is she really going to have babies? :S

[farmerchick]

this is what i discovered this morning when i checked on the rabbits, i'll give a little back ground...


Wanda (who is the rabbit seen in the pic) who is a netherlands dwarf, we got from the pet store, she is unspayed and about 8 months old now, she lives alone in her own cage becuase she is very territorial. we got "sophie" who we are pretty sure is a female, she is about 6 months old now but we got her about 4 months ago, she is unspayed but isn't very hormonal, just dominating, she is a angora/holland lop mix.

Then we got Hank who is a new zealand/californian cross a month ago he is male, but was neutered the day before we got him. we had put the 3 of them together a couple days after we got him to test bonding which long story short failed. he ended up bonding with Sophie but not with Wanda. Sophie has always humped Hank but we haven't seen Hank hump wanda. wasn't until a week later i read that your supposed to wait for the neutering to take effect. so now i'm worried that he may have impregnated her. this would have been september 28th we put them together like that....

for the last couple days Wanda has been nesting and collecting straw and making a nest which she has done before occationally but not to such a degree.... she has gotten a little porkier but up until now we figured it was just weight gain. i came down this morning to her having pulled all her fur out, and now i'm worried she is going to have babies. i understand they have phantom pregnancies and i'm pretty sure she's had them before but not like this. the timing suggests maybe she is actually pregnant....

i guess i should just wait and see, my fiance is suggesting taking her to the vets but i don't want to disturb her and her nest since she is obssessing about guarding it.

what should i do :S

 

[Maureen Las]

She could very well be pregnant. Gestation period is 28-32 days so this is falling in the time frame that she was with the other rabbits.

I will transfer this to the Rabbitry where there is more experience available re. babies and pregnant does.
Good Luck !

 

[Maureen Las]

Here are some links from the library to get you started. Don't disturb her fur nest



http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12047&forum_id=17

 

[farmerchick]

ok thank you!

i have some more questions if she is indeed pregnant:

- does it take umm.... very long for the male to do his thing to impregnant the female, i can't think back to a single time my boy was actually on her. he was neutered september 25th and they were with each other on the 27-28. we are sure sophie is a girl and thats the only rabbit that has humped Wanda

-if she is pregnant should i just leave her alone? is it ok to touch the babies? or be near her while shes doing this?

-is it safe for my little netherland dwarf to physically give birth to partial new zealand/californian babies? does size matter?

i never planned for this to happen i'm going to feel so bad if she has a litter and she dies or the litter doesn't make it i did not mean for this to happen... :sigh:

 

[mistyjr]

If she is pregnant.. You can touch the babies.. Breeder's check on their babies daily to make sure everything is okay with them... A lot of doe's have there babies on day 31. (At least mine do). Just give her time. Just keep an eye on her to see any babies.

 

[Icarus]

farmerchick wrote:

ok thank you!

i have some more questions if she is indeed pregnant:

- does it take umm.... very long for the male to do his thing to impregnant the female, i can't think back to a single time my boy was actually on her. he was neutered september 25th and they were with each other on the 27-28. we are sure sophie is a girl and thats the only rabbit that has humped Wanda

-if she is pregnant should i just leave her alone? is it ok to touch the babies? or be near her while shes doing this?

-is it safe for my little netherland dwarf to physically give birth to partial new zealand/californian babies? does size matter?

i never planned for this to happen i'm going to feel so bad if she has a litter and she dies or the litter doesn't make it i did not mean for this to happen... :sigh:

He'd only have to get on her once to make her pregnant. Rabbits are induced ovulators so the moment the buck got on and did his thing, she could have easily took.

I still handle my pregnant girls. I give them treats, pet them, etc. but try to avoid picking them up or turning them over, especially later in the pregnancy. Just doesn't seem like it would be very comfortable for them.
I handle the babies as soon as I'm aware that their there! I check every kit to make sure it's warm and fed (fed kits will have 'ping pong' bellies and will be almost hot). I also do a head count and record markings and health.
I also check and make sure that the nest is adequate and remove any bloody fur or placentas that the mother may have missed.
Some does will be very protective of their litter. Just distract them with something tasty, I don't handle mine for a few days afterwards. If I need them out, I lure them out with the promise of tasty treats.

She should be able to. I believe that the offspring will only grow to a size that the mothers capable of. INSIDE the doe at least.
I had a very small doe, a Netherland cross, only 2-3 pounds or so (she was really tiny) who was bred to a much larger meat buck. She had two kits, one was rather big and the other normal sized. Unfortunately they both got accidently dragged out of the nest (she was a first time mother) and didn't make it. But up until then they where both fat, healthy, and happy. Doe held good weight and seemed very vigilant.


Sometimes whoopses happen, even to experienced breeders I just bought a little colt who was a complete accident! His sire matured a little faster then normal and had a chance at my guys dam before they got him gelded. The resulting colt is one of the sweetest, level headed youngsters I've met. I can't wait to start working with him :biggrin:

On a side note-I have a little buck the SAME color as your doe!

 

[Skybunny11]

Looks to be pregnant to me, the gestation period matches the dates as well. I wouldnt pick her up unless absolutly necessary, but petting and playing with is okay. When the babies are born I usually check mine the first day, to make sure they are all fat and healthy, and alive. Then for the first week I just check on them to make sure there all developing normally. After a week I start holding them for longer periods of time. If Wanda ends up being a worrying mother I would not hold them a lot until they are about 2 and a half weeks old (when there eyes open). Some of my does will run around there cage the whole time the babies are gone they are so worried. About the size, it might matter. I don't have experience with this because my mini rex does are almost always bigger then my bucks, same with my Angora.

 

[farmerchick]

she hasn't had them yet from what i can see, but she is pulling more hair and has several bare spots now... can they pull TOO MUCH hair out? she pulls it and collects it in her mouth then runs to her nest and spits it into the nest and organises it. shes also tore cardboard and put it in...but still no babies?

when should i start getting worried? is it ok to keep pulling her hair until shes bald? and what if she doesn't have any kits?

also is it possible that she could have her kits over night then eat them before morning?

 

[TinysMom]

farmerchick wrote:

she hasn't had them yet from what i can see, but she is pulling more hair and has several bare spots now... can they pull TOO MUCH hair out? she pulls it and collects it in her mouth then runs to her nest and spits it into the nest and organises it. shes also tore cardboard and put it in...but still no babies?

when should i start getting worried? is it ok to keep pulling her hair until shes bald? and what if she doesn't have any kits?

also is it possible that she could have her kits over night then eat them before morning?

I've never known a rabbit to pull TOO MUCH fur and go bald. Bald in spots..maybe...but if they pull fur - its like they know just how much the babies will need.

I'm not sure why you thin she might eat the kits....most mothers will not do that unless something scares them like a predator. Some first time mamas may overgroom them and chew off part of a paw or ear or something - but not usually.

I find that generally when a doe will pull fur and make a nest - then she has the right mothering instincts to take care of her babies. (The exception being Buttercup who made an awesome nest - then when it came time to deliver - put her head in the nest and delivered the babies on the wire floor. Fortunately - her cage was right near my desk and I was watching her deliver...so I put the babies in the nest when she was done and she was like, "I knew that they'd end up there...).

I'll try to keep an eye on this thread to see when she delivers.

 

[farmerchick]

well she hasn't given birth yet. she finally stopped pulling hair, but shes pretty sore and red all over from her fur pulling. she pulled fur from her stomach and genital area, and her dewlap. she has big bald spots. she has definately been acting strange, she doesn't seem ill, i let her out of her cage like her usual behavior and she binkys and runs around happily and plays. she is hyper, and when i let her out she does this weird foot flick thing that rabbits do when their hopping away from you if you hold them against their will or annoy them, and she does this when she comes out of her cage??? but in her cage she now sits away from the nest but goes and visits the nest a couple times a day (but i can't see or feel any babies in there) and she also has a big appetite. shes also got nipples on her belly. i think she should have had them by now, so i'm thinking its maybe a false pregnancy but i've never seen her do it to this extreme :S

any thoughts?:?