Rabbits give birth thirty-one days after breeding. If this is your first pregnant rabbit, your best bet is to provide her with a nest box and wait until her due date passes.
A nest box is a sturdy wooden box an inch or two larger than she is when she crouches down, with a roof and an opening about three to four inches off the ground for her to enter through. Fill it with straw or hay, and soft shavings or paper. If she knows what she's doing, she'll make a nest in the box a day, two days, or an hour before she gives birth, and have the babies in it. If she does nothing thirty days after she could have been exposed to the buck, she's not pregnant.
If she has babies, she'll need unlimited pellet feed until the litter is weaned, at six to eight weeks, then the litter will need unlimited feed as they grow. The day they arrive---the day you see movement under the fur she spread over the nest---you'll need to count the babies, pull out any blood, dead ones, and placentas, and quickly put the nest back. Handling the litter won't make her kill the babies, but stressing her could, so be quick about it, and leave her alone as much as possible for the next few days.
Instead of a nest, the doe might make a haphazard pile of fur on the wire, with the babies wandering around on the cage floor or the ground. If this happens, make a nest in the box, using the fur, and put the box in the cage where the doe had put her sloppy nest. The babies should all be quite warm, about 98 degrees, so if they've been wandering and lost their body heat, you'll need to warm them thoroughly before you put them in the nest. If the doe scatters the nest after you fix it, you'll need to rebuild the nest, take it out of the cage, and bring it to the doe so she can nurse twice a day, until the babies have some fur on them and can survive a night in the open. This is how often wild rabbits nurse, so they'll be fine.
At about twelve days, they'll start to open their eyes, and soon after, they'll toddle around the nest, and out of it. Keep an eye on young babies outside the nest; they might not be able to get back in.
Good luck!
2006-12-29 06:34:25
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answer #1
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answered by Rachel R 4
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when a rabbit is pregnant she starts pulling out clumps of hair and becomes very protective of her cage. maybe she isnt making her nest because she doesnt feel pergnant at two months she should start becoming farley large in her hips. the best thing to do would be to feel around her tummy to see if it feels larger, softer,harder i would also take her to the vet to make sure every thing is alright
2016-03-28 23:23:08
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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weight gain, nesting, nipples will start to show, she may not want to be held, even if she liked to be held before, an increase in the appetite also, and if in with other rabbits, may fight with other rabbits that it normally got along with
2006-12-28 19:27:18
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answer #3
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answered by Anonymous
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Your rabbit will start requesting all sorts of weird foods only found on the other side of the city.
Or you could go see a vet.
2006-12-28 19:27:00
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answer #4
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answered by Anonymous
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The belly will get bigger. If the belly is mushy, that's fat. It it's hard, the rabbit is pregnant.
2006-12-28 19:32:32
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answer #5
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answered by gregory_dittman 7
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