Hi, my lop Smokey is 15 weeks old today and she's with me about 6 weeks now.
Her diet consists of:
- unlimited hay
- 2 handfuls of Burgess Excel Nuggets daily
- about one handful of green vegs every night and sometimes for lunch too. One portion usually includes: one generous handful of rocket leaves or green/red lettuce or 2-3 leaves of little gem lettuce or kale, 3-4 carrot tops or 1/3 of celery stick, sometimes 2/3 or 2-3 cauliflower leaves/stem or 1-2 small broccoli florets, leaves or a piece of stem
- 1-2 inches of carrot or a slice of apple about 2 times a week
- dry herbs home-grown: thyme 2-3 , nettle 2-3 leaves, lavender, sage, dried mustard greens, plantago 1-2 leaves or a handful of dried mint - 2-3 times a week as a treat
- dried washed shredded banana peels about 1/3 of a handful sometimes as a treat, maybe weekly or so
She drinks about 100-150 ml of bottled drinking water daily, from her water bottle, I usually change water every 2-3 days, large 600 ml bottle
Bathroom habits:
She only uses large litter box with wood pellets and hay in the right top corner for pee and poops everywhere, including when she's out of her cage she poops everywhere and go for pee to her cage
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What's unusual:
She's got a big belly but I don't believe she could be pregnant.
Pregnancy is 31 day, she's with me 44 days so she wasn't pregnant then. I was told she was a 9 week old boy when I got her.
Living here she has her individual cage and only had contact with another young male rabbit on 18th and 19th January for about 10-15 mins under supervision.
We thought then she was a boy because her family told us so. She was about 10 weeks old then and the male was 11 weeks old, they played first but then he started attempting mounting her but she was hiding from him and they were separated. Next day we tried again and he wouldn't stop trying so I had to check if she's a boy indeed still wasn't sure because of her young age but she has no testicles whatsoever.
It is 35-36 days since their contact so more than 31 again she shouldn't be pregnant.
She had two more contacts with males last week for a very short time like 5 mins I just had to open the cages same time and let them out, she was running around caged area non-stop, I am pretty sure nothing happened, it's only a 4-5 days anyway so that'd be too early for nesting.
Two nights ago (Saturday to Sunday - 1st night) she started nesting in her toilet area, pulling her fur and using hay as building material, looked very nervous. Spent night in her nest, stopped using that corner for pee/poop, still pooped everywhere in/out of cage but no pee for more than 12 hours, then I inspected the floor and found a few spots when she went but it didn't look like urine, very light in color and odor looked more like melon juice, and not stinky. Also she did in the middle of her floor not in corners and even on her wooden shelf, small amounts.
Poop was all usual yesterday except of a few large soft poops looking like cecotropes probably she forgot to eat them or had a problem reaching them because of her belly.
She didn't eat much of her nuggets yesterday, less than a half, got 1/3 of celery stick but had no interest in it until late night, she usually has a great appetite and especially for greens/vegs. Didn't drink a lot either, maybe 20 ml until late night, after she started eating she drunk as normal.
I gave her about a handful of rocket leaves later and she eat them with a passion, she asked for more I gave same amount again, then gave her one gem lettuce leaf, she eat it all quickly and then got appetite for her nuggets too, eat about 1/3 of her small bowl.
I saw her eating hay too, a bit from the nest and there's a plenty of hay in her cage in hanging box and wicker basket and more.
This morning she waited for me to come and feed her, she still had some nuggets in her bowl so I gave her a hug and gave her a little rocket leaves what's left in bag and two leaves of little gem lettuce, she had a good appetite and finished her nuggets after that. She drunk well also 100 ml since yesterday morning.
There was a little puddle of clear and not stinky 'melon juice' in the middle of her floor again, and a little spot on her wooden shelf, her toilet corner still dry.
I moved her nest to the cardboard box and out of her toilet area last night and she accepted it, pulled some more fur last night and added to the nest in the box.
I cleaned her floor and removed all poop as well so I can see what's new, I let her out while cleaning her cage, just for 5-10 mins, than she was back and produced a very soft a bit larger than usual poop, even softer than cecotropes I had to remove it quickly she made more soft poops, but she eat them all within an hour.
She's active and bright but she didn't like to be touched, especially when in her cage, over the past couple weeks, she was just running away and hiding in her cage, she was biting when I wanted to put more nuggets into her bowl, very painful to the blood.
She's changed since yesterday morning, after she built her nest night before.
She was waiting for me in the morning and she wanted me to pet her! and pick her and hold her, and massage her belly. I kept her door open all day and she wanted to be around me she wanted my attention she bit my feet to get attention and asked if I can hold her, then she bit my arms through clothes I don't know why it was very painful I have lots of scars now but it didn't look like aggression maybe she wanted some of my fur or something, she's very strong maybe she didn't realise it hurts.
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Question is: has anyone had any experience with false pregnancies and could share it? What to expect next and if there's anything I can do to help her in this situation? My main concerns are that her urine is very unusual and she stopped using her toilet corner, soft poops, big belly, she was grinding teeth last night and making strange noises like mooing or making pigs sounds, I think she was in pain.
I've googled false pregnancy it lasts 18 days with nesting starting on day 15 so it's probably day 17 today.
She lost a lot of her fur, still very pretty, but with close inspection I can see some bald patches here and there, is there a treatment for it or fur will grow back naturally?
Maybe some changes to her diet, vitamins or something to help her to recover after this stress?
What's going on with her belly, is that water/gases inside?
Apologise for long post and thank you for being around I feel like less panicking when I can share it with somebody. I am home today but tomorrow will be out until late so she'll be on her own whole day.
Her diet consists of:
- unlimited hay
- 2 handfuls of Burgess Excel Nuggets daily
- about one handful of green vegs every night and sometimes for lunch too. One portion usually includes: one generous handful of rocket leaves or green/red lettuce or 2-3 leaves of little gem lettuce or kale, 3-4 carrot tops or 1/3 of celery stick, sometimes 2/3 or 2-3 cauliflower leaves/stem or 1-2 small broccoli florets, leaves or a piece of stem
- 1-2 inches of carrot or a slice of apple about 2 times a week
- dry herbs home-grown: thyme 2-3 , nettle 2-3 leaves, lavender, sage, dried mustard greens, plantago 1-2 leaves or a handful of dried mint - 2-3 times a week as a treat
- dried washed shredded banana peels about 1/3 of a handful sometimes as a treat, maybe weekly or so
She drinks about 100-150 ml of bottled drinking water daily, from her water bottle, I usually change water every 2-3 days, large 600 ml bottle
Bathroom habits:
She only uses large litter box with wood pellets and hay in the right top corner for pee and poops everywhere, including when she's out of her cage she poops everywhere and go for pee to her cage
=======================================================================
What's unusual:
She's got a big belly but I don't believe she could be pregnant.
Pregnancy is 31 day, she's with me 44 days so she wasn't pregnant then. I was told she was a 9 week old boy when I got her.
Living here she has her individual cage and only had contact with another young male rabbit on 18th and 19th January for about 10-15 mins under supervision.
We thought then she was a boy because her family told us so. She was about 10 weeks old then and the male was 11 weeks old, they played first but then he started attempting mounting her but she was hiding from him and they were separated. Next day we tried again and he wouldn't stop trying so I had to check if she's a boy indeed still wasn't sure because of her young age but she has no testicles whatsoever.
It is 35-36 days since their contact so more than 31 again she shouldn't be pregnant.
She had two more contacts with males last week for a very short time like 5 mins I just had to open the cages same time and let them out, she was running around caged area non-stop, I am pretty sure nothing happened, it's only a 4-5 days anyway so that'd be too early for nesting.
Two nights ago (Saturday to Sunday - 1st night) she started nesting in her toilet area, pulling her fur and using hay as building material, looked very nervous. Spent night in her nest, stopped using that corner for pee/poop, still pooped everywhere in/out of cage but no pee for more than 12 hours, then I inspected the floor and found a few spots when she went but it didn't look like urine, very light in color and odor looked more like melon juice, and not stinky. Also she did in the middle of her floor not in corners and even on her wooden shelf, small amounts.
Poop was all usual yesterday except of a few large soft poops looking like cecotropes probably she forgot to eat them or had a problem reaching them because of her belly.
She didn't eat much of her nuggets yesterday, less than a half, got 1/3 of celery stick but had no interest in it until late night, she usually has a great appetite and especially for greens/vegs. Didn't drink a lot either, maybe 20 ml until late night, after she started eating she drunk as normal.
I gave her about a handful of rocket leaves later and she eat them with a passion, she asked for more I gave same amount again, then gave her one gem lettuce leaf, she eat it all quickly and then got appetite for her nuggets too, eat about 1/3 of her small bowl.
I saw her eating hay too, a bit from the nest and there's a plenty of hay in her cage in hanging box and wicker basket and more.
This morning she waited for me to come and feed her, she still had some nuggets in her bowl so I gave her a hug and gave her a little rocket leaves what's left in bag and two leaves of little gem lettuce, she had a good appetite and finished her nuggets after that. She drunk well also 100 ml since yesterday morning.
There was a little puddle of clear and not stinky 'melon juice' in the middle of her floor again, and a little spot on her wooden shelf, her toilet corner still dry.
I moved her nest to the cardboard box and out of her toilet area last night and she accepted it, pulled some more fur last night and added to the nest in the box.
I cleaned her floor and removed all poop as well so I can see what's new, I let her out while cleaning her cage, just for 5-10 mins, than she was back and produced a very soft a bit larger than usual poop, even softer than cecotropes I had to remove it quickly she made more soft poops, but she eat them all within an hour.
She's active and bright but she didn't like to be touched, especially when in her cage, over the past couple weeks, she was just running away and hiding in her cage, she was biting when I wanted to put more nuggets into her bowl, very painful to the blood.
She's changed since yesterday morning, after she built her nest night before.
She was waiting for me in the morning and she wanted me to pet her! and pick her and hold her, and massage her belly. I kept her door open all day and she wanted to be around me she wanted my attention she bit my feet to get attention and asked if I can hold her, then she bit my arms through clothes I don't know why it was very painful I have lots of scars now but it didn't look like aggression maybe she wanted some of my fur or something, she's very strong maybe she didn't realise it hurts.
===================================================================
Question is: has anyone had any experience with false pregnancies and could share it? What to expect next and if there's anything I can do to help her in this situation? My main concerns are that her urine is very unusual and she stopped using her toilet corner, soft poops, big belly, she was grinding teeth last night and making strange noises like mooing or making pigs sounds, I think she was in pain.
I've googled false pregnancy it lasts 18 days with nesting starting on day 15 so it's probably day 17 today.
She lost a lot of her fur, still very pretty, but with close inspection I can see some bald patches here and there, is there a treatment for it or fur will grow back naturally?
Maybe some changes to her diet, vitamins or something to help her to recover after this stress?
What's going on with her belly, is that water/gases inside?
Apologise for long post and thank you for being around I feel like less panicking when I can share it with somebody. I am home today but tomorrow will be out until late so she'll be on her own whole day.
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but she's only 3 months now and that would be highly unlikely) and after that hopefully she'll be back to normal, but as I imagine she'll need time to recover
