NEED HELP NOW IS MY BUNNY IN LABOR??!

[sovhansbunnies]

Hi! I have a 7 month old bunny (mini rex) who is showing signs of pregnancy. She's always been sweet, and I never noticed anything different until today. She has been housed with a male all her life (the male recently became sexually active, lol, and we got him neutered 2 weeks after he began harassing all our girls), and my guess is that she was bred on Jan. 10th 2014.

This morning, I took the buck (a lionhead) out for brushing and she immediatly shrank back into the corner of the cage. I put their hay in their, and she started to dig in it (really weird for her), and munch on it before throwing it around the cage. I then thought this was unusual and attempted to palpate- she absolutely would not let me (usually she does- I have practiced with her a few times before this, when she was not possibly preggers) and BIT me. I put her back in her cage and she began to furiously dig again, before flopping.

This is the freaky part- while flopping, I was trimming my bucks nails, and watching her at the same time. Her lower tummy began to jerk weirdly, and I attributed it to digesting, but when I watched vids of babies vs. digesting, it looks more like babies.

She seemed like she wanted to nest, so I brought in our nesting box, and at first, she didn't use it, but an hour ago she hopped in and dug around, creating a little c shaped hole in the back. She's very antsy, hopping here and there, munching on cucumber, and then flopping- where I continue to observe the movements (which, again could be food??).

She's digging furiously as we speak... or type, lol. I am wondering what to do? If my calculations are correct she'd be approx 25-30 days along? Does she sound pregnant or am I making it up out of fear (btw, she hasn't been spayed- I took my males in first, as that's kind of a big peice of the breeding puzzle- the girls were going to get spayed in two weeks... but if she's nursing will she have to wait?).

Please let me know thoughts???

I will update if any bundles of cuteness pop out and say hello.

 

[Smithyard Farm]

I don't have experience with pregnant bunnies.. but how exciting..!!

(well for me anyway, sounds like maybe you weren't planning on this!))

update when you can!

 

[Bunnylady]

Grumpy and digging sure sounds like a mommy-to-be to me!

Does can be grumpy, and does seem to be more prone to digging, so the behaviors themselves aren't a sure thing, but if these aren't normally part of your doe's behavior, and suddenly she is doing this, then yeah, it does sound like she's got some buns in the oven

The digging phase often begins several days before the babies come (though I had one doe that didn't do it until mere minutes before kindling). Does often start gathering hay and carrying it around a few days before kindling. A lot of does pull fur before the babies come, some wait until after. A lot of people notice that a doe will go off her feed the day before she kindles. These are all signs that a doe is getting close to kindling, but does are individuals, and you can't be sure what one particular doe's pattern is until you've seen her do it.

 

[Dutchgirl]

It sounds to me like you'll have bunnies in the next few days! I had one doe that made a nest and pulled fur several days before the kindling, while with all my other litters, I was worried that the doe wouldn't make a nest - but she almost always would surprise me with a perfect little nest. Congratulations! I hope everything goes well (and that, with all this excitement, she truly is pregnant. There is always the possibility of a false pregnancy, but it's not too likely.)

If you do have any other rabbits in the cage with the doe, you might want to think about putting them in another cage (if you have one). It's best that the doe is alone while she has bunnies.

I don't know anything about spaying rabbits, really, but I personally would wait until the bunnies - if there are, in fact, bunnies - have been nursing for 6-8 weeks, just to make sure that nothing weird happens.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Your bunny isn't in labor yet (you probably won't see when she is!) but sure sounds preggers to me! If they bred, it probably took and believe me, they breed and take quite easy. I'd give her, her own cage and all the hay she could ever want plus the nest box. She could be due any day, I've had rabbits kindle between 31 and 34 days so there's a bit of a "range".

If she does have kits, make sure she has a LOT of fresh food and water and make sure there's always a lot of hay until the kits are weaned. The kits will open their eyes around day 10, come out of the nest day 14, and can be weaned between 4-8 weeks. Typically they will be eating nothing but solids all on their own by 5 weeks along anyhow.

Good luck! There's lots of great guides out there about caring for pregnant rabbits and new kits... Some of what you read has to be taken with a grain of salt (like mamas devouring kits from the slightest disturbances, or not to feed veggies ever, etc) but most of it is pretty accurate and there are some things we can all agree on!

 

[nayeli]

Sounds preggers to me from what I have read, although I have no personal experience with it. I think your doing everything right other than, as others suggested, you want to remove the male so she has her own cage to give birth in.

 

[Smithyard Farm]

any update??? wanna see pics!