Pregnancy

Question
I bred my lil Holland lop bunnies on August 31st. It's October 1st today wich is 31 days from August 31st and Lila hasn't had her babies yet :( But when they say that the rabbit has the babies on the 31st day do they mean in the morning of the 31st or like the night of the 31st?

Lila hasn't started nesting. She does seem to be shedding a lot and very aggressive, she tries to bite me all the time. She's also eating alot. Her weight gain hasnt been very much only a few ounces. I don't know for sure cause my scale kinda sucks but she doesn't look very big and her dewlap is an average size.

Is this normal? This is Lila's first litter and she's currently 18 months. Do you think she's pregnant? Was she too old to breed? Do rabbits usually stay pregnant for more then 31 days?? I'm really worried cause I was looking forward to baby bunnies :(

Any suggestions would be great :)

Answer
Hi Kylie,

Even though most rabbits kindle (give birth) on the 31st day, the gestation period (time of pregnancy) can actually range from anywhere between 28-35 days so it's certainly not past the time that she could deliver.  Eighteen months is a little old for her to be having her first litter, we usually like to see the dwarf breeds have their first before they turn 12 months but she could still have "taken" and just be running a little late.  The size of the dewlap has nothing to do with whether she's bred or not, many of our does have no dewlap at all yet have raised several litters successfully.  Their weight also does not change much as the babies are so small that they don't make much of a difference on the scale.  Some does start nesting within a few days to a week before delivery, others not until they're in active labor.  Does will sometimes not get it right on the first try either and neglect to make a nest at all, in fact I usually count out a doe's first litter because she'll more than likely lose it than raise it successfully.  A second breeding within 3 days of losing her litter usually brings success the next time though!  The only way to tell for sure if she's bred is to either wait it out a few more days or try to palpate her explained here:  http://www.hlrsc.com/Articles/palpation.html  Although we usually palpate at 2 weeks after breeding, it can be done right up until birth.  Make sure she has lots of hay to work with in the meantime in case she decides to start building a nest, and we'll just have to wait and see!  Keep me posted:)