general advise

Question
i have recently acquired 2 beautiful little girl bunnies from a local pet shop. lolly and lulu have a hutch to sleep in at night and my partner built them a run for the day time. they have a little wooden box in the run for when they choose to be alone, although they only seem to use it for the loo! and prefer to lay on top. they also have two big pipes that they love to run through. upon reading on the web about caring for them, i also put in some safe baby toys, they don't take much notice of these!
i give them fresh hay every day to munch, and occasional blades of grass, as this is the only way they let me pet them! i try not to pick them up too much as i know they don't like it.
little lolly,i suspect may be in the family way as when we first had them they were in a mixed sex pen! i thought i felt a little movement in her belly the other day. yesterday and today, when i put my hand by her cheek she nibbled my hand, not broke the skin, but enough to make me jump and move my hand! if she is pregnant, can i leave lulu in with her or not?
lulu was licking my partners arm the day we got her, which i understand to be a good thing? but they still run away when we try to smooth them, unless we give them a bit of grass. are we spoiling them already, lol
thanks in advance for your reply

Answer
Hi, Theresa.

Rabbits are territorial by nature and should be housed separately if they are not spayed and neutered. Even then, some adults rabbits do not do well housed together.

Palpation is the method of determining whether or not a doe is pregnant and should be done around 14 days after breeding. Before 14 days you have little chance of feeling the kits and afterwards you risk hurting them. The full gestation period is 28-32 days.

Palpation techniques can be described, but I would highly recommend having a veterinarian familiar with rabbits or a breeder in your area show you how to do it the first time.

Essentially what the veterinarian or breeder will show you is as follows:

You will want to gently palpate (touch) the lower abdomen using your thumb and forefinger. During this the rabbits should be sitting normally in front of you on a table. A carpeted table helps to prevent the rabbit from sliding and injuring her back. If she is pregnant, you should feel marble sized lumps.

Around 26 days a nestbox should be placed in the cage. You can find nestbox details here: http://islandgems.net/nestbox2.html

Unless you are breeding for meat ...with breeding, I also highly recommend that you only breed high quality pure bred stock that can easily be placed in show homes. There are a great deal of rabbits in shelters already that are in need of good pet homes. I am guessing though that you already know that and this was just a surprise. :)

Be sure as I mentioned to get the rabbits into separate housing. It is necessary anyway, but especially if the one might be pregnant. Good luck!