False Pregnancy
by Savannah
(Washington)
I have an unspayed rabbit that I got five or six months ago (I'm not sure how old she is), and even though she's had absolutely no opportunity to become pregnant, in the last month she's started exhibiting every one of these signs, especially being grumpy and digging (it can get annoying at 2am :P). Yesterday she moved every single piece of hay in her cage into her cubby, and today she started pulling fur.
I was confused and thought she was just acting odd until I found this article, and started looking into false pregnancies in rabbits. It was really helpful and now I know why her behaviour changed all of a sudden and how to deal with it. Thanks :)
***** Karen Sez *****Thanks for sharing. :-)
It's amazing how easy it is sometimes for rabbits to experience a false pregnancy, especially during the springtime. But the hormonal changes in the rabbit wear themselves out by approximately day 17, and the rabbit goes back to normal.
BTW: if you're trying to breed the doe that is in the midst of a false pregnancy, she will be unable to conceive. You'll have to wait till the hormones return to normal, within 2 1/2 weeks, and then breed the rabbit.