Now…The waiting game-babies or not?

[RubyRain]

Dumb, dumb, dumb! I know I should’ve checked for sexes but they were so sure they were both female and the bunnies were freaked out from some barking dogs that I didn’t want to pick them up and freak them out more.

So now, 4 days later,  I find I have a male and probably a female. The male is obvious but the other rabbit won’t let us pick her up for anything! She cries and “hisses” and even with a towel and gloves I couldn’t get her up out of the cage. I think it’s a “she” though. I can only HOPE she’s a HE, but I doubt it. She IS bigger than the other rabbit and they are supposed to be the same age.

So who knows what’s going to happen. I guess we just have to wait and see. No signs of nesting at this point. I guess we wait and if nothing happens by day 32 I guess we are home free.

They ARE seperated at this point but the male will get neutered ASAP.

Are there any other signs I should watch for to tell me if she’s pregnant?

I so DO NOT want babies but I adopted them so we’ll carry through and hope we can find good homes for all if it comes to that.

Yes, all you pros can roll your eyes at the newbie and be glad you’re not in my shoes

 

[Monkeybun]

well, if she starts nesting that will be a big clue. she’ll pull out fur from her dewlap, pile hay into a box, make a cozy nest. If she does that, prepare for babies within a couple days at most.

You may want to provide her with a cozy box if she doesn’t already have one, just in case

[Michelle&Lolli]

don’t beat yourself up too much. This has happened so many times. At least you separated them as soon as you knew one was male.

[Beka27]

We are certainly not rolling our eyes at you. If anything we are concerned but thankful you noticed when you did. We’ve seen this happen more times than we care to remember. Keep us posted. If they are 4 months, hopefully the male isn’t quite ready just yet. Have you seen mounting?

A NOTE TO OTHERS READING THIS:
When a new member posts “I just got two baby bunnies”, our FIRST question is always, are you sure of the sexes?

By “sure” we mean: VET-checked to confirm the sex. NOT confirmed by you, your neighbor, your cousin’s hairdresser… even breeders and petstores are wrong some of the time.

Vets can be wrong too, especially with teeny tiny babies, so in addition to confirming sex, it’s a good idea to separate just in case. This is one of the major factors for the overpopulation problem in shelters across the country (and the world). Bunnies really do… populate like bunnies.

[RubyRain]

Yes, we just saw mounting a day ago which is why I thought I better verify if both were female. I thought maybe they were just doing the dominance game partly because their cage was small (have the new one now though).
Now I know better.

Since I only have the one big cage, someone suggested switching them back and forth between the 2 cages so they both can benefit. Is this a good idea if the female IS pregnant since it might mess up her nesting process? If I noticed obvious nesting I would leave her in that cage until the end of course.

[mocha200]

I would leave one in one cage and one in the other until you are she is not pregnant. A few days in a small cage for one of them wont hurt them.

[DawnT]

I hope they are the same sex.  With the  hissing and just being nasty, she may be pregnant.  I purchased a bunny from a pet store.  When we got home, she was evil, hissed growled hated the world.  One thing that she did; my son was he laying beside an end table she went up to him and her paws came right down his face.  (I didn’t handle it well)  I called the pet store told and told them what an evil rabbit I bought..  They said we have given her to space. She thinks she the boss of the house etc. (She was free range the day we brought her home- for some reason she tranied her self with the cage that she home in. I am very fortunate

February 18 2008 (President’s day) at 4:30 AM  I woke up all this what stuff on my floor (thinking it was the stuffing from my couch) it was not it was  2 baby bunnies on my living room floor.  Then everything made sense to me.  I had no idea what to do.  Called the vet that I took her to the Friday before and he said she is fine no problems. (Keep in mind very hard to determine if a bun is pregnant even for a good bunny vet)

I searched a bunny website and I found this one.  The person was from the UK and the name was Charlie that helped me that morning. (Thank you again Charlie)  The most important thing that I was told to do was look for more babies because 2 seemed like a low number.  And it was there was a total of 7.  The rest is history.  I wouldn’t have changed one thing about getting her.

If you do have a liter; please take them to a no-kill animal shelter.  Where I live bunnies are not put  down.  The pet stores are horrible and I found that people will feed a small bun to a snake.  especially if they are “free to good home”  I had two people want 2 of my buns and I turned them down.  I just didn’t have warm fuzzy feeling.  My husband was so mad.  I told him be better calm down because the next ad in the newspaper is going to be free to good home a couch and husband with remote.

 

[RubyRain]

Thanks everyone. I’ll keep my eye on Sugar and hope for the best either way. Thank goodness I found some great resources through here so I’ll be more prepared if she does have babies.
But yikes, please don’t have 7 babies Sugar bunny!
And yes, I already told DH no “free bunny” ads because those are a bad idea.

[LoveChaCha]

I would put them in different cages and be sure they can’t touch each other through the bars. I have heard of rabbits reproducing from being right next to each other, in different cages.

Your female sounds like a typical ball of hormones. I could not handle my bunny before she was spayed and the vet that spayed her could tell she was a ball of hormones by just picking her up and examining her.

[Sarita]

So, now how old are they supposed to be again?

[RubyRain]

Posted By Sarita on 02/22/2011 11:22 AM
So, now how old are they supposed to be again?

I was told they were both 4 mos old. Both are Lionheads and one (the male) looks like the size a typical 4 mos old would be but the other is a good deal larger. I’d guess she was about full size for a lionhead. I’m skeptical about her age but don’t have anyway to verify because I adopted her through a 3rd party adoption facility. They just had a sheet of paper that was filled out with sex (ha!), age, and breed.

 

[RabbitPam]

Posted By Beka27 on 02/22/2011 03:12 AM
We are certainly not rolling our eyes at you. If anything we are concerned but thankful you noticed when you did.

Ditto – RP

Also, mounting can mean dominence, not just sex. Females can mount, too. Crossing my fingers for you.

A NOTE TO OTHERS READING THIS:
When a new member posts “I just got two baby bunnies”, our FIRST question is always, are you sure of the sexes?

By “sure” we mean: VET-checked to confirm the sex. NOT confirmed by you, your neighbor, your cousin’s hairdresser… even breeders and petstores are wrong some of the time.

Vets can be wrong too, especially with teeny tiny babies, so in addition to confirming sex, it’s a good idea to separate just in case. This is one of the major factors for the overpopulation problem in shelters across the country (and the world). Bunnies really do… populate like bunnies.

ADDING TO BEKA’S EXCELLENT NOTE:

When you get 2 bunnies, just assume you need 2 cages and set ups. They could be the opposite sex, a point rarely determined correctly until one reaches maturity, and only by a vet. Even vets have prepared for a neuter and discovered a spay was needed instead, even at several months of age.

But two bunnies will not be bonded, no matter how snugged up as babies, until AFTER they reach hormonal maturity in their teens. So siblings, or litter pals or shelter friends will become aggressive and unfriendly once one starts to get hormones kicking in. There’s no point in bonding prior to that age, and many reasons to have them separated. Yes, let them get used to seeing each other, smelling each other in the home, and having another bunny in their lives. That will make the bonding easier later on. But keep them separated from the get go. They will not be lonely. Once you get both fixed, they will be ready in one month for some much calmer behavior, bonding sessions, and a lifetime companionship with each other and with you.

[RubyRain]

Thanks everyone!
I feel really dumb but at least I caught it quickly. I’m hoping the female isn’t pregnant but we’re just going to wait and see.
I called the 2 vets back and both seem rabbit savvy based on a few questions I asked them from a list I found from the house rabbit site . One has 3 vets but has a vet that specializes in small animals (guinea pigs, rabbits, chinchillas, etc) and the other clinic sees lots of rabbits (they claim to be the main rabbit vet in town?)
Both want to wait until the female is at least 6 mos (I can only go by the age I was told so I had to tell them she’s 4 mos now) but I can have the male done now.

[Beka27]

Can you have her examined this week? It’s possible that she could be older than 4 months. If so, or if she is large enough, the vet may be comfortable doing what is referred to as an “emergency spay”, which essentially spays the rabbit and terminates pregnancy all at once.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

That was what I was going to suggest as well. Of course this depends on your opinion, but a vet can terminate the pregnancy (Which i admit sounds sad and all but you know what 4-13 more animals who need spay/neuter and homes for 10-12 years is not exactly what the world needs)-it’s really tough to have a litter, and tough on the rabbit. There are always risks with childbirth and rearing too. If your open to that idea and it fits your belief system, you can have her in to the vet (Who may or may not be able to tell if she’s prego, rabbits do not show pregnancy like other animals…no teets drop, no huge belly…just babies in a next one morning) who can assess whether she could have a potential termination/spay done.

Anyways like Beka says-it’s sooo common. Also they can get out and they can even ‘make a party’ through adjoining cages. They breed like…rabbits. So it’s always best to remove their bits as soon as possible.

[RubyRain]

UPDATE!
Yay, we do NOT have any babies. We waited a few days past the 28 day time frame so we should be baby free right?

Leo was neutered last week so just another week to wait until they can get back together.

We got lucky this time but I will certainly not make that mistake again. Of course, I don’t anticipate any more rabbits for a long while-these 2 are ours for the long haul!

[Sarita]

Well their gestation period is 31 days so you have a few more days until you know for certain.

[RubyRain]

Actually today is 31 days because we waited a few days after the 28 day time frame that I read was their gestation period (not sure where I read that now) so I guess we have a few more hours to know for sure! But I think we are in the clear, no nesting going on or hair pulling or extra weight. Knock on wood

[Sarita]

Yay, that’s wonderful :~)

[Beka27]

Thank goodness!

[LoveChaCha]

Good Ruby : ) How are the bunnies doing?

[RubyRain]

Posted By LoveChaCha on 03/19/2011 02:48 PM
Good Ruby : ) How are the bunnies doing?

They are doing good but I’ll be happy when they can be together in the bigger pen. Sugar is still in the smaller cage until Leo’s time is up after his neuter. Since I escaped this time from having babies, I certainly don’t want to have her get pregnant because I didn’t keep them apart long enough!

They both get out to run around for awhile each day and love that! Now that the weather is getting warmer here they’ll be able to go outside soon to play a bit.

[Author]

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