Not sure if my rabbit is pregnant or not.

[Grant]

I got my two rabbits (male and female) when they were bunnys, and they've lived together ever since. I didn't get either spayed, and although didn't plan on having kits, figured it'd happen at one point or another. My female built a nest in the upper level of their cage a few days ago, but since they've always lived together, I don't really know if or when she got pregnant. I don't have a separate cage, but I locked my female in the upper level where she built her nest to keep them separate. Problem is it's quite small, and I don't want to keep her locked in there if she's not pregnant. The nest has some fur scattered, but its not much. I noticed that she wasn't getting the fur from herself, rather than from my male so thats another reason I decided to separate them. I haven't noticed anymore fur since I separated them. Guessing it's cause she doesn't wanna pull out her own. But she DID tear up a piece of rope that was dangling near the cage to use as a form of bedding. Anyways they're separated now, should I keep them separate or wait for more signs until i separate them? Also what materials can I give her to tear up for bedding?

 

[SableSteel]

Give her hay as bedding; she should pull her own fur to line the nest if she is pregnant so they don't need much soft. It's best to keep them separate for a while still; if you reintroduce them and then she has kits he'll breed with her again that day, and two litters right after each other puts a strain on the doe.

 

[Grant]

Give her hay as bedding; she should pull her own fur to line the nest if she is pregnant so they don't need much soft. It's best to keep them separate for a while still; if you reintroduce them and then she has kits he'll breed with her again that day, and two litters right after each other puts a strain on the doe.

Is there any reason she would've started building a nest even if she wasn't pregnant? She built the nest a few days ago now, and theres still very little fur scattered. I don't want to keep her locked away in a small section of the cage if she isn't even pregnant.

 

[shazza]

they generally only build nests if they are pregnant or having a false pregnancy, which, since she's been living with a male all this time, she is almost certainly pregnant. most rabbits will not pull fur until they are actively in labour, so don't worry about that. some does will only build their nest right before, some a few days before, it varies. she may also very likely give birth in the middle of the night, but i have a few that are consistently 'middle of the day' kindlers. if this is her first litter, you may want to keep an eye on her as sometimes first-time moms get confused and can give birth outside of the nest, or not know how to feed them. be prepared to lose the entire litter, or at least have to transport babies to the nest or put her in the box to feed them a few times until she understands.


i also want to add - if you 'not planning to have kits', you are going to need to get one of them fixed, or give them their own cages. rabbits can and will get pregnant immediately after birth (the bucks will sometimes be trying WHILE the doe is delivering...) so if you leave them together you will continue to have litters every month for the foreseeable future.

 

[KimitsuKouseki]

:yeahthat:

Also when caring for my friend's rabbits who often leaves her bucks with her does for weeks, I've seen a doe have a miscarriage cause the buck kept harassing her too much while she was still pregnant and it stressed her out too much. So if you dont get one fixed, get a second cage.