Day 28 of pregnancy

[Yoyishanti]

Today is the day 28 of my rabbit's pregnancy. I tried to provide a cardboard nesting box that I made by myself. She started to play with it and eat and destroy. I took it away. Please let me know if I should wait a day or too until she pulls off her hair or do I need to find a wooden or plastic nest box instead?

 

[CCWelch]

I would definitely go with a wooden or plastic box for a nest, especially since she sees cardboard as a toy. You do not want to wait for her to pull hair to give her a nest box, she pay not pull hair until after the babies are born.

 

[hillrise]

Cardboard doesn't make a very good nestbox anyway because the babies will be peeing in it and it will get soaked through quickly.

Definitely put a plastic--or better yet, wooden--box in there for her. I like wooden ones because they're heavier, so she's less likely to put it in a corner of the cage you don't want it in and/or flip it.

Make sure that the box is just BARELY bigger than her to discourage her from hanging out in it. Most feed stores have nestboxes, but usually only in sizes for medium-large rabbits (Californian/New Zealand size).

 

[HappyFarmBunnies]

Definitely choose a wooden box, and put it in pronto.

 

[Yoyishanti]

Thanks so much for the advices. She started collecting grass in her mouth I tried to introduce the same cardboard box(which is pretty big for her) she started Playing with it but less. I checked the petstores near me they just have plastic bungalo for small pets which doesn't have a bottom part and the whole would let the babies to crawl out. I want to go to the hardware store and purchase some good quality wooden blocks and nails and will built a nice nestbox by myself.

 

[Yoyishanti]

It's day 31( I'm expecting her to have babies in the morning of day 32 since she was bred late night) and she's just collecting a lot of grass and papers in her mouth walking around and digging the corners of the cage. I don't see her collecting the grass in the nestbox. Should I worry? I'm pretty sure she is pregnant but I'm worried she's not really nesting.

 

[CCWelch]

I would not worry, if she has them outside of the nestbox you can move them into the nestbox.
If you have a WalMart or something like it nearby you could get a plastic food container (rectangle) with 2 to 3 inch sides or a plastic storage box for shoes with about a 4 to 4 inch side. I do not really like wood nest boxes but i use them.
My reason for not liking wood is that if you have a litter that suddenly dies and you think it is a disease they are nearly impossible to completely disinfect without burning.

 

[Yoyishanti]

I've purchased a straw nest box she goes inside a lot but I don't see her collecting the grass there. She collects the grass and newspaper in her mouth and walks around and rests keeping it in her mouth. I guess she's undecided where ti build the nest?

 

[mistyjr]

you can also give her straw or and hay for building a nest with

 

[Yoyishanti]

She's still walking around with her mouth full of grass. Day 32. Should I still keep the nestbox or it's most probably she's having just a false pregnancy?

 

[Phoenix]

I wouldn't count her down for the count just yet.

If she is still walking around gathering nesting materials then there's a good chance she's still pregnant.

You can also try feeling her abdomen for babies if you feel confident with that.

I usually leave a nest box in a few days after their due date just to be safe.

 

[Yoyishanti]

Sad news i came home and saw my rabbit feeling sick and like wining and pushing for a while then resting and again trying to push. after an hour of acting like that she just had 1 dead baby. It was big and stretched. Right after she delivered the baby, there was a thick small round thing that came out and she was trying to eat, I believe it should be placenta but it was too thick and dark red.
Please help to understand what would cause this, I know it happens with the first timers. This was her first time. Should I rebreed her or it is too dangerous? I'm pretty sure she don't have other babies since the dead baby was very big. Also she started eating and drinking and acting normal right after she delivered.

 

[Yoyishanti]

I'm glad my bunny is playful and happy now. She started eating and drinking right after she delivered and being active as she is as usual.

 

[CCWelch]

Sorry for your loss.
Give her a couple weeks then you can rebreed her maybe... how much bigger than her is your male?

 

[Yoyishanti]

Male is not bigger than her! They are pretty much the same size I would even say male is smaller than her. But male's breed is bigger than lionhead breed is I think.(she's pure lionhead). Their pics are in " color genetics" topic here under breeding and rabbitry.

 

[CCWelch]

Lionheads are sometimes tempermental about the size buck you breed them to. I would try breeding again and see if this time goes better.If not you need to find a smaller buck.

 

[Yoyishanti]

Also I noticed today that she's collecting grass in her mouth. I hope it doesn't mean anything.