Bunny has had unexpected babies, what to do?

Hello :wave:

We have 2 bunnies we thought were both girl bunnies, they were supposedly sisters.

Anyway one of them had been "nesting" and we thought it was a phantom pregnancy, my husband checked them yesterday and there were 4 babies in a nest, we hadnt checked prior to that because we were convinced they were 2 girls.

The babies were all OK, they were alive this time yesterday, we have moved the daddy out, but we havent checked them again, I dont want to disturb them.

Should I go and check them or leave them be, he is going to check tonight when he comes home from work.

We have had them for over a year, well since March 2007, so this has come as a real shock and is probably why we never even thought it would happen.

Oh dear :shock:

If the buck was with her after the birth she could very well be pregnant again, just keep that in mind because if that's the case more will be following.

I would leave them be for now and let nature take it's course. Usually if there are any sick/dead babies mum will push them out of the nest. If you do have to touch the nest make sure you rub your hands all over mum to pick up her scent before touching the nest material. Feed her unlimited amount of pellets and plenty of fresh greens to help with milk production. She will probably eat and drink huge amounts so make sure she never has to go hungry and give her lots of good quality hay.

I would get the buck neutered asap as they will still need to be kept apart for up to six weeks following is neuter.

Was the male still in the same hutch as the female after she delivered? If so she could be pregnant again. Id say dont disturb the nest & just make sure the mum has extra food, hay & water

Yes he was still there. As soon as we found the babies we had to find out which was which (which was a game in itself) although we did have some idea because of the one which was taking all the hay before.

They have been together since birth and we have had them for 13 months, I have never seen them "doing" anything at all. They have never been separated and are looking for each other all the time. They are so friendly and sweet and a pleasure to have.

Do rabbits not start until they are 1 years old? I am sure they must do. I will keep an eye out for some more now we've had this shock but now this has happened I can't understand why it has taken this long. It seems quite unbelievable to me.

We will have to take daddy to be neutured then, but will they be able to go back together ok, will they remember each other.

I find it odd that they have been together over a year and you have only jsut had babies, male rabbits are fertile from as young as 12 weeks and females i think are about 16 weeks. Are you positive you have a girl and a boy? Do the rabbits have free time in the garden? Is there any way a wild rabbit could have got to your rabbit? i would take 'dad' to the vets just to make sure he is defiantely a boy.

I cant understand why its taken so long for the female to become pregnant. Is there any chance another rabbit mated with her or do you only have the 2?

Have you checked the male for testicles? Get him booked in for neutering asap because it can take 6-8 weeks before his sperm dries up. Similiary with the female, once the kits reach 8 weeks you can rehome them & then get her speyed. That should also stop her getting uterine cancer that unspeyed females are prone to.

Yes I find it hard to believe.

We only have these 2 bunnies, they have a massive hutch - one up one down with a run attached which has a roof on (the door is open most days depending on the weather), there is no way anyone else could have gotten in there!

They dont have free run of the garden because they could get out (and we have a dog) hence having a large hutch and even bigger run so they can run and skip about at their leisure.

This is the hardest bit I find to believe - we had them in March 2007 and it has taken this long. There is definitely only the 2 of them, no way could anyone else get in there - apart from it being 500% safe for them I can see them nearly all the time from the window.

I have just been out and fed them and had a quick look in the nest but I cant see anything. I have rang hubby and he said they are definitely there, I must admit I didnt poke around I dont want her to be put off.

It's more the time factor that I dont understand - and makes it more of a shock!

My aunt has two rabbits who they knew were boy and girl yet didn't seperate them

They only had one known litter until a year later when they had another and they were together every day so obviously it does happen. It should be clear which bun is male because he will have testicles and the female will have teats which the male won't have.

I would also be cautious that perhaps your bunny has bred with another male outside of your two, but that's just one possibility. I would also consider spaying your doe once she has recovered from the birth and the babies are weaned. Keep your buck somewhere she can still see/smell him since she will most likely pine for him. As long as you do this they should be ok to go back together. My aunts rabbits was kept apart from her mate for two months and didn't see him for that period of time. She was incredibly aggressive to all of my rabbits should they go past her pen, but when reunited with her partner (he was neutered) it was like thehy had never been apart.

We have separated them in that mum is at the top and dad is at the bottom, he also has the run.

They will be OK to smell each other and hear each other and they will see each other when he goes outside in the run (as he is now as I can see them).

I also went and bought them some new toys yesterday as I feel terrible that they are separated, although I know its for the best.

Until yesterday to be honest we didnt really know the difference between a boy and a girl rabbit. We had never had reason to look or check it out, we just took it for granted that they were 2 girls and have done so for the last 13 months! We have had 2 girls before and everything was fine!

So we only looked yesterday to find which one to take out and yes, I'm afraid she (or he now - that will take some getting used to) does have some tiny testicles.

I still can't believe its taken this long.

Do you think the hutch situation as we have it is ok??

EDIT: Should have also said that mum has teats too (obviously), she was standing at the cage today when I went to feed them (they are soooo friendly) and I could see one in particular which looked like it had had some use. Dad obviously didnt have these.

As long as the Mum doesnt feel threatened then Im sure the set up is ok, though when kits are a bit older Mum & the kits will need access to the run. Good luck with the rebonding. Looking forward to some pics in the near future

Why do you think mum will feel threatened? What can I do so she doesnt feel like that?

It won't be a problem to swap them around as the babies get older, they are really friendly buns, they come to you for cuddles and like being picked up and stroked, they seem quite a secure pair and very very trusting with all of us, including the children. When we sit in the run they come and sit on your lap, they would sit there for days getting a fuss.

We will sort dad out now and get him neutured.

I really hope the babies live now. Hubby built them their hutch and the attached run, he can easily build more, if the babies are anything like their mum and dad they will be wonderful. 6 bunnies is fine with me! I'm kinda getting used to it and really want them to live now.

If we had them all neutured and spayed would they all be able to live together or would that be too many and would they fight? Obviously if they live I'm probably getting my hopes up now I'm over the initial shock.

Once theyre all neutered/speyed you will have to try rebonding. Some peeps will advise you to keep the males separate from each other because of the possibility of fighting but I do know a person who still keeps 2 of her "entire" males together theyre brothers & are around 5 months old & totally bonded to each other (shes saving up to have them speyed) I think you've got the possiblity of having a wonderful group but only time will tell. It has been known for rabbits to live together for ages & then for no known reason to suddenly start fighting. It depends on how laid back the buns are

Just an update, with thanks to those when I was panicking!

Just had a check on the babies, we have only checked once a day when mum has been feeding. There are definitely 4 babies, both mum and dad are black and the babies now have fur! One is black and white, 1 is black and fawn, 1 all black and 1 is a grey colour!

As said before we found the babies on Tuesday, do you think they would have been there before because they have their fur? Their eyes are still closed and they are very lively and very very very cute. They are at the bottom of a very nicely made nest with lots of hay and mums fur.

I have taken a photo but dont know how to put it on here. I will try and see and then upload it.

You need to get a account on www.photobucket.com its free and once the pics are uploaded copy and paste the IMG link into your message x

Thanks, I will do that.

The babies are fully furred and today they have their eyes open.

They are so cute.

Can we all handle them now without any worry that mum will desert them?

They are just starting to come out of their nest and she pushes them back in!

What age can we start to try and sex them? Are there pictures on a website somewhere where we can compare, I dont want this happening again!

Our neighbour wants one and MIL's friends 18 year old grandson wanted two but we are going to keep two, so he can only have 1. I just need to check which ones are which etc, so we can avoid this happening in the future.

I know it sounds daft but a bun on its own has a sad life so if possible let them go in pairs or to people that have one already or on the proviso that they get another from a rescue to with it. There is nothing more sad than a lone bun.

Sex them at about 8 weeks, some people say 6 but 8 to be on the safe side. I'd wait til mum lets them out of the nest til handling them, now she is obviously still very protective over them so best not to touch them yet

Lovely bunnies. Does the MIL grandson know that bunnies can live for 10 years? Its amazing that some people think they only survive for a couple. I would hate to see two of your lovely babies languishing in a hutch with no attention when he has moved on. Have you thought about advertising them on here?

Well just an update, you all know your stuff very well..............

Today we go to let the babies and mum out for a run when we find another baby crawling across the top of a nest. I knew the nest was there but thought it was for the present babies. Then the baby disappeared into a hole! I waited for hubby to come home and see them, there are now 6 newborn babies. I think they had just been born because there was blood on the hay/nest and she was doing a good job cleaning herself.

I immediately took the older 4 babies out which are really cute, and put them in the run and left mum alone to give her some peace. It's my sons birthday today so we had everyone here, I was in a mad panic and then phoned the vets in a mad panic.

They told me to not to put the older babies back in the hutch with her now as they are grazing on the grass and feeding on the Junior Excel which they are fed, they are also drinking out of the water bottle.

We dont have a spare hutch so the babies are in our utility room with a box full of hay and bowl of food and water, etc. But they are without mum. Do you experienced peeps agree with this???

The babies are going to be sexed tomorrow at the vets clinic at 11.30 and I am booking an appointment for dad to be neutered at the same time. Dad was taken out at the first birth and has not been put back with mum so this obviously happened as soon as the first babies were born.

I have sat in the run with the 2 of them so they keep knowing each other for 1/2 hour here and there but they have been supervised the whole time and have not even tried to get up to any funny business.

Dad has not been introduced to the babies.

MIL's friends grandson is 18 and his family (including mum and dad) are great animal lovers, they have a pet duck that sits by the fire and is house trained! Anyway I have since told the neighbour that she cant have 1 because I want them to go in 2's and he is having 2 of them, to be honest I couldnt bear to seperate them, I dont want him to have any but we cant really keep 12 rabbits and I know it will be a great home. They will be house rabbits.

I am going to buy an indoor hutch for the 4 babies in the morning and keep them in the utility room for now, obviously at the vets also tomorrow so another surprise.

The first babies were born at Easter, so they're real Easter Buns and now these have been born on my sons birthday, we'll always remember when they were born!

Do you think mum will be ok? Raising another 6 buns? I really feel for her because these 4 have had to come out and when they were in the run on Sunday and hubby cut the grass she rounded them all up in their tunnel and kept them in there until he had stopped. I am really worried that she will miss them, I know the vet answered all my questions earlier and I have done what he said but is there anything else???

I will try and post up a picture of these 4 in a minute.

Thanks for listening (again)!! :wave:

how exciting,bet you have a lot going on in your house at the moment
It sounds like you are being very responsible and getting the rabbits checked over and Dad neutered,let us know how you get on

if you could i would put mum with the older babies everyday for a feed as in my opinion their to youg to be weaned yet and will run the risk of Mucoid Enteropathies which effects baby rabbits of 6-10 weeks of age. but you can start weaning at 6 weeks.

i cant wait to see pictures... well done to you for booking the dad into be neutered