Pregnant rabbit - What to do!

Briefly: I have an 8 month old pregnant rabbit and I need some advice on how to either assure that she will care for the kits or advice on hand-raising the kits. I do have some information at hand, having looked at a couple of articles over the net. But I also have specific questions that might be better answered in a forum.

I’ll try and make it as short as possible, but I tend to write a lot and I have a bunch of questions.

A couple of days ago, me and my sister purchased a 7 months old female rabbit from a breeder who was selling out her rabbitry. This rabbit, Honey, was supposed to be a retired breeder. Maybe we should of been even more careful when selecting her, but we trusted the breeder (we’ve bought two other rabbits from her).

Thing is, Honey is HUGE. And, the next day after getting her, we started wondering. I checked her lower abdomen and she does have lumps. Some articles on the net mentioned grape sized lumps... well they are bigger than that. We called the breeder, she won’t take Honey back. But we also love this rabbit so much. We’d been eyeing her since August. She’s a pretty large sized harlequin lionhead.

Honey's history
Back in early December, the breeder had told us Honey was pregnant and soon to give birth. We were interested in the babies and came back a week later. Honey had successfully given birth to five babies, but she hadn’t pulled out any of her fur and they had all died. (The breeder said she had been away on vacation and the person taking care of the rabbitry hadn’t acted quickly enough to save the babies.)

Predicament
We’ve never had a pregnant rabbit before and Honey might not even be able to take care of her kits when they are born.

Goal
Do our possible to assure the kits and the mom survive.

What we’ve done so far
We bought a few supplies (all which can be returned to the store): KMR kitten powdered milk replacement, a bottle and some nipples. We also placed a typical nesting box inside the cage. (We don’t know when she’ll be giving birth and she might not even tell us by pulling out her fur! So yes, it might be way too early for the nesting box...)

Questions

BEFORE BIRTH
1- Should Honey not be handled anymore and/or let out to play?
2- Is there any way to know how far along Honey is in her pregnancy? Maybe by the size of her embryos?
3- If Honey doesn’t pull out her fur, how will we know when she’s about to go into labour?
4- How much hay should we have put in the nesting box?

IF MOM DOESN’T PULL OUT FUR
5- Is Carefresh bedding (along with brushed out rabbit fur and hay) a good substitute to the mom's fur?
6- Is using other rabbits’ fur safe?
7- Should we actually cut some of the extra fur from the mom (she IS a bushy lionhead)?

AFTER BIRTH - IF MOM IGNORES KITS
8- What are the vital signs to check in the kits?
9- If we cannot milk Honey, is KMR a good milk replacement?
10- Is a small bottle (with nipple) just as good as a syringe?

11- Is there anything else we need to have at hand in case of an emergency?

Thank you very much!

- Gen

1- Its okay to handle pregnant rabbit, but be very careful so you don't harm the kits, especially when the pregnancy is nearing an end. Pregnant rabbits should not wear harnesses As for coming out to play.. I'm not quite sure about that, can't help but think it must be boring for the bun to sit in its cage all day, pregnant or not:? I've let out rabbits a few days before giving birth (didn't know they were pregnant) and they did fine

2- ..the time she was bred? Last been with a male? They go pregnant for 28-32 days, but I don't think there's any way to guess how far it us unless you know when she's bred. Most people have troubles finding out if she IS pregnant at all before actually giving birth.

3- Some does pluck their fur about a week before giving birth, others just before the kits arrive, so there's really no way of being sure. I've only seen a rabbit in labor once, she sat hunched over her nest while at the same time getting it ready. When I returned an hour later there were 6 healthy kits in the nest (including my boy Sasuke)

4- How much indeed...how to you measure hay? :lol: Some rabbits pick their own hay and carry it in, so I'm sure she'll add to it herself if she doesn't feel its enough. Remember not to give her any greens when she's building a nest, or it may end up part of the nest, then it might rot and make the kits ill.:?

5- I don't know what carefresh look like so I have no idea... I've never experienced a good mother NOT plucking fur so I have a hunch if she doesn't do it, she might not even care for her young:?

6- I somehow doubt it... Once again, never seen it happen, but it could give off a strange smell on the nest.

7- You can pluck some stuff of her belly. THAT I now I read somewhere:lol: After giving birth the fur falls of quite easily.

8- That they are fat and healthy. If they scream and squirm too much, it might be a sign that they're hungry (crying for mom)

9- I don't know what that is. Sorry I've heard some use cat-milk. But young rabbits have a much better chance of survival if they have gotten the raw milk from mom, which she only produces some hours after birth.

10- Depends on how big the nipple is. Baby bunnies have very small mouths

11- Good homes for the kits:lol:

Hiya,

Often rabbits do better the second time around

If she doesn't make a proper nest then added extra hay from her chest/stomach will help. Where is her hutch/cage? I don't know what the temperature is like where you are but if it's chilly you could bring her inside then the nest won't be so vital.

The kits should have big fat bellies and be sleepy and content. They should look like fat sausages. If their skin is all wrinkly that's a sign they are dehydrated and not being fed. It's normal for the mum to only feed once a day for a few minutes so it's unlikely you'll see her nursing or with the kits so don't jump to the conclusion she's abandoned them too quickly.

If mum is producing milk but not caring for them the best option is to get the kits to nurse from her. To do this hold her so she's sitting up or on her back (which ever she's comfortable with) then hold the kits to her so they can latch on and nurse. You may need to take the nest/kits away from mum and just do this 2-3 times a day.

If mum is not producing milk then you'll need to hand feed. You'll need very tiny nipples to go with the syringe as the babies are very small. For example this kits or similar: http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=26&pf_id=3685

I've heard goats milk (full fat) recommended over kit replacer although people use that successfully to. You'll need to do 4 feeds a day as replacer milk it's a strong as rabbit milk.

Another option is to find someone with a rabbit also pregnant that you can foster the kits on to. The kits will need to be rubbed in the dirty bedding before placed in the nest to make them smell right.

Leave handrearing to the absolute last resort. Unfortunately successfully hand-rearing from birth is very difficult and tends to be heart breaking. I handreared a litter from 7 days and only one of five made it

Thank you you two for the quick replies! I will keep everything in mind as the days or maybe even weeks go by. In the mean time, I'll concentrate on figuring out what's wrong with my other rabbit! Aaah, animals, they're just like children really!