Young dutch rabbit possibly pregnant..

[CrazyChickGirl]

About 2 weeks ago we got a young dutch rabbit to be a companion for our lionhead rabbit. Both are females and they get along wonderfully. The new bunny seems to have more of a belly then I am used to, even more weight in her belly... and she's still so young so I don't think she is just fat. Is this typical of the breed? Or should I be concerned that she may be pregnant from the pet store?? :/ They did have the males and females separated, but I suppose there could have been a mistake...

 

[Silver Bantam]

How old is she? Have you tried feeling along her spine to tell her weight? If you run your hand along her back and she is healthy, then her spine will feel bumpy, but not sharp or pointy. If you can only just feel her spine or can't feel it at all, then she is over weight. If her spine feels sharp then she is under weight. Another thing to do, is palpate her. Set her on a table etc. in front of you, and if she is a bit skittish, I usually put my hand over their faces just to calm them down a bit. Put your hand under her stomach, and use your thumb to kind of feel around for popples, which in early stages of rabbits pregnancy feel like little grape sized balls. Hope that was of some help

 

[CrazyChickGirl]

I can feel her spine a bit, like you said a bit bumpy. She seems to be a healthy weight but THAT BELLY! It hangs low and heavy. I tried feeling her belly and cannot really tell... I have no experience with pregnant buns... I'm not sure about her age but would guess somewhere around 2-4 months.

In the off chance that she is pregnant, should I buy her a box and fill it with hay? Would I have to remove the other girl, or could I leave them together? I would hate to do introductions again later, especially if it turned out she wasn't pregnant... what to do? I really don't want to wake up to dead babies one morning....

 

[Silver Bantam]

I can feel her spine a bit, like you said a bit bumpy. She seems to be a healthy weight but THAT BELLY! It hangs low and heavy. I tried feeling her belly and cannot really tell... I have no experience with pregnant buns... I'm not sure about her age but would guess somewhere around 2-4 months.

In the off chance that she is pregnant, should I buy her a box and fill it with hay? Would I have to remove the other girl, or could I leave them together? I would hate to do introductions again later, especially if it turned out she wasn't pregnant... what to do? I really don't want to wake up to dead babies one morning....

I would definately put a nest box in there, just to be safe. Put the box in (make sure it's not in a corner she likes going toilet in as she will most likely use it as ungraded toilet, and have the babies some where else), and what I usually do is have some newspaper at the bottom, and put nice soft hay on top of that. At 2-4 months it is completely possible she is pregnant. The bucks can become fertile at a very young age, and I have heard of peoples weaned litters of around 12-14 weeks breeding each other. Our current litter of Netherland Dwarfs was around 3 weeks old when one of the doe kits tried breeding her sibbling! I hope everything goes well

 

[CrazyChickGirl]

Ok, thank you! And I can keep the two together for now? And if she gives birth can I keep them together?

 

[Silver Bantam]

Ok, thank you! And I can keep the two together for now? And if she gives birth can I keep them together?

I personally wouldn't keep them together, again to be on the safe side. Can you move your other doe out of the cage? Oh, and I forgot to add before, rabbits are pregnant for around 31 days, so if she is pregnant she is probably reasonably close