Hello from Honeybee.HELP-BABIES!

Hello.
We have unexpectandly had 3 babies from our young loinhead Strudle.

She, who we thought was a he was bought around a month ago to be a new friend for Mozart our other lionhead , who after coming down with an ear infection and coming to live inside for a while while he made a full recovery was then rejected by his long time male parner Snowbutton a Nertherland dwarf , who is prone to be aggresive.
After many attempts at re bonding we decided to get him a new friend as he was so lonely but hadnt anticipated a girlfriend.

Strudle now lives in my daughters bedroom, and up until last night Mozart was outside in the daytime and back with his friend in the evenings.
We had planned to move them both outside but Strudle was very nervous and difficult to handle .

Anyway yesterday in a total shock we found 3 babies wriggling around in a very precarious part of the bedroom underneath the rocking horse and a sort of blow up toy.

Mozart was subsequently banished outside and is very depressed! and the babies are wriggling all over the carpet.

Just been upstairs and they are wriggling all over the bedroom so got a llarge carboard box and scooped them up in a dustpan(gently) together with bits of bedding .There is some shavings in the box and a bit of nest and thats it!

I have sellotaped a lip to the bottom so that strudle can jump in and out.

I know that I have messed with them more than I should , but I havent touched them and couldnt have them rolling everywhere.

There doesnt seem must nesting though-I there any thing else I could leave down - there is straw and hay elsewhere in the bedroom.

Also would it be a bad idea for Mozart to go up at night the other side of a wire gate so that they can touch noses and still see each other , or would that be too much stress(they have done it before)!


Update tonight_Babies getting messy in shavings.Have a horrible feeling mum might neglect them now!
Many thanks.Any advice very much appreciatted.

Sorry, can't give you much advice on the babies but hopefully someone will come along who can.

Definitely don't let them have contact through the wire, as she may become pregnant again. Should warn you this may already have happened if Mozart was in with her for any amount of time after she gave birth.

Firstly, I would not have the babies on shavings. This will not only irritate their skin but will also cause respiratory problems. It might help if you put a luke warm (Not hot) hot water bottle in the box and place some towels on top. It may be that mum does not know what to do with the babies but your first priority is keeping them warm.

There is also a very, very high chance that your doe could be pregnant again if she was with the male rabbit just after giving birth. You should give her extra greens to help with her milk production and see if she tends the babies. If she is feeding them they will have round bellies, but if she isn't they will look very wrinkly and feel cold to touch. You could get hold of some kitten milk in an attempt to hand rear but success is not very high.

When taking in a rabbit I never take peoples word for it when it comes to their sex...it's important to check them yourself or at the vets.

Don't worry about mother neglecting them I am a breeder and handle all my rabbits including day olds everyday as long as they have rounded stomaches and are warm and sleeping well they should be fine you could try it with the gate thing It shouldn't cause much stress if they are used to it pm me if you need to

As for the nest itself I've done some googling and some say cottonwool is okay to use - as long as you use something to keep them warm and keep them well fed

The mother may only feed them a couple of times a day, so don't panic if you see her away from her kits, just make sure mother has plenty to eat and drink

I hope it all goes okay x

Thank you so much for replying to me.

If feel so worried that I shouldnt have moved them ,but they were getting all around the room.
The shavings seem like a bad idea and they are moving around on the carboard box looking neglected, but I cant move them again or remove the shavings.
I know they are now in the hands of fate but I dont want them to be neglected.

I have some cotton wool and a hotwater bottle .Shall I put a towel down?Should I touch them to see if they are warm?

They seem so wriggly and full of life ,but I am not sure she likes the box-I didnt know what else to do.?

What area do you live in?

I am in Somerset!

Any advice re making a little nest with cotton wool or warm water bottle.thanks

emily92000@hotmail.co.uk said:

I am in Somerset!

Any advice re making a little nest with cotton wool or warm water bottle.thanks

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I would put on a pair of rubber/plastic gloves, rub your hands in mummies poo and make a nest with hay and if you can find any of mummies fur around and put that in, gently put the babies inside the nest and put them where mummy can get to them

When she feeds them she will just stand over the nest and the babies heads will come up and attach to her nipples and feed, she will feed for 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes in the evening, but she needs to be somewhere quite and free from stress, don't put the daddy anywhere near her.

Hope this helps

I read that the most important thing for newborn buns is to keep them warm, if they get cold they will die.

When my mummy bun made a nest to have her babies she made the nest out of straw and hay and her own fur of course.

Can you put some soft hay in round them and find something soft like cotton wool as someone suggested earlier.

What does everyone else think.

Then tomorrow if they haven't been fed you will need to feed them with a dropper.

Many thanks snowy. I can do that with the hay , but the little shavings I put down will have to stay .Could I rub the cotton wool in too, or wouldnt you recommend?
How can I check in the morning if she has fed them-Is there any way of telling?
I love your retreat picture.Thanks.
Chris

emily92000 said:

Many thanks snowy. I can do that with the hay , but the little shavings I put down will have to stay .Could I rub the cotton wool in too, or wouldnt you recommend?
How can I check in the morning if she has fed them-Is there any way of telling?
I love your retreat picture.Thanks.
Chris

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That's OK, you could put a small amount of cotton wool in but personally I wouldn't, so long as there is plenty of hay and make it round and it will be fine, hay will be warm for them, has she plucked any of her fur out anywhere?

You can check the nest in the morning and all their tummies should be plump and they should all be snuggled up together, unfortunately if mummy doesn;t feed them the chances of you hand rearing them are zilch!, they are incredibly hard especially from new born.

This is a nest I have at the minute with 3 babies in, it's usually covered with a thin layer of hay and mummy does that

Ive had a similar problem. i bought a 'Male' to befriend my other male and found 5 pink babies on her cage floor. She wasnt feeding them and kept standing on them and i didnt want them to die so i phoned my vet and he said that he could give me some powder to make a substitute milk (cant remember name) but its not the same as rabbit milk. So he said take the babies out of the cage and place them in a thick cardboard box lined with a towel, shredded paper and small animal bedding bought from my local pet shop, and hay. I then kept the box next to my bed, which is next to my radiator and if it felt cold in my room i would fill up a hot water bottle with hottish/warm water and place it under the box. I checked the babies every hour and for feeding i was told to hold a baby (one at a time) up to the mothers stomach and let them feed. i gave the mother a treat, like a big bundle of veggies to keep her occupied while i fed each individual baby until they had fat plump tummies. I Then dipped a cotton bud in warm water and wiped the babies bums to help them pee (which is the mothers job)and then i returned them to their nest. Once they started getting bigger and opened there eyes i put them in a small cage filled with hay and they were the most loving rabbits ever.

Unfortunately mummy had more babies as she got pregnant after she gave birth. she cared for her second litter. it must be a first time mother thing!!!