Pregnant or overweight doe?

[drowe005]

18 days ago, I had my doe and buck together, in which she was very receptive, and the buck had multiple goes at her, but never finished with falling off to the side. I put them back together the next day, in which she wasnt receptive at all, and wanted nothing to do with him. Since then, shes been hormonal in my opinion, lunging at you at growling when you go in the cage most of the time. I've noticed now, shes has what appears to be some "extra baggage" in front of her hind legs on the sides, and didnt know if she was truly pregnant, or if she could've had this before and I never noticed, but I dont think thats the case. I've attached some pictures for you to see what Im talking about, what do you think? Thanks

 

[MaggieJ]

She's very pretty! (Which I know is not relevant, but just had to say!)

She does not look excessively fat to me, but then many does do not show any sign of pregnancy. She may or may not be pregnant. If you know how to palpate for kits, you could give it a try. If you've never been shown how, best to skip it, since you don't want to chance damaging the kits. Just let her wait out her time. Give her a nest box on Day 28 and don't give up on her until Day 36. Not much else I can suggest at this point.

Since the buck did not fall off, I have to wonder if she lifted her hindquarters to allow him proper access. If she kept her butt planted to the floor of the cage, he may not have been able to impregnate her. But.... sometimes bucks manage it even when we think they did not.

 

[drowe005]

Thanks for the compliment. I might also add that I may have made the mistake of breeding her to a Californian. I never thought about it till afterwards, but wondered if that could cause a problem as she is what Im pretty sure is a mini rex, but could just be a standard rex but Im not sure. Im not good at guessing rabbit weights, but I would imagine she is about 4 lbs or so, 5 at most. Shes about half or a little over half the size of my californian does. Would breeding a smaller doe to a larger breed buck possibly make a pregnancy show more? I also realized tonight when feeding them all that she was taking mouthfuls of her hay to a corner of the cage and digging at it very hard, which Ive never seen her try to dig before. She has always been a pro at making straw homes though, shes the only rabbit who doesnt have a wooden house in the winter, I just fill half the cage up to the top with straw, and she makes one elaborate home with a tunnel circling the entire piece. So the hay carrying wasn't as unexpected as was the digging.<br /><br />__________ 19 Apr 2012 21:30 __________<br /><br />New update: I added a bunch of wheat straw in the cage to see what she would do, and rather than making a tunnel to a "home" like she usually would, she actually has made a nest and pulled lots of hair to line it with. The way she made the nest she acts like shes done it before, but this will be her first time assumming she is pregnant

 

[skysthelimit]

Thanks for the compliment. I might also add that I may have made the mistake of breeding her to a Californian. I never thought about it till afterwards, but wondered if that could cause a problem as she is what Im pretty sure is a mini rex, but could just be a standard rex but Im not sure. Im not good at guessing rabbit weights, but I would imagine she is about 4 lbs or so, 5 at most. Shes about half or a little over half the size of my californian does. Would breeding a smaller doe to a larger breed buck possibly make a pregnancy show more? I also realized tonight when feeding them all that she was taking mouthfuls of her hay to a corner of the cage and digging at it very hard, which Ive never seen her try to dig before. She has always been a pro at making straw homes though, shes the only rabbit who doesnt have a wooden house in the winter, I just fill half the cage up to the top with straw, and she makes one elaborate home with a tunnel circling the entire piece. So the hay carrying wasn't as unexpected as was the digging.

__________ 19 Apr 2012 21:30 __________

New update: I added a bunch of wheat straw in the cage to see what she would do, and rather than making a tunnel to a "home" like she usually would, she actually has made a nest and pulled lots of hair to line it with. The way she made the nest she acts like shes done it before, but this will be her first time assumming she is pregnant

how does the fur feel? like velvet? that does not look like rex fur to me in that pict, but if it was, if would have to be a mini, because standards at breeding age should weight 7 or more pounds, with an adult weight between 8-11 lbs. If she is pulling fur, she is either pregnant or she thinks she is.

 

[drowe005]

the fur is extremely soft and velvety, its definately a mini rex then.

 

[RabbitPhotoGirl]

This isn't on topic of her bring pregnant but she looks exactly like the rabbit I just lost and he was a cinnamon breed, he had real soft fur too not rex soft but still real soft. But the breed is a medium-large breed so I'm not sure unless it's a crossbreed to be small, since mine weighed about 10 lbs.

 

[Pink]

[quote/]how does the fur feel? like velvet? that does not look like rex fur to me in that pict, but if it was, if would have to be a mini, because standards at breeding age should weight 7 or more pounds, with an adult weight between 8-11 lbs. If she is pulling fur, she is either pregnant or she thinks she is.[/quote]

I second this. I was quite surprised when I read she was a Rex.

None the less, she looks like a total sweetheart. I hope she brings you many healthy kittens!

 

[drowe005]

I bought the rabbit a little over a year ago marketed as a mini rex, the only reason I was saying I was unsure if it was mini or a standard was some reason I was maybe thinking that a mini rex would be truly "mini" (what I would think of as being 1-2 pounds). I bought it on craigslist for $10 with the intention of training my beagle to chase rabbits, in which I later got attached to the rabbit and the dog, so both ended up just becoming pets, and about 6 months later, got a few californians and got into breeding. Im not really familiar with Rexs, other than that is what I think I have, but as goes with most people who sell their rabbits on places like CL, im sure it was probably a "mutt" and thats where the color difference is coming from. But I can say there is a night and day difference between the fur quality of this rabbit and my californians, with this rabbits fur being much much smoother and softer.<br /><br />__________ 20 Apr 2012 00:20 __________<br /><br />Just curious, when I go to put the nest box in the cage, would you recommend me putting some of the hay and fur she has already pulled in the nest box, or just let her pull new fur when the time comes?

 

[curlysue]

Mini rex does weigh up too 41/2 lbs.The only rabbits weighing 2 lbs or less are Netherland dwarfs.

 

[skysthelimit]

I bought the rabbit a little over a year ago marketed as a mini rex, the only reason I was saying I was unsure if it was mini or a standard was some reason I was maybe thinking that a mini rex would be truly "mini" (what I would think of as being 1-2 pounds). I bought it on craigslist for $10 with the intention of training my beagle to chase rabbits, in which I later got attached to the rabbit and the dog, so both ended up just becoming pets, and about 6 months later, got a few californians and got into breeding. Im not really familiar with Rexs, other than that is what I think I have, but as goes with most people who sell their rabbits on places like CL, im sure it was probably a "mutt" and thats where the color difference is coming from. But I can say there is a night and day difference between the fur quality of this rabbit and my californians, with this rabbits fur being much much smoother and softer.

__________ 20 Apr 2012 00:20 __________

Just curious, when I go to put the nest box in the cage, would you recommend me putting some of the hay and fur she has already pulled in the nest box, or just let her pull new fur when the time comes?

Mini is not always dwarf. Hollands are up to 4lbs but mini lops are bigger than hollands. There are pure bred rabbits on CL, I'm not sure why people say things like that, and pure bred rabbits at pet stores, where I bought my first ND. At least there are where I live, and where I lived when I bought my first rabbits. Rex fur is very short, thick, with short guard hairs. It's a bit hard to explain, but since I raise Rexes and mini rexes, I know it when I see it,
rexes-i-m-in-love-t7080.html
Look at those picts. It's like fuzz on a peach, and it stands up on the skin, not smooth, but it has that resistance like velvet.

She is a gorgeous color, and she does look like a cinnamon.

As far as nest boxes go, I line mine with shaving and I do put some hay in it initially. I only put fur in it is the doe is due in a day and hasn't put any fur in it yet.

 

[drowe005]

I googled the Cinnamon Rabbit, and it does look almost identical, But I was thinking that my rabbits ears are not as long, and my rabbits fur looks shorter. I wonder if its possible that she may be a mini rex breed with Cinnamon in one of the parents? I see too that cinnamons are between 8.5 lbs and 11 lbs, this one is nowhere close to that.

 

[skysthelimit]

I googled the Cinnamon Rabbit, and it does look almost identical, But I was thinking that my rabbits ears are not as long, and my rabbits fur looks shorter. I wonder if its possible that she may be a mini rex breed with Cinnamon in one of the parents? I see too that cinnamons are between 8.5 lbs and 11 lbs, this one is nowhere close to that.

Possible, in which case she would not have rex fur.

Now who is this fella you bred her to? I love her color, and I am interested in what she's going to produce colorwise.

 

[drowe005]

I dont know then, I bred her to a Californian in hopes of having a larger meat style breed with the fur of my rex or whatever she is cause I really like the fur of her, but was hoping for a larger version. Just a little experimentation on my part to see what would happen. Would you think I would get mostly white rabbits with that being a dominant color or would you think I would have just as good of luck with having any other color?

 

[skysthelimit]

I dont know then, I bred her to a Californian in hopes of having a larger meat style breed with the fur of my rex or whatever she is cause I really like the fur of her, but was hoping for a larger version. Just a little experimentation on my part to see what would happen. Would you think I would get mostly white rabbits with that being a dominant color or would you think I would have just as good of luck with having any other color?

White is double recessive, both have to have the cc gene, or you won't get any. For instance, my castor rex carries Cc, and when she was bred to a REW buck, and an Otter buck that carried Cc, she produced whites. She was bred to my broken black buck, who does not carry c, so no whites. There is no way to know without knowing the background of the other rabbit.

 

[Cattle Cait]

Google "rex rabbit" or "mini rex rabbit". You'll be able to see the difference in what the fur looks like, I don't think she's a rexed rabbit, but she definitely looks like a Cinnamon!

I personally don't think she's pregnant, but then again they don't always show.

 

[skysthelimit]

My does never look pregnant.

 

[AnnClaire]

Neither do mine, then a couple of days before they are due, they seem to weigh more and suddenly their belly feels "full" when picked up :lol:

 

[drowe005]

The time from when I posted this topic, the doe was not pregnant. I rebred her after that successfully and man did she get huge the week before she kindled. My californian doe who also kindled, did not look pregnant. The Brownish colored rabbit that I had the picture of which I thought to be a mini rex, bred to a purebreed Californian buck, gave birth to 7 all black rabbits who seem to all be doing fine. I was hoping for more of a variety in colors with her, but I guess you get what you get. The Californian also had 7 much larger rabbits, which I was happy with with her only being about 4-5 months old.

 

[skysthelimit]

The time from when I posted this topic, the doe was not pregnant. I rebred her after that successfully and man did she get huge the week before she kindled. My californian doe who also kindled, did not look pregnant. The Brownish colored rabbit that I had the picture of which I thought to be a mini rex, bred to a purebreed Californian buck, gave birth to 7 all black rabbits who seem to all be doing fine. I was hoping for more of a variety in colors with her, but I guess you get what you get. The Californian also had 7 much larger rabbits, which I was happy with with her only being about 4-5 months old.

Pictures are in order supposedly, that color is based on a black self gene acted on by a (shaded) gene, so I'm not surprised about black.

 

[drowe005]

Hers a couple of the pure breed californians, and sorry for not having that good of ones for the black ones. Both are about 11 days old. The black one in my hand I found on the ground outside of the cage and I believe it to be the one black one that later died.