Qs - Is my Rabbit pregnant?

Question
Hi there!

OK - So I've got a couple of questions. About 4 months ago, me and my husband brought 2 rabbits from a pet shop, which they said were 2 girls (3 months old), as we was not interested in rabbit breeding, just wanted 2 rabbits to keep as pets. However, about a month ago, we caught one of the rabbits "in the act" (they are about 7 months now) and we took them to the vets, and they confirmed that one of them was actually a boy! we had also noticed that the girl was getting bigger! the vet felt her and said she wasn't pregnant but to keep an eye on her.

anyhow that was about 2/3 weeks ago, just after we had visited the vets, she seemed to have gone smaller :S and me and my husband one morning noticed blood (which was not hers) on her ear (she is dwarf lop) which we can't figure where it came from :S.

now.. we have noticed that the boy is making funny noises towards her.. and trying to jump on her and well u know.. however whenever he comes near her.. she makes grunting sort of noises and running away from him.. (is she in distress when around him?) now i dont know if she is pregnant but she is defo not interested in him, and she isn't seemed to making a nest or anything.. could she be pregnant? i dont know?

me and my husband have both decided we will get them spayed and neutered, as they are not the friendly pair we brought 4 months ago, as their hormones are defo affecting the way they are with each other. they dont seem to fight, infact they look after eachother, but last night we kept them apart.

should we keep them a part until they get spayed and neutered etc? (of course wait 2 weeks after the op) but what shud we do? they seem down when they are not together.. but one annoys the other and we just dont know what to do.

also.. and sorry for all of these questions.. spaying and neutering... is this dangerous for them? is it an actual operation? what does it involve? we are worried because the doe had to have an operation on her ear about 3 months ago and as result she went into shock and was stressed.. was hardly eating and drinking.. the vets had said she was going to die in a matter of hours.. however, we decided to stick with her treatment (antibiotics) and fed and drank her by hand.. and now she is fit as a fiddle! anyhow, we are worried.. we dont want this to repeat.

thanks in advance.

Answer
Hi Kiran

First of all the best thing to do is separate them immediately.  If she is pregnant and she has babies then she can become pregnant again instantly after having them.  If she isn't pregnant then keeping them together only risks her becoming pregnant.

Make sure you give her a nice warm cozy nest box filled with a lining of aspen chips or newspaper, then put tons of fresh hay in there.  Put is in her cage in the area where she doesn't go potty.  Then all you can do is wait.  You want to keep the box in with her for a full 34 days after the last day she was with the boy.

The surgery for spaying and neutering is very safe provided you have a vet that is qualified in exotic pet medicine and is familiar with rabbits.  Any surgery can be stressful to a rabbit but since she is in good health now I wouldn't be to worried.  The benefits far out way the risks.  Discuss it with your vet and if he thinks it is to dangerous due to her history then at the very least get the buck neutered.

It is an operation, they do put them under anesthesia and the doe will be cut open and her uterus removed.  The buck's surgery is a little less invasive but they still use general anesthesia and they have to cut a small slit so that they can get the inner parts of the testicles.  It will take the doe about a full month to completely heal.  The buck will act better in about a week but it takes up to 30 days to get all the hormones out of his system.  That is why it is best to get them done at the same time.

After their surgery they will probably need to be re-bonded.  When the time comes let me know and I can give you some useful links.

Good luck and I hope that the bunnies are ok.

Pam