Wednesday, May 12, 2010

How can you tell if a rabbit is pregnant? How long would the pregnancy last? & would a vet need to be involved?

Not knowing the sex of my 2 rabbits they've been kept in the same hutch and today i caught them 'at it'.





Not experienced with rabbits so just after some advice really on how to tell if its pregnant, how long it lasts, do i need to contact a vet, if it was to have baby's does they need to be examined by a vet etc etc.





ThanksHow can you tell if a rabbit is pregnant? How long would the pregnancy last? %26amp; would a vet need to be involved?
My rabbits had babies around March. I was just like you i had no clue about them either,but now i do. It takes rabbits about 27 to 32 days to have their babies. They can also be pregnant with two littters at one time. In one side of her stomach she can have one litter and on the other side she can have another litter forming. After she has them take her and her babies away from their dad immediately if you don't he will bite and kill them. Keep the mom and babies separated from the dad for about 3 to 4 weeks. When they are 5 and a half to 6 weeks old you can give them away. If you reunite the mom and dad to have more babies get ready. Mine had more babies after 5 weeks. If she is pregnante she will be like 5x the size of the other rabbit. No you don't have to have them examined by a vet either. For instance my rabbit she had 9 babies but 4 died. 2 died because she didn't have enough milk for all of them. The other 2 died because they weren't healthy and she ate them. If they are not healthy the mom will eat them beacuse if she doesn't when it gets older it's brother and sisters will be mean to it. Put some straw or something in their cage and if she's pregnante she will start building a nest to have them in and she will start buildung this about 3 weeks early and the night before she has them she will pull out her own fur and put a lot of it in the nest to keep them warm, because when they are born they have no fur. Hope this helped :)How can you tell if a rabbit is pregnant? How long would the pregnancy last? %26amp; would a vet need to be involved?
The expectation dates for rabbits are 28-35 days, they can be a little later depending. You normaly cant tell a rabbit is pregnant until 3 weeks or so then you can see the size change in them, also around 5 days or so before the litter is due they will always be laying down panting and stuff acting like its realy hot out even if it isnt. Some rabbits will make their nest early up to weeks sometimes even. But the real way to tell is anywhere from the same night to 20 mins. or even less before they have their litter they will act very busy going in and out of the hutch and start pulling hair for the nest that she will have the babies on. Rabbits can do everything on their own no vet needed, most of the time you cant even tell when the have them because it takes so little time, and it will normaly happen at night


hope i helped good luck :)
they need to be seprated soon because if the female is pregnant the male may kill her or the bunnies once they are born. How old are they? under a year old I take it? Also if they are both males one will kill the other. rabbits are very territorial. gestation is 28 to 35 days but normaly 30 or 31. I would seprate both of your rabbits and put a nest box in with both of them as you don't know which or if one is female for a few weeks just to be on the safe side. most rabbits you can't really tell if they are pregnant just by looking at them and they tend to eat about the same amount too. they will sometimes eat less a day or 2 before delivery. some will build a nest a week ahead of time while others wait till the last min. A vet shouldn't be needed. It is very rare for rabbits to have trouble and they are normaly ok on their own but the bunnies won't always make it and may be still born if born late but thats only happened to me once.
Just because they were ';at it'; doesn't make one a female.


You should first figure out the sex of the rabbits:


http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/se鈥?/a>





If you determine one is female and the other is male, you should get separate cages for them.


This is a site to help you care for a pregnant female and her babies, it will also answer al of your questions:


http://www.kindplanet.org/rabbitbabies.h鈥?/a>
You can get a vet to find out if your rabbit is pregnant. It is 29-31 days. Go to http://www.rabbit.org/care/babies.html to read. ON the 28 day or 27 day put in a nest box and put in some straw in the nest box. But first put the boy in a different cage. As long as the babies are healthy than no vet after
A vet should not have to be involved, should everything go smoothly. In certain cases, you might catch her giving birth and you MIGHT have to assist her- usually, you should just leave her alone for an hour or two and everything should go fine.


Get them in separate cages ASAP. if she has them she can be rebred immediately by the buck, causing complications for the first litter.


You will want to have a nest box in there as soon as you get her in her own cage- just because you caught them today doesn't mean today was the breeding date.


The only way to tell if she is pregnant is too palpate her. you will have to get her on a flat surface, hold her face with one hand, and reach down into her midsection and feel for little grape sized forms- you will only be able to feel these at 11-15 days, though, then they will usually be carried further up inside her. A few days before and leading up to birth if you watch her belly sometimes you can see, or feels kits moving- sometimes you can't. It all depends on the person- I personally can't palpate and just wait out the due date after a breeding.


Birth will normally be in 28-35 days, but, like I said, just because you saw them today doesn't mean he hasn't got her before.


If you want someone to look over your kits to make sure they are healthy, I would contact a breeder in your area instead of going to a vet. Breeders are often more knowledgable about rabbits, and won't cost you $300.
I'm not sure but i don't assume a vet needs to involved during birth or before.





We brought a pregnant guinea pig and the first time we found out was when it gave birth, and it did it all by it's self. It was getting fat, but we never thought anything of it. I assume rabbits are the same. Just when the babies are born take them all for a check up.





Most animals give birth all by themselves in the wild so they should be able to do it as pets too.





EDIT: When you got them you should have been told their sex, but their are plenty of websites to check like http://www.debmark.com/rabbits/sexing.ht鈥?/a> and you should ready find out cause if they are young they shouldn't be breeding. If you take them both to a vet, He/she would be able to tell you if ones pregnant or not and what sex they are. you should start breeding rabbits when they are about 7 months old. The gestation period is about a month. And if they are brother and sister, they need to be kept separate cause they shouldn't be breading as it may lead to complications.





Most of the information is on the net so just have a search





Try these for more information on rabbit breeding and sexing


http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/se鈥?/a>


http://www.rudolphsrabbitranch.com/sexin鈥?/a>


http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/care/bree鈥?/a>


http://www.petmag.co.uk/rabbits/rabbitbr鈥?/a>





Just to warn you too, Does often eat the babies

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