Help Please

Our rabbit just laid 5 babies. One is dead and 4 are alive. The dead one was at the front of the nest and in searching for the others I have disturbed the nest and handled them. I've put them all back but what else do I need do? Do they stay with her? Do I need to bring them inside? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Bubz

Am sure someone else will be along soon who knows more, but I think you should just leave her too it, if you have to handle them (if they are out of the nest) make sure you rub your hands in her wee first so that they still smell like her otherwise she may reject them.

I think she will only feed them once and at night, they should have full round tummys and shouldn't be crying. Its amazing what you can learn from this forum!

Helen x

Also make sure you remove the male if she is still with him or she could be pregnant again already x

Pipstrel said:

Am sure someone else will be along soon who knows more, but I think you should just leave her too it, if you have to handle them (if they are out of the nest) make sure you rub your hands in her wee first so that they still smell like her otherwise she may reject them.

I think she will only feed them once and at night, they should have full round tummys and shouldn't be crying. Its amazing what you can learn from this forum!

Helen x

Click to expand...

Thanks Helen. They did have round tummys and were lovely and warm. She had covered them all in fur and I tried to put everything back as good as it was before. Will she sort it back out the way it was? I'm soooooooooo excited and yet really scared that I might have done something to harm them!!

Kayleigh

I'm not sure but I would suspect she will look after them herself. Just keep peeking at them to make sure not are out of the nest other than that I would leave her to it. You can always distract her with food when you check the babies!

Thank you. Will do!!

Kayleigh x

did the baby have any marks on it? the male rabbit hasnt got access to them has he?

I didn't really have a good look at them. I panicked a bit coz i didnt know they were there. I just saw the dead one, couldnt hear any movement and thought they were all dead. The male rabbit is now in a different hutch. By marks do you mean cuts, as if he'd attacked them? If so, then NO they looked fine!

Kayleigh
x

Yeh thats what i meant, just that we rescued 2 young rabbits a long time ago and were told they were both female... one was actually a male, cut a long story short the female was pregnant and had her kits overnight 2 were killed by the male before we knew she'd had them and the remaining 2 ended up needing alot of veterinary attention for their wounds.

ps congratulations by the way!!!

we didnt even know she was pregnant until today. I thought that it was a bit of fur, then as i touched it i knew it wasnt fur, as it was cold. Hopefully fudge will do all the work now and feed them.

Is it okay to ask a couple of questions regarding the babies and the mum?


Kayleigh
x

Ask away i'm sure you will be able to get the answers here you could also try searching to find other threads about babies, kits and litters

What do you mean by searching other threads. Do you mean on the internet?

What should i be feeding the mother?
When should the babies be feeding for themselves? What food should they be given?
The babies are still in the nest, but she keeps putting more hay in there. How will she know where they are so she don't kill them?

Any other advice you can give regarding the stages of them growing?

bubz said:

What do you mean by searching other threads. Do you mean on the internet?

What should i be feeding the mother?
When should the babies be feeding for themselves? What food should they be given?
The babies are still in the nest, but she keeps putting more hay in there. How will she know where they are so she don't kill them?

Any other advice you can give regarding the stages of them growing?

Click to expand...

If you click on the search button on the green strip at the top of the forum you can find either old threads or posts which should have some info on them. I'll try and find you some in a mo.

As to mum you should I think maybe be feeding her a bit more. Does she have pellets at all or a rabbit mix? make sure she always has plenty of hay of course

They will feed from mum for a good few weeks, can't remember when they should be weaned. I'll try to find that for you too, the babies can have pellets when they are old enough and then veg should be gradually introduced with small pieces over a number of days, again i'll find out what age this is.

Don't worry i'm sure mum is just trying to keep them warm, she should be able to find them ok, she'll prob just ignore them until its time to feed them. Are they in the bedroom part of the hutch?

i'll come back when i've found some links for you!

You can get her some special food from pet stores, just give her a good balanced diet. She will feed the kits and as long as you dont handle them to start with then really the best thing to do is let her bond with them and sort them out

Ye. They are in a box with loads of hay and her fur i guess. She has rabbit pellets and i have also given her cabbage, carrots and apples, that she seemed to eat straight away.

It is as if she is ignoring them which i am worried about. Maybe i have disturbed her. Can/will she disown them?

Thanks alot.


Kayleigh
x

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=110641&highlight=litters this is one thread I have found.

Just continue feeding mum what she was having before you don't want her to get an upset stomach, but maybe just give her more pellets.

From what I understand mum rabbits do tend to ignore their babies and will just feed them once at night when its quiet, just check them in the morning to make sure that they have nice round tums again and are not crying, they should be quiet as if they are crying it means they are hungry.

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=113474&highlight=kits

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=109380&highlight=kits

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=107005&highlight=kits

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=104654&highlight=kits

Thank you ever so much for that information. I am going to sent a note to the people who have had babies and ask them if there is any more information that i need to know about in their experience. I will post pictures as soon as it is same for me to touch them....around 2 weeks time....as i do not want to cause a threat to mother or baby. I will keep everyone updated over the next couple of days.

Many Thanks to everyone and there information.


Kayleigh x

Mummy rabbit will ignore them as she'll want her own space, as long as she's letting them feed, this is usually only once or twice a day. They'll start eating solid food at around 3 weeks, possibly earlier, but generally that is when mum will start to wean them off milk, by 6 or 7 weeks they should be eating solids for themselves. Make sure there is plenty of hay available and food suitable for young rabbits, easy enough to buy from pet shops. Of course lots of fresh water too. Avoid lots of greens, as they're ok for mum but the babies digestive systems won't be able to cope with it yet. They can be weaned onto greens at around 3 months.
If she does disown them or if any die she will kick them out of the nest, and don't worry about her killing them by accident or anything.

As for handling the babies if you have a good relationship with the mum she might not mind, but as a precaution wait till they're a bit older and rub your hands in the bedding to make your hands smell like rabbit when you do.

Between 8 and 12 weeks the babies can go off to new homes, plus the bucks of the litter will need to be separated from their mum and sisters to prevent any more babies.

Good luck.