nesting females

Question
I know you probably get gazillions of emails pertaining to this subject, so sorry. I have two female rabbits, 2yrs and a year old. Yesterday the younger one went and build herself a complete next in their litter box. I know that female rabbits sometimes have phantom pregnancies but I'm slightly concerned as the older one never built a nest like this. She is also making these strnage whimpering noises. Is there any other reason, besides pregnancy (real or not) why my bunny would build a nest? My husband and I were away for a few months at the begining of the year and our girls stayed with friends, I'm just a bit concerned about their health. Thanks very much!

Answer
Hi,

it sounds like a false pregnancy to me.  Many times pregnant (false pregnant) females will cry when you try to pick them up or they think you're going to do something to them when they just want to sit still and not be touched.

My suggestion to you is to have your gals spayed.  If for no other reason than you will probably double their lifespan and prevent them from dying young from uterine cancer.  

The key to doing it right is doing them both at the same time by a good rabbit vet, so they can recover together.  At 1 and 2 years old they are both sexually mature.  The thing to ensure success is to have a good rabbit vet do it.  Not all vets are good rabbit vets.  Start here:

www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

and find a House Rabbit Society recommended vet near you.

Make sure they have an > 99% success rate with rabbit spays.  ALso make sure they will give post op antibiotics (like baytril) and post-op pain meds (ie metacam) so that your gals won't be in so much pain and will keep eating.

Lee