My female rabbit is nesting

Question
Hi,

My female rabbit is acting as though she's pregnant, as in she's pulling hair out and putting it in her bed, also she seems alot calmer than she should be. She has only been with a male rabbit which we neutered a few weeks after we got her, (5 months ago). What do you think causes her behaviour, is it just because of the cold? which is making her more calm and to make a nest. though my male rabbit is still livly and not making a nest.

Answer
Dear Holly,

If the male rabbit was with her shortly after he was neutered, he could still have live sperm in his internal tubing, and he could have gotten her pregnant.  Remaining sperm can survive inside the male rabbit for 2-6 weeks after a neuter (it varies, depending on the bunny's age, health, etc.), so it's wise to never put a male with an intact female until it's absolutely certain that he has no remaining viable sperm.

If they have not been together while he was potentially fertile, then she may be having a false pregnancy.  This cycle will likely continue over and over every couple of weeks until she is spayed.

It's very important to have the female spayed, as unspayed females have a very high risk of uterine cancer which increases with age.  Please read:

www.rabbit.org/health/spay.html

and find an experienced rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

who can do the pre-op evaluation and spay with minimal risk.

If she is pregnant, then I hope this will help:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/surpriselitter.html

Good luck!

Dana