palpating rabbit

[that's*satyrical]

So the bunny is either about 2 weeks along or about to give birth any minute or not pregnant at all (if neither breeding took) according to breeding dates. So we took her out to palpate & her belly feels very round like a balloon & her nipples feel very prominent. I was unable to feel any babies or movement though. Ideas? I may have felt movement but if I did it was so faint it could well have been my imagination.

 

[brentr]

I'd opt for either about to kindle or not pregnant. If she is carrying a good size litter, it is possible you might not feel any distinct kits since it is such a mass of bodies inside her. Sometimes I can feel the whole kit - head and body if they are laying just right. Palpation at 14 days would be the "grapes" that everyone says the kits feel like.

I personally have never paid any attention to the doe's nipples as an indicator. Rabbits aren't like goats or cows - they' don't "bag up" prior to kindling. I don't know that I'd read a whole lot into her nipples, but that is just me and I could very well be wrong.

If you suspect she's close, get a nest box in. Don't want kits scattered on the wire. How she reacts to the nest box will clue you in as well. If she is very close, she'll start making a nest, carrying straw/hay around the cage in her mouth. That is a dead giveaway that she is pregnant.

Good luck!

 

[that's*satyrical]

cool there is hay in the nest box & i did see her carry it around in her mouth a couple times.