Babies

Hello

My French Lop, Jessica, gave birth to 5 babies on Boxing Day. It was a surprise to me as I had had my male French Lop, Jack, neutered a few weeks previously (I wasn't told it wasn't safe for them to be together until a couple of days after his op only by calling the vet and asking why Jack was still up for a bit of hanky panky, which I didn't think had produced any results as I had pulled Jack off Jessica).

Anyway, the babies were born and all was going well, Jessica hadn't rejected any babies. The babies opened their eyes at 11 days old and one or two ventured out of the nest to explore the rest of the hutch. On day 12, I witnessed the babies harrassing Jessica for milk and she relented and fed them right there infront of me for the first time, which was amazing to see.

Jessica is an indoor rabbit, and I didn't clean out her hutch until the babies were 14 days old (after approval from my vet, but not the vet who didn't tell me to keep the adults apart!), however, I think I've made a mistake doing this. I kept the nest area exactly as it was, but everything else was cleaned out and replaced with fresh. Jessica was aggitated for the rest of the evening and breathing very fast (BTW, I didn't want to move the babies out of the hutch, nor did I want Jessica to fret about being taken away from the babies, so I worked around them).

Last night, day 15, all of the babies had left the nest area and were ALL harrassing Jessica for food, but she was having none of it, not even relenting and feeding infront of me like the other night. This morning, I went to check on them and 2 of them were still asking Jessica for food.

I'm terribly worried I've done something to make her reject the babies. I have lots of questions here:

1. Is there anything I can give Jessica to make her produce more milk so she has no choice but to feed them?

2. How can I really tell if they're being fed? The babies tummies were round every morning assuring me they had been fed, but now they're getting bigger, I don't find it so obvious to tell now.

3. Is it possible for her to reject after this amount of time?

4. If Jessica HAS rejected them, do I remove the babies away from her completely?

5. What do I feed them?

6. When do they start eating hay / straw? I can't be certain, but I'm sure I spotted one nibbling a bit of straw last night

7. Is it normal for Jessica to kick/thump her back leg as shes moving away from the babies who are up to her asking to be fed? (actually, she did this even if they were not asking, but just exploring the hutch near her)

8. How can I possibly give away all these cute little bunnies???

I'm sorry about all the questions, I am very worried about them now.

Thanks
Lindsey

I think Jessica is starting to wean her babies. Have you seen them nibbling solid foods and hay yet?

I'm not sure, I suspected one of them was nibbling on a bit of hay last night, but I couldn't be sure. They're only 16 days old, isn't that too soon for Jessica to wean??

oh what a mishap - have you thought about sueing your vet for the costs of all new hutches, neutering and vaccinating you'll have to pay for now? - I would be furious with them :roll: Hope it goes OK with mum and babies - let's hope they're all girls and can stay together in a big shed in your garden

Seems a bit early to be weaning them. Keep an eye out for them, but if she's still refusing to feed the kits and they're not confidently eating solids then you may have to intervene and hand rear them, but it's a last resort.
Hopefully she is feeding them just not when you're about and the babies are particularly greedy.

elve - I'm not going to sue the original vet, but he knows and I'm not happy with him and I won't be using him again. I've used him for years with previous rabbits/guinea pigs/dog/gerbils, so I'm very surprised at him. Unfortunately, I cannot keep them all, I will put them out to homes when they are ready, which will be thouroughly vetted by me first. I'm going to keep one though.

IzzyTwig - I thought it was rather early for weaning. I'll watch closely over the weekend for signs of them eating the hay though. Hopefully they're just greedy!

arh do you have any pics?my friend has a british giant who had babies n she used to stamp her feet at them when they went near her.think it was her way of saying its not supper time?im not much use but hope their all ok.x

I do have pics, I hope this works.....

This was taken the day they were born:



4 days old:



9 days old:



13 days old:



14 days old:



Dad Jack:



Mum Jessica:

OMG they're the most adorable bundles of fluff i've seen for a LONG time they GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really hope mum hasnt abandoned them, lots of bunny vibes to you allxxx

Thank you I'm pretty smitten with them all. I hate to give them away, but I have to (I'm keeping one though)

The good news is, that although I haven't seen Jessica feed them this evening, they have all been cuddling up to her for a snooze and she's been happy with that, though she tells them "no" if one asks for food. Also, the one I thought might have been eating hay last night did it again tonight, s/he's definately eating the hay, though the only one to be doing it.

Awww sounds like good news, im pretty sure if she'd rejected them she wouldnt let them nestle with her so it's looking good, perhaps they are ready to be weaned???? I cant remember coz i was 8 last time we had baby bunnies and they were all outdoor bunnies but oh they were gorgeous but coz they were outdoor buns we kept them all lol so i can completely understand why you dont wanna get rid of them.

That's what I thought about the snuggling too, it's very sweet to see.

Believe me, if I had a garden big enough, I'd be keeping them. Thankfully, my mum is taking one, 2 friends are taking, I'm keeping one, which leaves one left looking for a home, hopefully I can find a home where I can visit (secretly supervise my baby? LOL) as often as I can the rest!

Awww if my 2 werent hideously jealous and attacked anything that came near them i'd be begging for one myself i'm sure you'll have no problems getting him/her a home they'll be queuing!!!!

Rabbit's milk is very high fat so they only need to feed once a day. Does their skin look wrinkly or tent if you pinch it? If they are not dehydrated they are probably feeding fine. They will start eating solids now and may start copying mum when she uses the water bowl/bottle.

As it looks like you've been handling them from very early, I think if the mum was going to reject them she would have done it by now.

Tamsin