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need urgent advice about surprise litter

Luciuslop

Alpha Buck
Crystle ( my latest addition to the family ) surprised me yesterday moring with 2 babies :shock::shock::shock: I had no idea she was pregnant and the people I took her from were not honest enough to tell me - that probably why they were so keen to get shot of her :evil: Consequently, not being in possession of all the facts I have done everything wrong :( I am so angry with the previous owners :evil::evil:

Three days afer she arrived she had a mixy jab. Will this have harmed her or the babies in any way. I wanted to have her spayed, but given the fact she was so grossly overweight I wanted her to lose some weight beforehand. So, I put her on a diet, which was the worse thing I could have done.

She is bonded with a buck, who was obviously still in the cage when the babies were born sometime during the early hours of Fri morn. I have removed him - so they are both now really unhappy at being alone.

I have no experience with rabbit mums and newborns. Is there anyway I can tell if they have been fed or if she is producing milk ? Should her nipples be swollen or enlarged ? They look normal to me. I checked the nest this morning and both babies are wriggling and warm. I rubbed her soiled bedding and fur on my hands before I peeked. If they have not been fed how long can they survive ?

Do I need to keep her away from her mate entirely or can they go out in the run or run aroud the house together ?

I am so worried and seriously in a panic as feel very inadequate and scared that my inexperience could make matters worse. Any advice would be appreciated. Thnx in advance.
 
gosh that is a shock.mum only feeds babies twice a day so wont see her do it.babies that are fed are usually fat and plump like sausages:oops::lol:. iv never noticed nursing does to have large teats but some might be different.is the male neutered?if yea,i cant see a problem them being together as long as he doesnt get to the babies n mum doesnt seem panicky around him.hope this is of some help.x
 
:oops::oops: forgot to add that because she has been on a restricted diet when I increased her dry food rations and also a slightly larger portion of greens it all went straight through her and she had a dreadful bad bum this morning - had to shower her off, but didn't use any shampoo just water. Will this be affecting her milk production ? She has unlimited hay. She doesn't seem to be drinking much ...... I expected her water consumption to increase.
 
What dried food is she having?
Until her guts settle you will need to be careful not to overload her.
What veg are you giving?

Some Fibreplex may be useful to give her. If you can locate any Blackberry leaves the you can give her those. They will help settle her guts.

Janex :)
 
What dried food is she having?
Until her guts settle you will need to be careful not to overload her.
What veg are you giving?

Some Fibreplex may be useful to give her. If you can locate any Blackberry leaves the you can give her those. They will help settle her guts.

Janex :)

She has the PAH nuggets and small portions of kale, carrot, spinach, rocket, watercress, parsley, basil, corriander, broccoli, cauliflower, celery - obviously not all at once and I usually just feed 1 or 2 types of veg together. She would usually get nuggets in the morning and veg in evening. Hay is available ad lib. Haven't got any fibreplex, will be Mon before I can get any from vets. The only blackberry bushes around here have been contaminated by traffic fumes. I may be able to get some tomorrow.

Since the babies arrived she has only had the nuggets plus kale, carrot and 3/4 chunks of celery. At present she is eating some hay, I have removed her nuggets untill this evening. Is this ok ? I won't be giving her any veg.
 
oh dear what a shock for you - but don't panic I'm sure she can manage fine to feed them if she's not stressed too much - If she's not used to veg then don't give her any at all - I doubt her previous owners did by the sounds of them :roll: New veggies must always be introduced slowly, a mouthful at a time over 2 weeks gradually increasing the amount, unless you're sure the rabbit has had them before. I'm sure she'll be healthy enough on dry food, hay and water, and you never see them feed the babies as they ignore them to deceive predators about the nest. P@H nuggets are the same as excel I believe, which can upset some rabbits tums, so you could slowly introduce science selective if you have any, just a few nuggets a day increased over 2 weeks.

MAIN THING - if the boy isn't neutered she will very possibly be pregnant again, and no they mustn't be allowed to play together :(
 
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oh dear what a shock for you - but don't panic I'm sure she can manage fine to feed them if she's not stressed too much - If she's not used to veg then don't give her any at all - I doubt her previous owners did by the sounds of them :roll: I'm sure she'll be healthy enough on dry food, hay and water, and you never see them feed the babies as they ignore them to deceive predators about the nest. P@H nuggets are the same as excel I believe, which can upset some rabbits tums, so you could slowly introduce science selective if you have any, just a few nuggets a day increased over 2 weeks.

MAIN THING - if the boy isn't neutered she will very possibly be pregnant again, and no they mustn't be allowed to play together :(

She is used to having small portions of veg, but I suspect the tummy trouble is from my increasing her dry rations. She has been on a diet for the past month since I got her and is used to tiny amounts of dry food. I didn't give her a huge portion of nuggets, just a slightly larger portion as I was worried it might upset her system. But, I guess even that was enough to upset her.

Her man is neutered - he is not the father. I am assuming the father is the dwarf lop the previous owners have.

She is being very relaxed about the whole thing ..... I am the one in a panic :oops: Fortunately she has a good relationship with me and is quite happy for me to go into her cage - but I have made sure she is not around when I check the nest.
 
oh that's a relief she's not pregnant again - phew! :lol: great that she's only had 2 babies as well - who knows you might relax and enjoy it soon :D I would just house her and her hubby in adjoining pens so they can lay next to each other if poss - hope it goes well for all of them now :)
 
I didn't know Holly was pregnant till I discovered the babies in the nest :oops: I pretty much left Holly to it.. she didn't eat that much more than she did before but she did drink a bit more than usual for a while. As you can tell from my sig she did a grand job bringing up Sweep and Blue ;)

I put my boy in with mum and babes after about 2/3 weeks I think... but then Sooty is an exceptionally calm bun and loved playing dad..(and still does 2 years down the line;)). I let them all have some supervised time together before I let them live together though, just to see how they all reacted. The babies loved Dad, they cuddled up to him and only went to mum when they were hungry.
 
Someone very kindly sent me a pic of a what a day old well fed kit should look like and I'm afraid Crystle's babies are nothing like that :cry: They are wrinkled and their bellies are empty, so I doubt she has fed them since they were born. However, she is producing milk, so I sat her on my lap on her back and put the babies on one at a time. She wasn't keen, but tolerated me doing this. Both babies have now had a feed and look like frog babies - which is how they are supposed to look. They were both very hungry, one baby tried to suck off my fingers. I do so hope that now they have had one feed mum will have got the idea and feed them herself. I am so worried I literally feel quick sick and shaky and feel like bursting into tears - but that wouldn't do anyone any good.

Any more advice much welcomed.
 
oh I think you did a brilliant job considering it's all new to you - well done :shock: as they only get fed once or twice a day in the wild don't worry about that, but she should also be stimulating them to toilet by licking their tummies, so you might need to gently rub their tums if she completely ignores them - but hopefully she'll get the idea tomorrow, although with all the disruption it's possible it could all end in tears - just do another feed tomorrow and try not to stress her any more today or she might even kill them :(
 
oh I think you did a brilliant job considering it's all new to you - well done :shock: as they only get fed once or twice a day in the wild don't worry about that, but she should also be stimulating them to toilet by licking their tummies, so you might need to gently rub their tums if she completely ignores them - but hopefully she'll get the idea tomorrow, although with all the disruption it's possible it could all end in tears - just do another feed tomorrow and try not to stress her any more today or she might even kill them :(

Thnx for the reassurance. She's just lying chilled out at back of cage at present, nibbling on some hay. She is still fur plucking and making another nest next to the one with the babies in. What does this mean ? I have put the fur on top of the original nest, but then she went and plucked some more again.
 
maybe more babies on the way? Sometimes they stagger the birth I've heard, 2, then 2 a few hours later. I'd leave her to get on with it and maybe check late tomorrow. you only really want to check for dead ones as they'll cool the nest down. If you poke about too much she might abandon them or kill them . :(
 
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