maybe babies?

Question
Hi! I have 1 yr old dwarf, who has been acting strange, and I think maybe pregnant. (I think is is strange because we have both rabbits (other is 1yr mini lop) well over a year, wouldn't this have happened before now?) There is a corner in the room that they play in that has a house made of wood, that the dwarf has been dragging phone book pages into since Saturday. Yesterday they where somewhat shredded and strewn about. She also dragged a plastic bag (that had a shirt in it) into their room and tried to get it in the corner but it wouldn't fit.  She has also been more aggressive than usual towards the mini lop. She only wants to lop around when "it" is grooming her. When they are let out, she doesn't jump out of the cage like usual and rests in the cage as opposed to laid out on the floor. I have not noticed any hair clumps where the phone book pages are, but a medium size clump of hair in the middle of the floor, I don't know if they are shedding or maybe they got into a fight, or really who it came from, they are almost the same colors. They seems to be eating a little less than normal, but still will run around me for a treat.  She will still kinda give ma a lick to greet (not like she used too), and she pulled at my hair for the first time on Saturday. I know that they nest, but not sure if this is considered nesting.  If she is preggers, will i be able to feel the babies in her belly? Will it get hard or stay soft? If she is nesting, how much time do I have before she gives birth? PLEASE HELP!

Answer
Dear Kelly,

If your bunnies are just now a year old, then they may simply have not been old enough to have babies together before now.  But once they *do* start, there will be no stopping them!  It's very, very difficult to tell if a bunny is pregnant just by palpating, but if she is very close to delivery or if the babies are large, you may be able to see them moving or feel them under your fingers.

If the lop (father) is large, then be aware she could have trouble delivering babies that are too big.  You should have a good rabbit vet "on call" and aware of the situation in case she starts to show trouble.

www.rabbit.org/vets

Please read this immediately, in case your female really is pregnant:

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

The male can impregnate her again within minutes of her giving birth, and this means her next litter would be born before the first one is even weaned.  I don't need to tell you this is bad for both babies and mama!  So if you suspect she's pregnant, separate the male physically, but still allow him to be close enough so they won't "unbond."  He can be neutered when you have her spayed.

If she does have babies, she can be spayed a few days later.  She'll still produce milk, since the hormone that elicits milk production (prolactin) is produced by the pituitary (brain), not her reproductive organs.  So she'll be sore for a day or so, but should still be able to feed her babies just fine.  (We've had experience with this, and mama started feeding her babies again after skipping two feedings, which we made up with the instructions here:

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

If she's merely having a false pregnancy, then you've dodged a bullet.  But she still needs to be spayed, and if the other bunny is female, then so does she.  Unspayed, unbred female rabbits have a very high risk of uterine cancer.  Please read:

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

and

www.rabbit.org/health/spay.html

You can find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope this helps!

Dana