Bunny fur in the cage?

by Tammy
(Texas)

Hi, this is Tammy from Texas again. Ok, we found a beautiful female Himalayan rabbit about two weeks ago. People in her neighborhood say she was hopping around for a week or two prior but would not let anyone pick her up until she hopped up to me. No one claimed her from the posting at the animal shelter. We bought her an indoor rabbit hutch and have her nicely set up in our sunroom. This afternoon I went to clean out her bottom tray and she has pulled a bit of fur out. Could she possibly be pregnant? This is an indoor hutch...will she have enough room? What size nesting box would she need? I am definitely out of my element now. Thank you.

****Karen Sez****
Yep, pulling fur is definitely an indication of pregnancy. But, does experiencing a FALSE pregnancy also pull fur.

What to do: Since you don't have any idea if or when she was bred, you might assume for now that she might be pregnant. If so, she'll need larger living quarters and a nest box...

Is she a Himalayan the breed (3-4 pounds) or himalayan-marked (more like 10 pounds)? The smaller rabbit will do fine with a 30"x24" cage or living space, and the larger rabbit could use a cage that is 36"x30" in size, in order to raise her kits. Since it's indoors, you might could put heavy plastic down, and use something like plywood to fence off a corner of the room for her to live in for now (as long as there are no pets that might harm her or the kits).

She'll need a nest box that is only a little bit bigger than she is: 8-10" wide, 6" high, and 16-20" long - those are roughly the dimensions of most rabbit nest boxes. (The commercial ones are actually 10" deep at the back and 6" deep in front.) You can use a 6" deep plastic dishpan for now - but it'll need to be secured in one spot so the doe can't flip it over. Prepare it according to the directions at our Rabbit Nest Box page.

After that, it's a waiting game. No telling when she could kindle. But, if no babies in 2-3 more weeks, then it was a false alarm...

Good luck, and enjoy your new rabbit,
K