits in separate cages.
You want to know when and whom was bred to who.
Have you read any good books on the subject? The proper care and feeding of Rabbits?
If not, I suggest that you visit your local Library and seek a few GOOD books:
Raising Rabbits the Modern way By Bob Bennett. The best book if you can get it would be:
Rabbit Production By McNitt Lukfahr Patton and Cheeke. In Rabbit circles It is known as
"The Rabbit Breeders Bible".
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[Susie570]

Did you separate them before the kits were born?
If not, she could have become pregnant again immediately after giving birth, which would make her due to deliver again in two weeks.

Double pregnancy has never been proven in rabbits, but even if it were possible, she would have aborted the second litter while giving birth to the first.

 

[Tbgb1912]

Did you separate them before the kits were born?
If not, she could have become pregnant again immediately after giving birth, which would make her due to deliver again in two weeks.

Double pregnancy has never been proven in rabbits, but even if it were possible, she would have aborted the second litter while giving birth to the first.

Yes, I seperated them as soon as she started showing signs that she was pregnant - she began carrying straw to make a nest so at that stage I put her into another cage and a week after that she gave birth. I haven't put the buck and doe back together again after she's kindled, due to knowing that she can easily get pregnant again. <br /><br /> -- Wed Mar 25, 2015 6:57 am -- <br /><br />

Hello TBGB1912,
If you had been housing the Buck and Doe together in the same cage
it is quite possible that she was re-bred a week after the first breeding
and fertilized in the second horn creating another litter.
Often these things result in the lose of either one or both litters.
She may abandon the first litter for the other, but not always.
This is one of the reasons Breeders house their rabbits in separate cages.
You want to know when and whom was bred to who.
Have you read any good books on the subject? The proper care and feeding of Rabbits?
If not, I suggest that you visit your local Library and seek a few GOOD books:
Raising Rabbits the Modern way By Bob Bennett. The best book if you can get it would be:
Rabbit Production By McNitt Lukfahr Patton and Cheeke. In Rabbit circles It is known as
"The Rabbit Breeders Bible".
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

Yes they were housed together, they were pets that were supposed to be the same gender! Clearly this isn't the case :lol:
Thank you for that! I'll try find them

 

[ladysown]

It's a fairly normal problem. Getting two bunnies of the same sex and having that not be so.

So please, don't feel bad about that. Generally rabbits don't like sharing their living space unless they are of opposite genders.

You had no reason to really suspect that she was pregnant.

so let me understand you.
your doe kindled and then one WEEK later she had another litter or was she just digging around?

Or did you mean one MONTH later?

If you meant a month later...then the buck bred her the same day she had kits.
If you meant one week then she was mostly likely just digging around. Does can be odd.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

so let me understand you.
your doe kindled and then one WEEK later she had another litter or was she just digging around?

Or did you mean one MONTH later?

If you meant a month later...then the buck bred her the same day she had kits.
If you meant one week then she was mostly likely just digging around. Does can be odd.

:yeahthat:

In most mammals the progesterone secreted during gestation inhibits oestrus and the pregnant female refuses to mate, but a pregnant doe may accept mating throughout the gestation period. Indeed, in the second half of pregnancy this is the most common behaviour (Figure 10).

A breeder cannot therefore use the sexual behaviour of does as an indication of pregnancy. Mating occurring during gestation has no dire consequences for the embryos. Unlike the phenomenon observed in the female hare, superfoetation (two simultaneous pregnancies at two different stages of development) never occurs in rabbits.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/t1690E/t1690e05.htm

 

[akane]

Double pregnancy does not appear to be possible. There is no science to support releasing eggs at different times and only 1 horn of the uterus contracting and releasing kits during birth. All first hand accounts have other possible explanations. There have even been pictures of kits from the same litter, conceived at the same time, and being at very different size and maturity. Such things could explain the start of the double pregnancy myth.

Dwarf rabbits have small litters. Usually very small. Having 1 or 2 viable kits a litter is entirely normal from many breeders. I have been culling my netherland dwarf so hard for temperament and good litters that I hardly have enough genetic diversity left. Many lines are bred too much for type and other important characteristics are ignored.

Finally, rabbits dig. A lot. All over. They can make an 8' tunnel in one day. They are probably even more likely to dig all over a nest box when they aren't preserving it for a nest and litter.

 

[Tbgb1912]

Double pregnancy does not appear to be possible. There is no science to support releasing eggs at different times and only 1 horn of the uterus contracting and releasing kits during birth. All first hand accounts have other possible explanations. There have even been pictures of kits from the same litter, conceived at the same time, and being at very different size and maturity. Such things could explain the start of the double pregnancy myth.

Dwarf rabbits have small litters. Usually very small. Having 1 or 2 viable kits a litter is entirely normal from many breeders. I have been culling my netherland dwarf so hard for temperament and good litters that I hardly have enough genetic diversity left. Many lines are bred too much for type and other important characteristics are ignored.

Finally, rabbits dig. A lot. All over. They can make an 8' tunnel in one day. They are probably even more likely to dig all over a nest box when they aren't preserving it for a nest and litter.

Okay phew, thanks for that insight!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Such things could explain the start of the double pregnancy myth.

Take a look at this thread for the possible reason behind it:

(Graphic pics)

post240928.html

 

[Galadriel]

I have never heard in all my limited years of rabbit breeding of a double pregnancy. Sorry I can't help any!

Totally off-topic question: What does your name stand for?

 

[Tbgb1912]

It's a fairly normal problem. Getting two bunnies of the same sex and having that not be so.

So please, don't feel bad about that. Generally rabbits don't like sharing their living space unless they are of opposite genders.

You had no reason to really suspect that she was pregnant.

so let me understand you.
your doe kindled and then one WEEK later she had another litter or was she just digging around?

Or did you mean one MONTH later?

If you meant a month later...then the buck bred her the same day she had kits.
If you meant one week then she was mostly likely just digging around. Does can be odd.

Yes she kindled, and then a week later was digging in the nest as though she was making another section to kindle. But I'm over worrying, as apparently it isn't possible. Thanks anyway though!