# rabbit having babies :/



## animallove (Sep 23, 2010)

hey everyone.
firstly can i please ask that noone writes comments about rabbits being for food and anything like that as i care for all animals great and small and i would appreciate for people keep these thing to themselves.
i have two rabbits and they have lived together their whole lives. they're a bit alder than a year and when i got them i was told they were male and female. they do act like typical rabbits (mating all the time). every month or so the female rabbit builds a nest but it turns out to be fantasy pregnancies. 
however this time the female has made a nest in a different part of the cage in a little plastic mountain/shelter. i went to feed them today and she was in there so i lifted the top and patted her. when i patter her she groaned and she seems the groan when i got near her and she wont leave the nest to even feed what does this mean?
cheers


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## animallove (Sep 23, 2010)

i dont mind if you breed rabbits for food or whatever but i would just like to know what might be going on with my rabbit


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## Fuscus (Sep 23, 2010)

try a rabbits forum like
Rabbits United Forum - Powered by vBulletin or
Rabbits Online Forum


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## animallove (Sep 23, 2010)

ok thanks.


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## JAS101 (Sep 23, 2010)

i wouldnt mind beting she has baby rabbits .


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## animallove (Sep 23, 2010)

well im hoping so but this would be the fourth time that i thought she was having babies. is grunting normal? is she just protecting her nest or is she hurt?


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## JAS101 (Sep 23, 2010)

animallove said:


> well im hoping so but this would be the fourth time that i thought she was having babies. is grunting normal? is she just protecting her nest or is she hurt?


 id say its a protecting nest grunt , one way to find out is put on a heavy duty glove and move the rabbit off the next and have a look ..


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## animallove (Sep 23, 2010)

i moved her off earlier and since its an outside cage and its dark outside i counted clearly see if there were any but i dont think there were any. she started making the nest this morning.


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## Luohanfan (Sep 23, 2010)

they usually give birth 3 or 4 days after making the nest, and they wont stay in the nest with the baby, they go in just on dark or dawn and feed the babies, then cover the babies back up with straw etc and fur that they pull out of themselves and line the nest with..
To check if there are babies, without touching, just blow lightly on the nest, and you will see movement normally..
Hope this helps..
(ours are due again in about a week)


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## Jay84 (Sep 24, 2010)

Are your rabbits definitely male and female??


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## Andrais (Sep 24, 2010)

sometimes female rabbits go into a type of 'nesting' stange  its natural that they will sometimes go into a phase of making a nest and becoming territorial just like they would when they are actually having a litter. My female rabbit always used to do this when she went in 'heat' even one time she gave birth to a dead baby and i have no idea how that happened because i had not put her with my male.


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## giglamesh (Sep 24, 2010)

do male rabbits have noticeable nuts like rats?


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## Andrais (Sep 24, 2010)

yes they do


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## Kayz09 (Sep 24, 2010)

yep they sure do, i have a male rabbit at home and jeeze u can def tell he has nuts they are huge!!!!


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## Jay84 (Sep 24, 2010)

Im thinking both rabbits must be female?? I dont understand how a male and female rabbit kept together for a year fail to produce babies......... they are RABBITS!!! lol

As said aove, even single female rabbits will frequently build nests, pluck their chest fur for lining etc. Female rabbits will also 'mate' with another female rabbit.

Id be checking that your other rabbits has balls lol


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## giglamesh (Sep 24, 2010)

yer we used to have a lesbian chicken it would do that to the other hens


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## animallove (Sep 24, 2010)

yer im sure they are female and male because when we bought them the person had said that they already had a lot of kits and they were for sale with the lot they had. ive done plenty of research about breeding them and ive spoken to vet and so and so. the vet said that sometimes they have one lots and thats it and that also rabbits sometimes dont breed because of the types of vegetables they are eating and if they are stressed because of loud noises ect. currently they are eating about three large carrots a day and about two cups of rabbit and guinea pig grain plus grass and they may be stressed from the neighbourhood dogs barking all the time because we live near train tracks (the vet said that this could easily stress them out).
i checked and so far there isnt any babies. 
what diet change could i put in place to make them breed. i know they are getting enough food because they are both quiet fat!!


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## mungus (Sep 24, 2010)

Kayz09 said:


> yep they sure do, i have a male rabbit at home and jeeze u can def tell he has nuts they are huge!!!!


 
I know the feeling............


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## carbs (Sep 24, 2010)

hi there,

just thought i might mention that rabbits also need vitamins, i understand you have been to the vet so he made have told you already but if you cut up a 1/4 of an orange that might help the health of the animal.


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## Jay84 (Sep 24, 2010)

animallove said:


> they may be stressed from the neighbourhood dogs barking all the time because we live near train tracks (the vet said that this could easily stress them out).


 
What about all the rabbits that breed along the traintracks and main roads?? Domestic rabbits must be alot more precious than wild ones lol


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## animallove (Sep 24, 2010)

> hi there,
> 
> just thought i might mention that rabbits also need vitamins, i understand you have been to the vet so he made have told you already but if you cut up a 1/4 of an orange that might help the health of the animal.​


hey, yeah sorry i forgot to mention i use those salt and mineral lick blocks. everynight in their water i put 'Aristopet - small animal vitamin drops', once a week i mix 'aristopet - small animal vitamin supplement' in their water and every three months as recommended on the bottle i worm them with 'aristopet - small animal wormer. i also spray 'aristopet small animal hutch cleaner spray and aristopet - small animal mite & mange spray' in their cage when i clean it out so im thinking it isnt a health question. but i will take you advice and start feeding them orange.
cheers


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## animallove (Sep 24, 2010)

sorry i ment "im thinking it isnt a health problem"


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## waruikazi (Sep 24, 2010)

If it's too hot or they are too old they wont breed. I tried breeding rabbits for my snakes, they wouldn't do it so they ended up rabbit stew.



Jay84 said:


> Im thinking both rabbits must be female?? I dont understand how a male and female rabbit kept together for a year fail to produce babies......... they are RABBITS!!! lol
> 
> As said aove, even single female rabbits will frequently build nests, pluck their chest fur for lining etc. Female rabbits will also 'mate' with another female rabbit.
> 
> Id be checking that your other rabbits has balls lol


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## animallove (Sep 24, 2010)

the weather is a bit cold where i am but a friend of mine her rabbit just had babies 3 weeks ago. and i bought them at 6mths old, we have have them for about 8-9 mths so that would make them just over a year.


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## Jay84 (Sep 25, 2010)

waruikazi said:


> If it's too hot or they are too old they wont breed. I tried breeding rabbits for my snakes, they wouldn't do it so they ended up rabbit stew.



Hahahaha...... 

The thing is though, the original poster is in SA. So i doubt its too hot? Or has been too hot for the whole 9 months she has had them?


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## animallove (Sep 25, 2010)

its been the complete opposite to hot, its been freezing. its starting to warm up now but just at the right temperature.


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