babies

Rabbits got together, and when we took her the vets they couldn't tell if she was or wasn't pregnant. Offered us a scan but at the cost of £50 when all i had to do was wait another two weeks... I decided to wait and see.

So the vet said we could neut her and kill her babies. But having just lost my own baby, I couldn't take my little rabbits only chance of having babies. As the other boy is neutered now. So its more selfish reasons for keeping her pregnant.

We were begining to think she wasn't until we found lots of fur pulled out and placed in to the nest I had placed in there for just in case. And 4 cute babies. Lucky its a push up lid cages as well as door openings. So we just opened the lid fed the girl, and she seemed fine with us just looking at the babies. We saw 4, but there was a bit of blood. Which I'm guessing is normal. But its in the nest area, and in the main area. When Can I clean it up?

Vet said not to touch them for 3 weeks, yet Breeders said they handle theres straight away and never had problems. Not sure what to do, how do i know if shes feeding them? as shes in the main area of the hutch and hasn't even checked on them.

i wouldent hold them until they get fur unless our very close to the mother i just think its 2 risky

:wave: Someone more experienced will be on soon. What I have learnt from this site is that you only touch the babies in the first few weeks if you absolutly have to. Rub your hands in the woodshavings or bedding first so that you have her smell on you. Rabbits ignore their babies during the day and mainly feed the kitts at night. Their tummy's will be round and fat if they are being fed

My bunny Millie had babies a year ago now and because she was indoors she was used to everything that went on around her and used to us. I was cautious at first to handle them but as i put my hand in her cage she just came over and had a look at what i was doing.

She didnt mind me holding them from the moment they were born and it actually made the bond between me and her alot stronger.

If you are close with her then she should be fine but if she attacks you normally then i wouldnt chance it. The babies are alot friendlier than their parents because of human contact from the beginning.

Good luck and keep us updated. Try get piccies soon so we can see the cuttie lickle babies

I personally would just leave them alone untill they are bigger and hopping around.

I thought your boys were neutered months and months ago :shock:

when my girl had babies 3 years ago i held them straight away but deffinatly rub your hands in your rabbits bedding or liter trey to get her smell on to your hands first this way you arent placing a weird smell into the nest which could cause her to reject them as she wont think their hers (i think thats right :?)

The second litter she had exactly 30 days after the first i got to see being born and she would let me hold the babies up to her to feed them. It was so cute and she always got a big bundle of veg after for being so good. She was an amazing mum. Except one of the 3 babies from the second littere she tried to kill.

I checked on them an hour after they were born and the little black baby was out of the nest and had the tip of his tail bitten off.

I tried to put him back in the nest but Mummy kept pushing him out. So i got a small cardboard box put towels in the bottom and filled it with the hamster bedding you can buy (the fluffy stuff) and some hay and a little of mums fur.

When the other 2 babies were getting fed i would distract mum by giving her veg and held the little boy under her to get fed. Then i dipped cottom wool in luke warm water and wiped him bottom to help him go to the toilet.

He got out to play with his siblings without mum everyday and at 8 weeks old he got to live with them. He is the most problematic rabbit with watering eyes, weight problems and misaligned incisors that had to be removed. But he is so loving and cuddly and i would do anything for him, my little half tailed bunny

Sorry for rambling just a little story to tell about my experience.

So its like she knew the baby was going to be sickly..

Yeh i think so! Rabbits do that though they know if something is wrong and kill them!!

I didn't touch my babies for the first 3 weeks either, howevr I have heard varying stories that its okay to touch them. Still I think go with not touching them unless you have to.

After the 3 week mark we cuddled them all heaps and now they are the most gentle natured human friendly young bunnies ever

Crystal butterfly said:

I thought your boys were neutered months and months ago :shock:

when my girl had babies 3 years ago i held them straight away but deffinatly rub your hands in your rabbits bedding or liter trey to get her smell on to your hands first this way you arent placing a weird smell into the nest which could cause her to reject them as she wont think their hers (i think thats right :?)

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Yes my boys are neutered. Yet my partners brothers is not. :evil:Well it wasn't until a week ago friday. But the babies are cute. I was worred at first when I went to give her more food. i noticed blood all over her mouth an it seemed like more on the floor. I was 100% sure she'd eaten them.

My partner had to stroke her lots, then root in the nest to see if they were there or not. =( He could only find one, but didnt want to spend to much time looking due to her getting a bit nervous.

I dont want to check any more than we have done, but I'm so scared she may have eaten a few. And every time we check she isnt feeding them at all. How can I tell if there not being fed? Cause if she can't be bothered I'm bringing them in and looking after them myself

im not clued up on babies as i have rescue one from two weeks old, as far as im aware the mom only feeds them once a day, and you can tell from the babies bellys which should be nice a plump,

if mom is a nervours sort it could be possiable shes eaten some, you have to wipe your hands in moms poo so you have her scent on your hands, you only peel the nest back slightly and take out any dead ones maybe easier to do while moms away from the babies so distract her with food she will need more food i.e hay and green and plenty of water to keep her strength up for feedin, dont touch the babies if you have to just take out dead ones and leave mum to it, it may look like shes not feeding them and is not interested but if you see a baby with a plump belly she is feeding

its not easy hand rearing kits spesh from new born type in the search bar for more info theres lots on here about handrearing

You do need to check and clean the nest because if there is blood there that will attract flies, and also you want to make sure all babies are being fed and are alive and have no complications.

I would suggest taking mum out for that and giving her some treats, then after touching her, quickly check the nest. If you think mum might be problematical about you touching them, you can then put a drop of vanilla above her nose so that she can smell only that and by the time that wears off the babies will smell ok again.

You need to check them daily to make sure there are no problems. Once they have been fed (which will be 24-36 hours after birth) they will look like they swallowed ping pong balls. If this doesn't happen then you may need to intervene.

I have always handled any I had since the first or second day and never had any problems. Its very mythical that the buns will reject their buns and try to kill them if handled, that happens if they are unsettled for whatever reason, so you can limit that by making a big fuss of her and making sure its not a stressful event for her.

FudgeMallow said:

The second litter she had exactly 30 days after the first i got to see being born and she would let me hold the babies up to her to feed them. It was so cute and she always got a big bundle of veg after for being so good. She was an amazing mum. Except one of the 3 babies from the second littere she tried to kill.

I checked on them an hour after they were born and the little black baby was out of the nest and had the tip of his tail bitten off.

I tried to put him back in the nest but Mummy kept pushing him out. So i got a small cardboard box put towels in the bottom and filled it with the hamster bedding you can buy (the fluffy stuff) and some hay and a little of mums fur.

When the other 2 babies were getting fed i would distract mum by giving her veg and held the little boy under her to get fed. Then i dipped cottom wool in luke warm water and wiped him bottom to help him go to the toilet.

He got out to play with his siblings without mum everyday and at 8 weeks old he got to live with them. He is the most problematic rabbit with watering eyes, weight problems and misaligned incisors that had to be removed. But he is so loving and cuddly and i would do anything for him, my little half tailed bunny

Sorry for rambling just a little story to tell about my experience.

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This story is so sweet! It's clever how u got the rejected one to feed without mum knowing, and you are so lucky she was trusting enough to let you handle her babies or this may u may not have been able to raise the rejected one! I guess she must have known that this bun would be ill and weak and so saved her milk for the stronger ones she knew would survive. It never fails to amaze me how animals know their babies are ill etc!

Accidents said:

Yes my boys are neutered. Yet my partners brothers is not. :evil:Well it wasn't until a week ago friday. But the babies are cute. I was worred at first when I went to give her more food. i noticed blood all over her mouth an it seemed like more on the floor. I was 100% sure she'd eaten them.

My partner had to stroke her lots, then root in the nest to see if they were there or not. =( He could only find one, but didnt want to spend to much time looking due to her getting a bit nervous.

I dont want to check any more than we have done, but I'm so scared she may have eaten a few. And every time we check she isnt feeding them at all. How can I tell if there not being fed? Cause if she can't be bothered I'm bringing them in and looking after them myself

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I hope they are ok and she hasn't eaten any, how disturbing, i know they somtimes do this when they are confused and do not accept them, but find it so scary! vibes for mum and kittes

We peaked again today, and we couldn't see any babies. So I rang my Rspca vets and they refused to give me advice, as they don't agree with breeding. So I had to ring another vets who were kind enough to help me. Adviced me to get a small towel rub it all over mum, and then check the hay with the towel. So we did, and only found on grey/purple rabbit, and one pink one with half an ear bitten off. So i rang the vets again, and she said to remove them as it sounds as tho shes eaten the other two.

So we took the nest out and found the other two rabbits at teh bottom. Two are pink, one is a very very dull pink. And one is completely purple/grey. And at least 2 of the rabbits have half an ear bitten off. and its very noticeable. So the vet said the grey/purple one will most likely die.

I'm going to leave them with her, and just keep checking on them. I'm not comfortable with the idea, but the vet knows best I guess. I am going to buy some goats milk for them just in case the grey one doesn't gain a bit of pink by ether tonight or morning. (going to see what advice you guys give, and see what my partner says when he gets home)

Should I try hand rearing the purple / grey one? or just let him die? I am at home at the moment due to my baby dying so i have nothing else to do. So time isn't a problem. I really have no idea what to do, I dont want any of the babies dying

No, the vet does not know best. Rabbits have pigmented skin, so most likely the purpley gray one is going to be a dark colour, like maybe a blue, the lighter one may be a lilac, the pink ones may be white. Don't try and hand raise them unless the mum is definitely not feeding and you definitely can't encourage her.

If they have half an ear missing then it implies she has over groomed them. You will need to watch for signs of infection in those wounds.

I would suggest putting them in a nest box (something the mum can hop in but the kits can't get out of).

Have they been fed?

It might be you can take the next box away from mum and return it just for supervised feeds. They shouldn't be fed anything other than mothers milk unless there is absolutely no chance of her giving them milk.

It might be worth coming onto this forum and looking at this litter. http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=40979&forum_id=8&page=1 You will have to register. You will see how these babies developed and the skin colour and also that they are all ok despite being that colour.

Are all yoru kits moving and wriggling the same?

the baby with part of it's ear missing might be fine. there is a lady on here called Jackie Stone who has a bunny called Stumpy, and his bun mum overcleaned his ears and he's fit and healthy

Oh my gosh im so sorry.

From the storys ive heard about hand raising with goats milk most babies have died as its hard to find a substitute for rabbits milk (although goats milk is one of the best)

If your rabbit is nice enough to let you touch her then give her something that will distract her long enough to hold the babies upto her to get fed as long as they get fed they should be fine. (big bowl of veg/fruit or more of her rabbit food. You will need to increase mums food so she can produce enough milk)

This could maybe encourage mummy to fed her young. If you are removing them bring them inside and make a nest. I used a cardboard box as it kept in the heat. And use above method to feed for atleast 4 weeks when you can start weaning them. once their eyes open at 10 - 14 days give them a tiny bowl of rabbit food as they start to try eating solid food.

If you need more help or have questions im happy to help.
Good luck