How to tell if she's abut to give birth or its a phantom??

Hi! I have just recently joined the forum. I have 2 bucks and 2 doe rabbits. Both my boys are neutered BUT my younger boy was around (and besotted with) my elder doe, Angel, AFTER he was neutered. They never stayed together overnight and during the day I watched them like a hawk to put him off trying to mount her. Now I know they can be fertile up to 28 days after being neutered so I know that there is a chance he could have got her pregnant. I was not being irresponsible but I had to have my foursome together during those 28 days for personal reasons.

Well since then Angel has dug a big warren in the garden. I was worried she pregnant but she showed no other signs. Just today she has started nest building very obviously. She is taking huge mouthfulls of straw and hay down into the warren. Obviously I cant see what is going on down there!! And I am worried sick! I want to know if she is about to give birth or if its a phantom pregnancy. I dont drive and my husband is at work so I cant get her to the vets.

I dont know if I should not get her in the hutch tonight so if she is pregnant she can give birth in the warren which is obviously her preferred place.

My four all go in hutches at night & are free range in the day but lately my younger boy (the possible father, Celeste) has been staying out all night - he is the baby of a rescued wild rabbit and is extremely fast and well... WILD and wont come in at night much to my frustration. So Angel wouldnt be alone if I left her out... and what I would do is leave one hutch closed with Moony & Stardust and the other open so Angel & Celeste could come and go as they pleased. I am getting my 2 hutches linked together to make one big complex but it hasnt been done yet so I still have this option. My garden is completely enclosed and there are no foxes in this area so I am not really worried on that front but I still prefer them in at night! But I am worried if I force Angel to give birth in the hutch rather than the warren where she is nest building she will reject or eat the babies because she isnt happy with her environment.

Any opinions or ideas? Many thanks!

I know nothing about bunny births I am afraid but I am sure that someone who does, will be along soon hun x

thanks very much its very kind of you to comment anyway - I am sitting here watching her every move!! She has been pulling out all her hair and taking it into the burrow. Obviously these are clear indications of getting ready to give birth but I just wonder if its phantom or not... I cant bear to not know for 2 weeks until/if little rabbits come out of the burrow!! I need to be ready and look after them!

i don't know either but there are people on here who do so hopefully they will be along soon.

Sorry I dunno either, I hope the personal circumstances that brought this about have improved for you though, and I'm sure someone will help soon.
One thing I do know is that she musn't be anywhere near a buck with any degree of potency after the birth, (if there is one) or she could be immediately pregnant again.

I hope all goes well for her

I would seriously recommen confining her to a hutch and offering her a nest box rather than letting her use the warren, unfortunately you will need to be able to monitor both her and the babies post birth and to do so you will need access to them. There would be nothing worse than mum getting into trouble during labour or rejecting her kits and you not knowing nor being able to do a thing about it.

Hopefully it is just a phantom pregnancy but a carboard box with a hole in the front, a lip so the babies cannot fall or crawl out, and a lift off lid filled with hay and shredded toilet paper will encourage mum to build herself a new nest she feels comfortable in. If she does go into labour she will build a new one out of necessity.

Best of luck.

Thanks everyone. I have been outside since 3:00 - yes 3 hours!!! My husband is home now so he is taking over though thankfully I managed to get pretty much everything done. I rearranged hutches etc and made the smaller one ready for her. I then physically got in the bloomin burrow and removed as much of her nesting material as I could reach to put in the hutch so she wouldnt have to start from scratch. I then sat outside just waiting for her to get in the hutch as I wanted to prevent her from going in the burrow and giving birth. I've been talking to my lovely vet all day who is very rabbit savvy in fact she has loads herself and we agreed on this course of action.

She said the disturbance could delay her labour for 12 to 24 hours but she probably would have delivered tonight in the burrow. So we are confining her in the hutch until either babies appear or we are certain it is a phantom pregnancy.

I dont have any potent males anymore and havent for over a month. Please dont judge me because they were together after he was neutered - I left another forum because they were pretty horrible about it and I can assure you I am not irresponsible. The whole reason I had to take him anyway was because his Mum was a rescued/abused wild rabbit. I have done everything I can to give all my animals a truly great life (and do it ethically) unfortunately I am not god and cant control every other circumstance so I have done the best I could in the circumstances.

And I know when they are old enough to be sexed the male babies will need to be seperated from the rest. Hopefully it is just a phantom pregnancy but if it isnt I will keep as many babies as I can and find really great homes for the rest.

Can anyone who knows about what I need to do to look after Mum & babies fill me in just in case she does indeed give birth? I know I have to remove any dead babies and first run my hands through her poo etc so I dont make them smell like me. And I know she will only breastfeed once or twice a day. That's about it.

Hi,

I just wanted to say good luck with your situation, I understand the comment about the 'judgemental forum' lol. These things happen no matter how hard we try sometimes.

Becky x

Thanks very much! I am so nervous about whether or not I will get babies!

Just went outside and checked on her before I go to sleep and no babies yet she is just sitting down. I am going to bed and will post in the morning - wish us luck!!

Good luck, hope all goes well!

senatorvass wrote:
I dont have any potent males anymore and havent for over a month. Please dont judge me because they were together after he was neutered - I left another forum because they were pretty horrible about it and I can assure you I am not irresponsible.

I'm sorry if this was a response to my earlier post, I truly didn't intend for you to feel judged, but I don't know you, so i just wanted to make sure you knew the risk, which I wouldn't have known pre-forum days. This is not a judgemental place, but a helpful one, and as i said, I hope it all goes well, if there is a birth

Thanks very much again and no worries Jay. I know its hard for everyone to tread the line between being informative and also giving the benefit of the doubt.

Well I couldnt sleep last night for anxiety! She has been checked on twice so far this morning and we cant see any sign of babies. The rest of my motley crew are running around the garden and Angel is being kept in her hutch til we are sure what is going on. I am so nervous. Its either a phantom pregnancy, or her labour has been delayed because of the move from the warren to the hutch, or she had the babies last night and ate them because she wasnt happy with where she was. I feel sick thinking of that. I doubt that is what happened though because although she would have preferred the warren she has been sleeping in that hutch her whole life so I wouldnt have thought she would be THAT unhappy with it. So I just have to wait 24 hrs I think according to my vet and if there are no babies then I will know its a phantom. I am seriously seriously nervous!!!

Sending vibes... how are things now?

thanks! still no news. The poor girl is still in a hutch I hate not letting her run around but the vet said not to as she is worried she will run into the burrow and not come out til after the babies are born. We discovered the burrow is over 2 metres deep into the garden so we are filling it in tonight & tomorrow for their safety.

am thinking of you.. must be a very tense time xxx

please keep us updated xx

I have my suspiscions that this is actually a phantom and I will keep my fingers crossed this is the case.

Yes its phantom vibes all the way.

thanks very much everyone!!! I am very much hoping its a phantom!!! The vet said the stress of moving her nest could delay her labour 12-24 hours so I have a while left to wait. I am checking on her a lot but not TOO much she isnt a cuddly rabbit, my other girl is lovely and will come up to you and say hi and lick you constantly but Angel is a hands off kind of rab and I dont want to stress her out by poking around in her hutch all the time. So I have only checked on her about 5 times today. (still neurotic!!) It seems she has pulled some more belly fur out though.

My Lily bun. who is spayed, still nest bills and plucks fur out. She is a nightmare. Still sending those phantom vibes to you x

I think that buns going through a phantom will pluck their fur too so it might still be OK (i.e. no babies). You've done the very best that you can and now can only wait. Maybe the fact that Celeste got in for a quickie triggered her to go to phantom mode.

She's a lucky bun that you've cared and worried about her so much. Their burrows are huge, I have one that is over 7ft in my back garden which was built by my original bun Holly. She might have built it anyway.

Whenever my does have had phantoms they plucked too, infact their nests were often so poor it's the only inclination I had that it was actually meant to be a nest!

Thankfully they havn't had any false pregnancies since their speys.

On the edge of my seat any news?

No news!! Still no babies so I feel if none by tomorrow it was a phantom and that is being really extra safe & sure!!