Hay Gathering?!

[Bindilicious]

Bindi has lost it!  She is gathering hay in her mouth and then trying to pull the downstairs fleece blanket up to the 2nd floor of her kennel.  Sorry I didn’t fix her eyes, I just wanted to post.  Now she is gathering up her shredded newspaper, too.  Does anyone know what the heck she is doing?  

 

 

[Bindilicious]

She seems a little frantic and I cannot for the life of me figure this out.  She hops up to me and I pet her and she seems to want to be groomed.  She just sits there with the hay in her mouth and lets me pet her.  I have no idea what the heck is going on.  

 

ETA:  Okay…when I noticed this behavior, I had just put Bindi to bed with her little scoop of pellets.  Then I noticed she kept looking at her hidey box outside of her kennel.  So I let her back out and she took a mouthful of hay to her hidey box.  Now, she is in there scratching around like she is building a nest or something.  I guess she is just playing house in her hidey box and bringing stuff from the big house to make it more comfortable.  

[Barbie]

Has she been spayed yet? If not, maybe she’s going through a false pregnancy and building a nest?

If she is spayed, she could just like making a nest for herself Keep an eye on her though, maybe she’s not feeling well and trying to find a comfortable spot?

[Bindilicious]

Barbie, she has not been spayed yet (waiting for tax refund money).  Do they often have false pregnancies?  I had a cocker spaniel that had false pregnancies – lactating and everything! – and after she was spayed returned to a normal happy dog.  I’m keeping a close eye on her.  Thanks for the post!

[Andi]

Pulling fur and gathering hay to make nests is very common of unspayed females. My little lady did both before her spay, the hay gatherings kinda cute, fur pulling not so much.

[LucyTwoBunz]

Gulliver does that too but he in neutered.  It cracked me up the first time I saw him do that.  He also “nested” in one of his boxes but doesn’t do it too much these days.  Hopefully your not dealing with a false preganacy…doesn’t sound like fun!  Good luck…

[Bindilicious]

Thanks Andi and Lucy!  She also is “plucking” at her fleece bankies – this is done with a mouth full of hay and it is so bizarre!  I ended up putting her hidey box in her kennel with her and she has been working most diligently on her nest.  But shhhh!  I think she has calmed down for the night.  She is lying up in her loft in the “lamb chop” position, so hopefully she’s done for the night!  The bunch of hay in the mouth is really cute – when I first saw her doing it, I pulled it all out of her mouth because I thought she somehow had it stuck there.  Stupid human – then she had to go bather it up again .  Thanks guys – going to bed!  Night-night

[Bindilicious]

This morning she is pulling her fur out.  Do they do this when they are shedding?  She really is all splotchy looking and could use some pulling and shedding, but I have brushed her and kind of plucked at the hair and it doesn’t come out.  I’m confused .  If it is a false pregnancy, do I need to do anything or just let it run its course?  

[Karla]

There isn’t really much to do than hope you get the tax refund soon But it is a stressful time for her, and you need to keep an eye on her.

She may be more prone to aggression during this period, also some rabbits will during a false pregnancy develop a decreased appetite and have gastrointestinal disturbances as well.

I don’t know, some dogs collect socks et.c as babies when they go through false pregnancies, you might give her small stuffed toys as babies though I am not sure if that will in fact prolong the period. You can check if it stresses her more or less to have the “babies”.

[Bindilicious]

Thanks, Karla.  I thought about giving her “babies”, but I worried she would rip them to shreds and put them in the nest .  I got her from the shelter and when she was brought in last Nov. she delivered 4 still-born kits so she has had at least one litter that we know of.  She was a year old in Feb.  Poor Bindi!  She does seem stressed, but she is letting me pet her more and I was pulling the hay out of her mouth last night and she just sat there.  Bindi has lunged and growled at me for looking at her wrong so maybe pregnancy mellow her out or scares her to death.   Thanks for the advice and I will see if she wants a “baby” to take care of.  

[jerseygirl]

I’ve heard they can be more aggressive when experiencing false pregnancy. What you’ve said though make me wonder if false ones run the same length as real ones i.e. 1 month? Had she been little touchy in the month leading up to this nest building?

[Bindilicious]

JG, actually Bindi and I have been getting along famously since I gave her the kitchen .  She seems to have calmed down a little, not so frantic, but she looks like the Velveteen rabbit at this point (well loved).  She has little bald patches where she pulled her fur out for her nest.  They are pale pink, but not inflamed and on top of that, I think she is having a spring shed.  Should I be concerned about her bald spots?  Hopefully, she is through yanking it out now. 

Here is a picture of Bindi’s nest.  I feel really sorry for her and her invisible babies – kind of sad

 

[Balefulregards]

Coco did this exact same thing with the 2 false pregnancies I saw her go through before the spay- and Frantic is the perfect word for the behavior.

The bald spots will re-grow.

And I’m glad she has calmed down. There is really nothing you can do for her during this time, as it is all hormone driven.

And this is an aside, but I noticed that Coco’s false pregnancies coincided with my cycles. This could be purely anecdotal, but it seemed truly strange to me that both she and I were having Growly PMS symptoms at the same time.

I do know that after watching her have those, it made my decision to spay her even easier ( I was also saving money for 2 months). You just don’t want to see your beloved bun have to go Through all that!

[Bindilicious]

Baleful, thank you so much!  I’m sorry Coco went through this, but I’m glad someone can tell me it’s okay – she will be fine after her spay and her beautiful fur will grow back.  Thank you for the words of encouragement and even my hubby who was a little iffy about the whole spaying thing is on board now after seeing her in all her fur pulling, hay carrying action.  I just want to scoop her up and hug her and tell her to slow down, it will be okay.  We’ll get through somehow.  Thanks again!

[Barbie]

Hugs and vibes for Bindi!

[Bindilicious]

Thank you, Barbie!  She has been pretty calm for the past couple of days – I guess the “nest” is complete and we are waiting for the “babies” now.  Poor little girl!  I can’t wait to get her spayed – although that’s a terrifying thought, too, but I know it is the right thing to do.  I had a little cocker spaniel/chihuaha(sp)  – talk about a hyper dog and she stopped breathing under anesthesia during her spay, so I have a difficult time with this, although I have had 3 dogs spayed since then.  I know you guys will be a great support system for Bindi and I when it’s her time for surgery.  Thanks again!

[Dust Bunny]

Dusty’s been gathering hay in her litterbox, there’s probably like half a inch of hay in it, i was hoping she was still eating the hay in there so I didn’t take it out yet but I’m pretty sure she hasn’t been eating it. She’s only 2 and a half months old tho, surely she’s too young to be nesting?

[Author]

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