Rabbit pulling fur (but not pregnant)?

[Storm & Cloud]

I have a female dwarf rex, Cloud, that lives outside. 3-4 weeks ago, her mate Storm, (who had been fixed about 2-3 weeks before) was put back with her. Today, I checked their house, and found a large handful of her fur. She had not made a nest as such, just had some fur on top of the hay. She should not be pregnant, as Storm was fixed so he could go back with her. Any ideas on what could be causing it?

[Bam]

A male bunny can have live sperm in his vas deferens for 4-5 weeks after he’s been neutered, so she could actually be pregnant.

It’s very common for intact girl buns to go through false pregnancies though. The presence of a male, even a neutered male, could spark a false pregnancy (but they can also have them quite spontaneously). A false pregnancy always resolves itself after the non-babies haven’t been born, so to speak. The bun’s body goes through all the hormonal changes a pregnant doe does, incl those that induce nesting, the fur on the bun’s chest loosen due to these hormones (so it’s not like she’s hurting herself ripping fur out). Then the bun nests, there are no babies, all returns to normal. It’s often good to give a pseudo-pregnant bun a dummy nest box that she can put bedding in.

Give her extra food in case there are actual babies.

[Hazel]

If I had to guess, I’d say she’s pregnant. As bam said, for all intents and purposes, he was still “intact” when you put them back together, and unless there’s some medical issue, having an intact pair together for any length of time will result in a pregnancy. Hopefully it’s just a fake pregnancy, but be prepared for a litter to be born soon. Also, you should separate them right away. Two rabbits can’t be bonded unless both are fixed. Intact adults are hormonal and you’re risking a bad fight keeping them together. It would be best to separate them until she’s fixed and another month has passed for her to heal and for her hormones to level out.

[Storm & Cloud]

[Wick & Fable]

Random throw from left field, but is your rabbit molting? Wick is shedding like a crazy bub right now so he’ll commonly leave a small pile of fur after he gets up.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Storm & Cloud]

I don’t think she is mounting as there is a lot of hair in a pile, and when I first found it, I made a kind of best in case she was about to have babies, but when I checked this morning, she had pulled it out and it was just on top of the hay again.

[Bam]

Hopefully it is just a phantom pregnancy. You will know soon if it isn’t, because nesting happens 1-2 days before the babies come.

[jerseygirl]

I also hope, for your sake, it’s just false pregnancy. Especially since you’ve gone to the trouble of getting the boy desexed.

What age are each of the rabbits?

To play it safe, offer her some nesting materials and increase her food, just in case. If she is actually pregnant, the extra protein is important. She may not go for the food if she is really pregnant and close to giving birth – as Does will most often go off food at this point.
Do separate them too, because if the boy was still fertile or something went amiss with his neuter, he can impregnate her again literally right after giving birth.

It is definitely her fur? Can you see where it is pulled from? Is there any chance it might have been pulled out in a scuffle between them?

[Storm & Cloud]

Thankfully it seems to have been a phantom pregnancy as she has stopped pulling fur and hasn’t had babies ????

[Author]

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