Pregnancy...

Well so I adopted a breeding Pair of V lops April 9th, (yes I am going to post a thread with all my bunnies pictures soon)

Anyway I got them the 9th of April, they were together during the ride home and for about a day after that. And my doe is showing a big a big belly and has milk in her teats.

If I palpate the belly I don't feel babies, do you think she is pregnant or just a false pregnancy?

Should I go ahead and put her with the male like I was getting ready to do or keep em separate for a few more days?

If you haven't palpated before, then it can be very hard to tell if she is pregnant or not. So just because you don't feel anything, doesn't mean there might be something there

However, chances are, that if you had the pair together for any period of time longer then a few minutes, then she's most likely pregnant.

Just to be on the safe side, I'd put a nest box in her cage. Even if she starts to build a nest, she could still be going through a false pregnancy, but it's better to be safe then sorry if she does end up kindling.

By the 32nd day after the date of conception, if she hasn't kindled, then you can try to rebreed her again. I would personally refrain from trying to breed her at this time as you simply don't know if she could be pregnant or not, and in some rare cases, rabbits have been known to carry two litters at one time, so by breeding her right now, you could be causing more trouble for both yourself and your doe.

There is a lot that has to go into the care of breeding, including a ton of research, and I suggest that you try to learn as much as you can before breeding her again.

Hope this helps! Our website below has a ton of info for first time breeders, so feel free to check it out.

http://inlerabbitry.webs.com/breeding.htm

well I helped my aunt with her bunny breedings YEARS ago so all the knowledge is there it's just hard to recall.

I also though breed rats (I'm better with that lol I've been breeding them knowledgeably for 13 years almost).

I am used to palpating the rats which are like 50x smaller lol

I was just curious about weather or not we should try again.

I'll put her in a smaller cage by herself, since her current one is with 5 other girls and is like 10ft long by 4 feet. and 4 ft high...

Oh and when I had the litter at the beginning of the year thanks to my friend... (which she has NOT been permitted around anymore) I was able to palpate and feel bubs when she was about 10days along.

Thank you for your help

Rabbits kindle (give birth) to there kits (babies) 31 days after you bred them, they make a nest at 28+ days, false pregnancy's only go for 16 days.

Ok well here are some belly shots of her. I feel one thing up near her stomach sooooo if there is nothing in a couple of days off to the vets we go!

(The white parts on her is her skin where she has been pulling fur to make two separate nest areas out in her pen... but she and the other 5 girls all sleep in the "Nests")




You can see her nipples and her rounded up belly.

She looks pregnant to me.

that's what my Vlop doe did when she was bred. she hid those babies from being felt on me, and I know i've gotten fairly well at at least feeling babies on my dutch.

MATTIE! I used to be on the GooseMoose forum, I remember you haha. It's cool to hear your getting into lops!

Your doe looks pretty pregnant to me! Hopefully you'll get some cute ones soon. At least she bred with the buck you wanted too right?

Ha ha ha



Took her to the vets right... No babies...

Went out this morning to feed the buns and there were only 3 out of 6 girls in the pen...
*I swear it was bun proofed*
Sooo I get out the food food and fill up their dish and they all come running out.
So I moved the house in there and looked and there was a hole!
I look and it was deeeeeeeeeep!!

So I start digging. (all the while the buns are like O_O that is OUR hole!

I have been digging until 10am and at 3:30 we found the end of the burrow, 5 feet long!!
There was a nest with 6 babies in there, one poor baby had passes away about a day ago. they all had filthy eyes, so I cleaned them and they are about 2 weeks old!
So I got all the Dirt out of their noses and eyes. and brought them and their nest in.

Now Mom is like get those away from, me! She was nipping them and flipped their nest box over.

They are the size of newborns but all fuzzy and cute.

So I'm gonna see if the bubs will eat some pellets and I'll get a formula whipped up for them.
They are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Cute! Pictures to come in a new thread soon.


Also adding in, that she had torn up the wire, and kicked out the all the rocks nearly her size...

timbaland wrote:

MATTIE! I used to be on the GooseMoose forum, I remember you haha. It's cool to hear your getting into lops!

Your doe looks pretty pregnant to me! Hopefully you'll get some cute ones soon. At least she bred with the buck you wanted too right?

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Hiiiiii

I would hold off giving them any formula for now. If they are about two weeks old and alive, then mom has been feeding them this far. She may not want anything to do with them now because it is not time to feed them. I would give her until tomorrow morning to see if she feeds them over night.

It is probably upsetting for her to have the change in scenery and the babies in the box instead of in her nice burrow.

The babies should be starting to nibble on solid food now. Hay and pellets should be close enough for them to get to own their own.

-Dawn

Well they are the size the my dwarfs were when they were born.
And they are beyond skinny. you can make out their spine, and other bones.


When in the cage with them she digs at the box, and tries to flip them over.

they all have their eyes open but they are so underfed.

Can you put her over the babies and keep her distracted so they can nurse? Give her a yummy treat and try to keep her still for about 5 minutes.

If they are super skinny then I would start out by supplementing with fluids first like plain, unflavoured pedialyte. A dehydrated baby will not be able to nurse or digest milk products. Then give them a try with nursing from mom after a little bit to allow them to digest the fluids.

If she absolutely will not nurse them, then I guess they will have to be formula fed, but hand feeding has a very low success rate.

-Dawn

Well I have been trying to get her to nurse, but she growls and grunts and wants to eat me.

Normally she is a sweet girl. but she is PO'd!
(not that I can blame her)

Sooo I will give them something to fill their bellies while we wait for mum to calm down. They are kinda nibbling on the pellets in their box now, but they are only taking a few tentative bites.

Two of us to hold her and one to hold the kits up there...
We let each one try for about 5-6minutes and they weren't getting any food in their belliesat all, they were just as skinny as they were when they started trying to nurse. (and they kept trying to switch teats)

Switching teats is normal for rabbits while nursing. They will suckle on one nipple for a few seconds and then root around and find another nipple.

I would keep trying to get them to feed off of mom at least twice a day for 5 minutes. If they are not getting anything, then supplement. But the stimulation of the babies sucking will get mom to produce more milk. Once she is producing more milk, she will want to nurse to reduce the pressure.

-Dawn

I find the babies eat better when the whole group feeds together. They stimulate each other by moving around which helps with the feeding frenzy. A single baby or less than three are not as easy to get to feed, in my expierance.

My advice is get a wood box the EXACT same size as the dog in length and width and not much taller than her. Put hay in and put the babies in it, then add the doe and some food and put a wire thing on top so she can not get out and you can see in. Then you just wait. The doe can not move away from the babies and your not holding her so that is less stress so she should let her milk go. I find this way SOOO much easier for making a doe feed than holding her. And the food usually helps so do this at feed time.

bunnybunbunb wrote:

I find the babies eat better when the whole group feeds together. They stimulate each other by moving around which helps with the feeding frenzy. A single baby or less than three are not as easy to get to feed, in my expierance.

My advice is get a wood box the EXACT same size as the dog in length and width and not much taller than her. Put hay in and put the babies in it, then add the doe and some food and put a wire thing on top so she can not get out and you can see in. Then you just wait. The doe can not move away from the babies and your not holding her so that is less stress so she should let her milk go. I find this way SOOO much easier for making a doe feed than holding her. And the food usually helps so do this at feed time.

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Tried this and within 2 minutes she had killed 2 of them...
I knew I should have tried it. three of the babies were cowarded in the corner, and two laid dead on the other side where she thumped on their head.
The box was a bit bigger then her, so she could move around a lil and the babies could get away from her if need be.

I need to Euthanize one because he is seeming to be having seizures now that I had them back in with mom. He was fine before that and during their breakfast feeding...

Yesterday I fed them all 2-3cc's of goats milk and .5cc of water after 4 times a day, and they had greatly improved. they were bouncing around the nest box and trying to climb the bars. when I went to feed them and they all wanted to be first.

Rattiemattiesrattery wrote:

I need to Euthanize one because he is seeming to be having seizures now that I had them back in with mom. He was fine before that and during their breakfast feeding...

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I had to euthanize that one. and from injuries while in with mom the black one died. Now I am left with jut one baby.

This really sucks I am sorry for the trouble. I am have bad trouble, too. Lost a whole litter yesterday. It got VERY cold and the babies decided to scatter in the box. I hate when baby rabbits do idiotic things, like the two week old baby that hung it's self lastnight.

Is the one hanging on?