Could she be pregnant?!

[Alexah]

Well, my mom was upstairs with me checking on all the buns and saying goodnight when I noticed that Silvie was carrying a mouthful of hay around. And I was like, "oh heck no!" My mom looked at me and I said I didn't think it was possible she could be pregnant, but I'm having second thoughts here and I'm freaking out.

Silvie is a 10 month old (as of tomorrow) american chinchilla doe. Unspayed. I had her and her partner, Lennox (now at the bridge) in a pen together. Their pen was next to (and right up against) William's pen. William is my as of yet unneutered mini rex buck. Anywho, I had a piece of wood up against the cages so no hanky panky could take place, but I'm starting to wonder if the wood fell or if they somehow got to one another. I'd be totally surprised if it were to happen, but stranger things have occurred.

I did feed new hay today and wonder if that has something to do with it, but she's really fixated on it and has done it a couple of times now. And she's also been pawing or digging at floor of her pen. I did find a large-ish cardboard box and put it in her pen...just in case...and filled it with hay that she promptly pulled out and started rearranging. Her hay was originally in her hay rack, but it was all down and tossed around in her pen tonight when I went upstairs. She's eating and drinking normally as best I can tell. Poop looks good. No fur pulling as of yet. So, should I be worried?

I haven't noticed a weight gain or loss really and I'm guilty of not weighing very regularly. I handled her after I noticed what was going on and she didn't seem to mind more than usual. She also didn't feel pregnant - but, then again, I don't know what pregnant in a doe would feel like. I guess no lumpiness and she doesn't seem to look heavier to me. I did notice a small, hard knob-like thing on her underside where her navel would be. I didn't flip her over because she wasn't having any of that, but could that be anything? It was quite small.

I just wonder because I was out of town a bit last month right around this time and I just can't be positive of anything since I wasn't here and had someone else caring for the buns.

So, could she be pregnant? What should I do? I'm freaking. Please, please help.

 

[fld20]

I've known several people that have had surprise litters when a buck got a doe thru the wire . But most likelly she'shaving a false pregnancy. But I'd definatelly leave the box in for a while just in case.

Fallon Duncan

 

[Alexah]

So there is no nest this morning. I'm completely confused and maybe a tad disappointed as I was sure something was up last night.

She was digging and carrying hay all night. Okay, well, at least until I finally fell asleep and couldn't watch her anymore. She has eaten, drank water, and filled up on loads of hay. Pooping like normal also. The box I put in her pen is completely empty as she's eaten all of the hay I put in there last night. I refilled the box this morning and decided to let her be - if she's going to do "something" I don't want her to be nervous because I'm staring at her.

Do you think she's just playing around at this point? Ah Silvie, why are you driving your mama crazy ?

 

[trailsend]

One of my spayed does is next door to an unspayed buck who just showed up, and also across from some of our babies... she has building a nest for days, pulling hair out, packing in hay, working like crazy... obviously she cannot have babies, and there is no way the buck can reach her through their cages. It's very unlikely she is pregnant if you have something blocking them, if there is anyway possible for him to reach her, he will. But if you have them so they cannot reach enough to mate, then she is likely just going through a false pregnancy. Which means, she is just doing all the work, but won't be dropping any babies. Just keep a close eye on her and of course make sure the male can't reach her, which it sounds like you've done already if you have something seperating and blocking them.

 

[gentle giants]

I would bet it's a false pregnacy. A buck getting doe pregnant through the wire does happen, but pretty rarely. An unspayed doe that is housed next to a buck can be triggered into having a false pregancy just by smelling him. Also, at 10 months old, the hormones will be kicking in, and the combination of that and the scent of a buck makes the odds of her having a false pregnancy pretty high.