Day 31

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Skip&Piper

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Hello all,

I am not sure if this is the right place to post as I am not a breeder, and I’ve been relatively quiet lately because I know there will be mixed opinions about my decision, but I decided after Piper’s false pregnancy that I wanted her to have one litter before getting her spayed. I plan to keep one (or more!) of the babies, and I have two potential homes lined up. That being said, I understand that I’m not necessarily breeding for the “right” reason, and I assure you all this will be her only litter.

Anyway, on to the question - today is day 31 of her pregnancy, she began pulling fur and making a nest in the nest box yesterday. Am I correct to assume the babies will likely arrive throughout the night tonight? She hasn’t pulled fur or moved straw in there in about 5 hours...

Also, I typically let her out to run around as long and often as possible every day, but I have kept her in her enclosure all day today. I am wondering if it would still be okay to let her out for a bit when she gets her evening veggies, or if it’s better not to.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

We’ve got the bunny cam up and running again and I don’t plan on getting a wink of sleep tonight! (I know the nest box is huge, but she’s made a pretty adorable fur lined burrow in there!
 
Bunny cam sounds exciting! As for your decision to breed her, I think that's your decision and yours alone. I'm not going to pass judgement and even if someone does at this late point (considering she'll be spayed before she can have a second litter), don't let it get to you. As a community member on RO, I consider it my duty to play devil's advocate at times and to make sure someone sees both sides of an issue when they're making a decision... but I don't believe in one adult scolding another, you know? Even if I disagreed with your choice (not saying I do, just if), we're at a point where I think the polite thing to do is cram a sock in it.

As for letting her out, how long is "a bit" and how big is the space she'd be let out in? I don't imagine it would hurt as long as she's being closely monitored so that you can put her up and transfer kits to the nest box if she starts giving birth somewhere weird. The exercise might even help induce labor.
 
Thanks Imbrium, I appreciate your response, I struggled with this decision and I guess my selfishness won out, I really wanted to experience this, and let my daughter experience this first hand. We were just in awe of the nesting behaviours during her false pregnancy, and wanted to see it through one time. We are fully prepared to care for all the babies as long as necessary until they find good homes, and if that means staying with us, so be it.

I did let her out earlier for about 20 minutes and she was zooming and binkying like crazy(just in our basement outside the enclosure), which seems strange to me for day 31, but I was happy to see her so happy! My husband is convinced that she isn’t really pregnant, he thinks it’s false again. Is there such a thing as full length false pregnancies also? Her last false pregnancy was from day 16-18, just like what I read it is typically. I was never able to palpate, and I honestly don’t see any movement in her stomach. But she did gain about 4oz in the first two weeks. We also never saw the buck fall off her, but they were together about an hour and he was up there several times, haha.

Anyway, I’m hopeful everything goes smoothly but I will be keeping one eye open all night tonight!
 
It could still be a false pregnancy - only time will tell. I've been keeping a vague eye on the live stream, though I need to head to bed quite soon :(.

Edit: tell her to quit hiding in the blind spot!! I keep looking and all I can see is the tips of her ears, lol (if anything).

Another edit: OMFG those helicopter ears!!
 
We’ve got the bunny cam up and running again and I don’t plan on getting a wink of sleep tonight! (I know the nest box is huge, but she’s made a pretty adorable fur lined burrow in there!
I think she will know when to return to her nest box or maybe she won't go far from it. You'd better go get some sleep she won't need your assistance maybe she's waiting when everybody's gone, I know rabbits like their privacy. And after giving birth she'll need to relax a bit and it's better to leave her alone really. You see she's active and feeling good so no need to worry, you can check the nest in the morning/
Don't forget to post some pics of the babies when they arrive and good luck :)
 
Haha, the blind spot at the bottom of the camera is her wall of litterboxes, I can’t leave any space along that wall or she will pee out of the boxes! She spends a lot of time under that Costco box too though!

Haha, I love her ears so much!

I think I will head to sleep soon also, and just check a couple times through the night. I’m just worried as a first time momma she might not know what to do, but she knows better than I do!

Thanks for the advice guys!
 
Well, no babies this morning, and no more nesting behaviours. Perhaps this is also a false pregnancy after all! I guess we will see what the next few days bring!
 
Still no babies, so I’m confident she’s not pregnant. I have booked her spay for this Friday(which would be day 37) and I’m a little bummed, but feeling like it just wasn’t meant to happen! After two accidental, and one international breedings, she never got pregnant, so that has to be a sign!

My original plan was to foster for a bunny rescue, and perhaps a pregnant bunny will come my way that way, and I will still get to have a baby bunny experience, without adding to the bunny population myself. So, that will be my new plan, in a few months after Piper is healed and my two are completely re- bonded.

Thanks for the support everyone! I’m very happy to have found this forum!
 
Well it's only day 33 now so you cannot be too sure yet, I've read of maximum pregnancy that lasted 43 days!
Can you feel babies moving in her belly? In any case vet will check that for you, good luck!
 

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