phantom pregnancy is ffluer...

oh i had a shock of my life, going in to feed the rabbits and finding ffluer made a nest with her fur and paper.....and i know for a fact she hasnt been any where near any my bucks....and all the baby bunnies have been away from here since they were 6-7 weeks old!!

i think she is missing her babies....
i checked her tummy she doesnt feel like she is ready to drop, like last time....plus there was no babies in the nest, i checked and checked and checked again....im am 100% sure there is no babies!!
and i am 100% sure she hasnt been near my bucks.

Aaaaah poor little Ffluer.... Will she just get on and then get over it or will you have to take her the vets Tayer?
xoxox

Is this common with rabbits Tayer .?

It is, if she hadn't just had a litter!! I'm guessing she is longing for babies plus she is sandwiched between to bucks in the hutch!! Even though they can't get to her, I don't know!! I might have to sort something out, coz she can't keep feeling this way!!

Josie help...anything on your bunny book about this??

Aww poor Fleur ...x

Hope Fleur is ok Tayer x

could be tay.... im off to have a read up on this cos obviously i havent experienced this... xxx

well the nest has been built up for 2 or 3 days now and there is no babies....i am 100% sure but i cant help thinking maybe i missed something.

rabbits normally build their nests up 24hours before, if not while they are having contractions! which ffluer done while having contractions.....so i am pretty sure she isnt this prepared.

her belly feels soft and squidgy and no lumps and bumps or movements...which i felt a week or so before her giving birth last time!!

must be a phantom pregnancy, she is longing for another baby....but she must wait...lol

Awww poor fleur how long is it between litters then Tayer ?

i think they can keep popping them out....not sure really.

i was gonna wait at least 4 months....if not 6months the same as a hog...its not fair to keep having babies on any creature!! maybe she will feel better that there is always a nest there?? if i dont get rid of it!! just keep checking...

the only thing that worries me is that they hold sperm...but she doesnt feel pregnant...so im thinking phantom!!

See if Josie the rabbit lady comes up with anything in her book .x

you might have got me on this one... i've never had to deal with a doe before!

i've had to look it up.... it says it will last for about 18days, and it could be that ffleur is just ovulating...

rabbits are spontanious ovulators and it is usually the process of mating that triggers ovulation. If there is no mating (or she is unfertile) the ovulation triggers a pseudopregnancy. Some does can self-induce ovulation.

sounds to me like she is feeling broody and has ovulated without mating... is she still eating okay? and no discharge from the vagina? xxx

Poor little girl... It's a tough job being a woman!
xoxox

no discharge...she is eating not in the amounts she normally is....but has eaten quite a bit....maybe it is what i think....x

thank you josie xxx

Hope she is feeling better this morning Tay .x

What are the signs of a phantom pregnancy in a rabbit?

The main sign of phantom pregnancy is nesting.
The bunny will start to pluck out the hair on her chest and tummy to build the nest with. In the case of some rabbits they will pull hair out of a bonded mate to nest build also.
You will often see a nesting bunny frantically running around with a mouth full of hay to take to her nest.

If you bunny is nesting without reason (i.e. she has not been bred, she is spayed, she has not had any contact with a male) then you can pretty much be sure it is a phantom pregnancy.

A phantom or false pregnancy can be detected in several ways. If you have not bred your doe you KNOW it is a false pregnancy. If she goes over 32 days it is a false pregnancy. You can palpate at 15 days and if you do not feel babies but she insists on nesting you will know it is a false or phantom pregnancy. A doe having a false pregnancy will nest just like a doe that is pregnant. I have witnessed some that tend to go overboard nearly stripping themselves naked because no babies come. The doe that you determine to be having a phantom or false pregnancy should be bred immediately. There should be no 'bonded mate' for a doe with phantom pregnancy every rabbit should have it's own cage.

First off... yes rabbits can have a false pregnancy.....it is caused by a surge of the rabbit equivalent of estrogen, in fact it was the rabbits abilty to have a false pregnancy that led to the discovery of the human birth controll pill ( which fools a human body into thinking it is pregnant). Some rabbits have hormone swings that cuase them to do this and in the rabbit breeding world we look for these females because they make excellent mothers... the cause in a lone female is usually exposure to a human female on her period, another animal in heat, or being around someone or another animal that has given birth recently, or sometimes it happens spontaneously!....... if she is having a false pregnancy it will pass, the 35 day gestation period will pass and if no babies are produced her hormone surge will end and she will go back to normal. If she is trully pregnant a rabbits gestation is 31-35 days NOT 90days as you've been told thats where the old saying "breeding like rabbits" came from, a doe (female rabbit) can give birth and go into heat almost imediatly after birth, with this turn over rate wild rabbit can have up to twelve litters of kits (baby rabbits) a year. I would watch her very carefully for the next week...... if she doesnt have kits in that time, then you are ok, rabbits will start pulling hair from thier dewlap ( a small patch of loose skin on the front of the neck and chest) 4-6 days before giving birth... just in case get a box about twice her size, cut a hole in that box about three to four inches up the short side of the box (a rectangular box is best) make it big enough for her to get into and out of easily, fill the box with soft hay, timothy hay is best, but if you have alfalfa pullout all the large sticks so they dont poke the kits eyes when they open ( which happens at around 10-12 days old) and fill also with any pulled fur, and nesting materials she has already tried to make a nest with..... place this box in her cage in a corner away from the corner that your rabbit normally uses as her toilet corner ( rabbits like to pick one corner to eliminate in)..... or if she uses a litter box put it away from the litter box....she will use this box if she does give birth thier instinct is to use a dark quiet secluded place to give birth.... if she does give birth you can touch the kits... in fact you must to make sure they are ok and that there are none that died during birth ( this happens quite often in first births).... pet your bunny and tell her its ok then inspect each one for wounds or deformities.... the more you handle the kits the better they will be as pets later...if you see her giving birth and eating the placentas (after birth0 this is completly normal and a neccesary part of the birthing process ( it replaces lost iron, builds blood that was lost, and gives the doe a dose of oxytocin which helps her uterus shrink back to normal since and starts milk production to feed her kits) I hope this has helped and if you need further information feel free to email me [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Source(s):
I am a vet tech and have been breedibg and showing rabbits since 1994, member of the Rabbit Breeders of America Association