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My Rabbit has just had babies. What do I need to do??

Peggy & Oscars' mum

Peggy & Oscars' mum

Young Bun
I have been trying to find out if or when the hutch could be cleaned, or if I can clean at least 1 part of it out....Can anyone help???? My rabbit gave birth Friday night / early Saturday morning. Any help would be really usefull, Thanks
 
Hello. Have you managed to peak at all? If the nest is dry and the babies are alive and well then leave it be for now. Has dad been removed?
 
If the nest is in the bed area you can clean the other section of the hutch if it's very dirty. Give her 24-48hrs to settle first though. The nest can be cleaned once the babies start emerging at about 2 weeks old.

Tam
 
My husband has had a look in & he thinks there is possibly 3 babies & he says the nest seemed dry. We removed dad as soon as the babies were discovered (yesterday morning). He had a peek at them this morning & says there seems to be a separate nest at the back of the 'bedroom' he's not sure if anymore are in there or not, we daren't keep looking in just in case mum doesn't like it...Would they all likely to be born into one nest or could there be 2 nests??
 
Sometimes more than one. If they are both in the bed area and well covered it should be fine.

If dad was in there when mum gave birth you could be expecting a second litter in 4 weeks (might want to add a note to your calendar).
 
Very pleased you've joined. This forum really is wonderful. Just want people to know that 'Peggy & Oscars Mum' took in two brother rabbits a few weeks ago that weren't being cared for and is very upset about this. Turned out to be male and female.
 
about 4 weeks.

Once the babies are about 8 weeks they can be moved from mam and seperated into male and female. Females can stay with mum if you don't have the space.

Edit Again: Sorry just thought if your Doe is pregnant again you will have to remove your current babies from mum before this happens, so 3 1/2 weeks. They can survive without mum from this time and should be on solids. There are others on here who have been in the same predicament, it is workable.

If you do a search on babies you will find masses of info on here

EDIT, ive asked for this to be moves somewhere else, it will get more responses somewhere else
 
Last edited:
This happened to me. I didn't take the babies out until after the second litter was born. Then I let mum sleep with the newborns at night and the other babies during the day. I may have just been lucky but mum rabbit did not become stressed and she managed with all kits. I hope some-one comes by with more info soon.
 
Hope everything turns out well, if you do move babies remember to rub your hands in the nest/fur to get mums scent on you :) Where in staffs are you? xXx
 
Lynne18 said:
This happened to me. I didn't take the babies out until after the second litter was born. Then I let mum sleep with the newborns at night and the other babies during the day. I may have just been lucky but mum rabbit did not become stressed and she managed with all kits. I hope some-one comes by with more info soon.
Click to expand...

ive been looking through post to find you and what youd did, as as I couldn't remember your name.
 
Plese do not remove the babies until the second litter arrive just in case you are lucky and another litter does not arrive. If more babies arrive then put mum with the babies overnight with some time in the day time, she can then spend time with older babies for the rest of the day.

I have successfully managed with rabbits / babies which have come into rescue on a number of occassions this way.
 
I'd see how mom handles the old babies when the new ones arrive, I've known one rabbit to have two litters in the cage at once:roll: The eldest babies where about 7-8 weeks old when litter two came I believe (accidental mating obviously) but not all rabbits are that good mothers...

If they do have to be separated, please don't give away the babies before they are 8 weeks. A baby rabbit needs more than milk to get a good start in life, if they're taken away from their siblings and home before their immune system is properly developed the chance of illness later in life increases, so its best that they stay in familiar surroundings with a bacteria flora they're used too.
 
Hi,

We have looked in on the babies today & they seem fine-we have only seen three up to now but haven't been messing with the nest so there could be more. Peggy (mum) seems ok too she is eating & drinking plenty so thats good. Oscar (dad) is in a hutch opposite Peggy (as advised by vets) so they can see each other & he has ate & drunk more today so thats good as well. Just keeping fingers crossed that everything is going to be ok.

We have been the vets with my 2 baby Guinea Pigs tonight who we thought were both girls.....again turns out they are a boy & girl, yet when we originally had them they both 'looked below' like girls so again am a bit upset today.....but what ever happens there is no way I will just give them to a pet shop or dump them at a rescue centre. They are all my responsibility now & I will sort it out one way or another. I just feel so silly that this has happened - really upset.
 
Don't worry about this. It's not your fault. Makes you realise that you can't trust what people tell you about the sex of small animals. The guineas are tiny so you might have been lucky. Glad that Oscar is a bit better today.
 
Three years ago I got two mini lops from a breeder that were 2 boys. The vet checked them at 8 weeks when they were vaccinated and he said they were both males. I took them in at 5 mths to be neutered and was told one was female. So I was really lucky there were no babies as they had been together all the time. Good luck with your babies. Pam
 
It is scary how often pet shops get it wrong. The guinea pig thing happened to my mum.:( Another reason why pet shops should n't sell live animals I guess.
 
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