Sociable doe suddenly very cranky

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 3sd replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 11 months ago by LBJ10.

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- 05/19/2015 at 7:37 PM
  JuliaD
  Participant
  13 posts
  My year-old mini lop, Chestnut, has been the absolute most wonderful little lady when it comes to being handled. Anyone could touch her anywhere, she never even minded the way her previous owner’s young daughter played with her ears and carried her like a cat, as long as someone was touching her and giving her attention, she was happy as a bunny could be! Well, until about a week ago…
  
  Since breaking through the baby gate separating her from my recently neutered holland lop buck, Jackson, and bonding overnight (what a shock that was to wake up to) her mood has been declining when it comes to people. Their first week together was fine, she still let me pet and snuggle her, though she was a little more distant. I figured it was because she was more focused on building her relationship with Jackson. But then I left for a trip and my mother texted me about how crabby Chestnut was and how she wasn’t letting her touch her or even put her hand near her. Our first guess was that maybe she didn’t like the smell of cigarettes on my mom’s hands. But when I got home today, she wouldn’t let me touch her either. She grunted at me and swatted my hand away when i went to rub her cheeks (which is normally her favorite thing in the world.)
  
  My suspicion now is either:
  A) She’s pregnant and moody because of that (they bonded only 3 weeks after Jackson was neutered)
  B) She’s stressed from the heat and doesn’t want to be touched by anyone (she’s been rejecting Jackson’s cuddles too)
  
  anyone else have thoughts?
- 05/19/2015 at 8:54 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17238 posts
  So she’s not spayed? My first thought is that she is either pregnant or experiencing a false pregnancy. How long ago was this? Has she done any nesting activities yet? If Jackson had only been neutered for 3 weeks when you put them together, it is very possible he still had sperm in there somewhere. Even if she isn’t pregnant though, being introduced to a male can trigger a false pregnancy. Either way, it sounds like you will be on baby watch. Were you planning on having her spayed? If this is a false pregnancy, this is likely to continue to be a problem until she is spayed. Her hormones are probably going crazy and that could cause a behavior change like you have witnessed.
  
  If not to avoid false pregnancies in the future, I still want to encourage you to get her spayed. Unspayed females have a ridiculously high risk of developing reproductive cancers.
- 05/20/2015 at 10:47 PM
  JuliaD
  Participant
  13 posts
  Thank you for the response, LBJ!
  
  My original plan was to keep them separated by baby gate until she was spayed and recovered, and we were going to schedule her surgery for after I came home from my trip so I wouldn’t be worried about her recovering at home while I was away. But she broke through the baby gate and that was that, I guess.
  As for false pregnancy, she’s had 3 before and none of them were anything like this. Nobody even knew until there was suddenly a big pile of fluff lining her entire cage one morning. She never had any behavioral changes as significant as this. She might’ve muttered grumpily at toys or her food dish or Jackson, but she’s never gotten aggressive toward a human until now.
  I just got back from giving the buns their evening greens and found that she was nesting pretty feverishly which is worrying because it’s only been 15 days since they’ve been together and I don’t know if this is just an extreme false pregnancy or if she’s getting ready to abort or what’s going on. It’s exciting and terrifying.
- 05/21/2015 at 12:05 AM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17238 posts
  Did the other false pregnancies occur before she had contact with Jackson? How long were they able to see each other through the baby gate before she broke through?
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