Concerned about doe

[NZminilops]

Hi everyone. I have a doe who came to me pregnant earlier this year, she had her kits exactly 30 days from getting her (she is three years old, it was her first litter) and at the time she was pregnant, I had sort of suspected it as she had rather large nipples. The last kit was re-homed about two weeks ago and was 9 and a half weeks old. My bigest concern is that her nipples seem to still be large and I am worried that somehow her kit mated with her (??is that possible at that age? his testicles had decended but I saw no sign of mating behaviour) or is it normal for it to take a few weeks for everything to be back to normal again? My only other rabbit at the moment is about 14 weeks old and I have only had him for one week, and he has his own seperate cage and is terrified at the sight of her anyway.

I really don't want her to have more babies as there are enough poor little animals in this country to worry about, and she needs to get some time to get fattened up after her poor life before she came to me. It's also winter here, and while it hasn't been that cold during the day yet the nights are pretty chilly.

 

[NZminilops]

I guess I will just have to ait and see! I am no good at feeling for babies as I have never had to do it before. My poor bunny, hopefully it's just taking her body a while to get back to normal as I am sure a 9 1/2 week old rabbit couldn't have impregnated her :shock:

 

[TinysMom]

I wish I could help but I've never really noticed my does' nipples much after they've successfully weaned a litter.

I guess I'd give it up to 20 days after the buck was gone from her cage to see if she has babies or not.

Here is a link to an article on palpating a doe to determine pregnancy (something I'm horrid at)

http://www.countrysidemag.com/issues/5_2004.htm#article4

Peg

 

[pamnock]

minilops wrote:

I guess I will just have to ait and see! I am no good at feeling for babies as I have never had to do it before. My poor bunny, hopefully it's just taking her body a while to get back to normal as I am sure a 9 1/2 week old rabbit couldn't have impregnated her :shock:

In rare cases, it would be possible, although generally the bucks don't reach sexual maturity/viable sperm until closer to 12 weeks of age.

I'd watch for at least the 31 day gestation period from the day the buck was removed from her cage.

Pam

 

[NZminilops]

Hopefully she is just, er, well-endowed in that area anyway? She was a great mother and I had no trouble finding homes for her kits, but I just don't like the idea of her having to have another litter so close to the first one, not fair on her at all. Plus it's hard to give those babies up! They had excellent personalities.

She hasn't changed in behaviour but I have noticed she has a dirty bottom a lot more often than usual, I went away over the weekend and I think my flatmate may have feed her something to upset her tummy. She also had a dirty bottom when she was pregnant, not sure why, but hopefully it's because of some greens or something and not little baby bunnies!<

I will let you know what happens in a couple of weeks, thanks for the help.

 

[Akkatia]

I'd watch out for this if I were you. This could be a rare disease called Blue Breast, when the does nipples harden. If they feel swollen, take it to a vet.

 

[NZminilops]

Thanks for the warning! I'm getting a bit worried now but I will say I do suspect she is planing on dropping a litter soometime around early June. She is getting a bit rotund around the middle and is shoving her hay around like crazy, and grunts if anyone pats her too close to her bottom end as if to say "hey! leave me alone, you remind me of a boy rabbit trying to cosy up to me for mating". She is bright eyed and happy, just not as cuddly as usual, and really getting excited about pushing her hay around. I will try and book a vet appointment but it might be a while until I can get it, usually if an animal is not injured or about to die the vet clinic here just gives appointments about a week or so away. They are super busy. By the time I get in there she may have already had her kits if any are forthcoming.

I checked her teats again and they are still big but are soft and very light pink, they aren't hard or inflamed looking.