Rabbits having a phantom pregnancy - again!

[Fliight]

I'm not even sure which one it is!

They have built another nest, this is their second since March...and keep growling and making weird guinea pig style noises.

They also seem reluctant to be picked up to be put in the run, and will try and scratch me when I go to get them in.

Should I leave them be at this time, as they are obviously not feeling sociable...just feel sad they are stuck in the hutch!

Maybe they just need more handling? Please help! Thankyou. (three does btw, mum and daughters)

I also thought about neutering to see if it improved things as they are a bit feisty anyway.

Three does - that's a lot of hormones in one hutch! You definitely need to get them spayed. As well as causing them to become aggressive (not good if three females are living together), false pregnancies can also cause health problems like mastitis. Spaying should stop the false pregnancies occuring and prevent any aggression from developing, and will also avoid health problems in the future (uterine cancer is a big risk for rabbits). Sometimes the nesting will continue after spaying because it's become a habit, but the accompanying symptoms and aggression should subside, as these are hormone related. It's a relatively straightforward operation and they'll be in and out on the same day. You might have to separate after the operations until their stitches have healed, but your vet will be able to advise you if that's necessary - it might be best to get them done at different times. I can't remember exactly how much it cost for mine to be spayed as it was a few years ago, but I think it was about £60 - which means you're in for a big vet bill with three of them! One that's necessary though, unfortunately.

Oh MrsL, that is fantastically helpful - thankyou

I suspected the aggressiveness was hormonal but didn't realise how much depends on spaying them.

One thing I am concerned about, my mother told me never to separate them (not even temporarily) because when you put them back, they would fight each other?

So am worried about the necessity of separating them with the operation.

Or would it not be a problem once they were neutered?
Thanks again for your help. I will be arranging to have them done asap.

It's a tricky business separating them, as the rabbit who's been operated on will smell different and the other rabbits could reject her when she comes back - their sense of smell is very good and they might think she's a threat before they realise who she is. But because they're related and have lived together for so long already, and because she will only be away for a few hours, things should be fine if you handle the reintroduction carefully - i.e. bring the other two inside onto the kitchen floor or in the run, and put the AWOL rabbit in the hutch for a while to pick up the old smell (rubbing dirty bedding all over her will help a lot). Put some greens on the kitchen floor to distract the other two, then bring the AWOL rabbit in and watch them carefully. If there is any aggression, remove her immediately to avoid her getting hurt and try the reintroduction again later on or the next day. If all goes well, just put them back in the hutch and keep an eye on them. The best option would be to get them all done on the same day, so you can take them all in together. But if they're all in the same hutch after their ops you'll need to keep a really close eye on them - one little tiff and some stitches could get ripped out. But if they're quite placid around each other and you keep careful watch, they should be fine.

We have a bonded male/female pair who have been together for 5 years and they've have to be separated a few times for the vets, but we've never had any problems just putting them straight back in the hutch (after the first time we never bothered with the reintroduction ritual - they were so happy to be together again, we knew we'd never have any problems on that front!). It could be different as yours are all girls rather than a 'couple', but rabbits are very intelligent animals and don't forget their cage mates in the space of a few hours - as long as you can mask the scent of the vets to avoid them getting spooked.

Thankyou so much - that is brill. I'm ringing the vets this morning to get them booked in asap - I read that they should be done early to avoid aggression etc becoming a habit, and the young ones must be nearly a year old now. I hope it's not too late.
The shop never told us about this so I'm a bit cross that I thought it was me or the children not being calm enough around them, that made them a bit feisty.
Though I have kept the kids away as much as I could when handling them, because the little one does shout a lot.

Thanks again - will let you know how we get on.

We're currently having the same problem with our unspayed female. She lives with a neutered male, and we're really having trouble finding a vet that will spay her (we're in Denmark). They're insistent it must be our male is still fertile, even though he was neutered 4.5 years ago and they have been together for almost 2, if there was going to be babies there would have been by now
They have also said there is no reason to have it done, which goes against what I have been told by my vet in England, and also what we learned at college (I did animal welfare and management).

They did say if we want to go against their advice and have her done anyway, it's going to cost us around 1600kr (about £160) so we're saving up.

It's also well documented that unspayed females have an enormous risk of uterine cancer. I think it's something like 80% of unspayed females will have uterine cancer by the age of 5, so there's also that reason to have them done. Bit more on that here

Good luck with them, looking forward to hearing how they get on