Nesting

Hi all,

Willow built another nest last night. I am worried that it is causing her distress and she has been very agitated the last few days, very destructive and not her normal self. I wondered if it was going to result in her nesting and sure enough it has.

If she is nesting does that mean phantom pregnancy and if so, is this distressing to them?

Also, how often is this likely to happen?

I am still in two minds whether to get her done or not as we lost our last rabbit during the operation...

Nesting is just a result of hormones and should subside after a few days. Just let her be and when she stops the behavior you can take the nest away.

Any surgery carries risk but if it's done by a knowledgeable rabbit vet the risk is less, though not gone. How old is she? The 'teenage' years are usually the worst for hormonal behavior and typically subsides as they get older.

She is 7 months old...

I just don't want her to be distressed by the whole thing.

She's still at the teenage stage. I wouldn't worry about it stressing her out. If you opt to get her fixed the behavior will go away. If you don't, she will do it occasionally but will eventually go away as she gets older.

From what I've read, female rabbits have about a 90%+ probability of getting uturine cancer at age 5 years. If you are not going to breed your girls, I've read that many rabbit owners recommend having them neutered as soon as they are mature. I didn't have Bunny neutered until she was at 5 years of age. The vet said that at the first second or two look at her uturis, he thought she was pregnant. No, the lumps were tumors. We got her just in time. She lived to be nearly 12 years old.