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Please HELP Surprise litter! Clueless!!!

cimada

Young Bun
Please help, My apparently not male rabbit, which i only adopted a week ago, has given birth to at least 4 babies, but i didnt know, and i was cleaning the cage and lifted the cardboard box, but she had dug a hole in it and two babies fell out. but not from too high, they seem ok, but then i had to put the box down at the other side as i couldnt put it on top of them, and i used a scoop to put them back in so i didnt touch them, but one of them is still quite exposed, i have no idea what i am doing please help me. they are inside, will i need a heat lamp? I had just put some old clothes in the box to keep her warm, but this was before i knew. She seems to stand on them as well, is this ok? I cant hardly make it a proper nest now, with a towel etc, after she has given birth can i? Please help! :?
 
Did you adopt her from a rescue?? :?

I dont know what to advise as ive never had baby bunnies :( I hope someone comes along to help you soon xXx
 
Hi there. I have no experience of baby rabbits either but from following other recent threads I believe that if you provide plenty of bedding material, hay & straw, the doe will make a nest with it along with her own fur to keep the babies warm, I don't think old clothes are ideal but leave well alone now. If you have to touch the babies, only to be done in an emergency situation, first rub your hands on the mum and her bedding so that you do not leave your smell on them. Ensure mum has plenty of food, hay and water and leave her to it. She will only feed once or twice a day, perhaps only at night and otherwise may appear to ignore them. Check on the babies daily while the mum is distracted by food but don't touch. Hope this helps and that someone experienced comes on soon. Good luck.
 
They don't need a heat-lamp unless you want to boil them.
As long as they have a nest they won't be cold.
The mother may appear to be standing on the babies when she feeds them.
You're not supposed to make a nest, the mother should, and if she doesn't...well then she's not a very good mother I'm afraid.
For the record, a rabbit nest is a pile of hay and rabbit fur. The babies will be buried under it. I've seen some rabbits have more open nests when its warm and buries the babies when its cold. (Aroma filled up her nest box with straw, fur and sawdust:roll:)

Here's an example of a rabbit-nest:
Baby_bunnies_in_the_nest_by_Usagi_Zakura.jpg


A good mother will care for her babies herself, so its best if you let her be.
Don't be afraid if you never see her feed them or just ignores them, you rarely do, as she only feeds them a couple of times a day. If the babies have round bellies they are being fed.

If the babies look skinny, or the mother hasn't made a nest, you may have a problem on your hands.... Not all rabbits are good mothers sadly, and hand feeding them is extremely hard...
 
omg cimada i just came on and saw your pm. I hope you dont mind but i am just gona provide a little more background.

This girl pmed me last week to say she got a rabbit from a breeder. I live in the same sorta area so she was pming me for info on vets seeing my thread when i freaked out at my bun not eating after neutering.

Ive no idea who the breeder people are. But she said in Pm that she got one of the 1 year old rabbits because she felt sorry for him. HIM these rabbit "breeders" told her he was male. Could these be neglectfull rabbit breeders then? Or are rabbits very difficult to tell the sex of. I know that the babies are but at one year youd think an experienced breeder could tell. My point is did these people decieve you to get rid of this rabbit?

So you have had a rabbit a week and it suddenly had babies. I feel so bad for you and i hope you get help on here. I am sorry i am so useless as i am new to all this too. That other thread where that guy had babies was very good there shud be lots of advice on there.

I thought you were having the rabbit neutered last week? Or was that meant to be this week?
 
Mum (named wyatt before she transgendered) is fine, i noticed she is protective so im sure that is good. there was one baby i thought was quite exposed after the initial mix up, but she seems to have put more fur on it, so she seems to be looking after them. I hope they are all ok. As long as they are inside, i think they will be. .. .
 
I thought you were having the rabbit neutered last week? Or was that meant to be this week?

No that was supposed to be this friday! but I guess that will be postponed! and a slightly different operation from before! They seem ok now so I hope they will live! Let me know if your still looking for a dwarf lop! except i dont know who it bred with. . . its a surprise. so long as they are warm. Ill keep you updated. :)
 
No that was supposed to be this friday! but I guess that will be postponed! and a slightly different operation from before! They seem ok now so I hope they will live! Let me know if your still looking for a dwarf lop! except i dont know who it bred with. . . its a surprise. so long as they are warm. Ill keep you updated. :)

it will mean a spay not a castration... which will be a bigger op but more essential for a female. it wil involve removing the uterous as this stops future litters calms hormones and prevents uterine cancer this must not be done until babies are completly weaned as she neds to provide them with milk. at 8 weeks they can be rehomed and by 12 weeeks males/females need seprating..young rabbits are very hard to sex though at 1yr old they should be well formed and easily sexed. there is a good thread on sexing buns but i cant find it.... however..... if you contact a local rescue they will help you sex them or a good rabbit savvy vet.. note a good savvy vet important as when young missexing is actualyl quite commen depending on how quickly the buny develops.
make sure mum has extra food and babies wil in time start picking at her dinner, mum ca stay with the girls after 12 weeks but the bys will need a new area. try not to touch the nest if at all possible although cleaning outa dirty enviroment is needed.(ie the wee/poo corner)

try and ensure plenty of water too and add an extra water bottle for when babies get older.

once you have got them to 8weeks and are considering homes try and put together a fact sheet and ensure you home check.. dont give away free to good home(unless oyu do a home check) as some people will sadly take them on and neglect tehm as want for a child to keep... or feed as reptile food.

for now let mum do her thing. when the rhomeing time comes nearer give us a shout or a rescue adn we will help you with your criteria to ensure a god home x
 
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Could these be neglectfull rabbit breeders then? Or are rabbits very difficult to tell the sex of. I know that the babies are but at one year youd think an experienced breeder could tell. My point is did these people decieve you to get rid of this rabbit?

There is no excuse for a good breeder to not be able to sex a rabbit at eight weeks - by a year a rabbit either has testicles or it doesn't and they are very obvious when you know what you are looking for. :?
 
There is no excuse for a good breeder to not be able to sex a rabbit at eight weeks - by a year a rabbit either has testicles or it doesn't and they are very obvious when you know what you are looking for. :?

I agree. Normally I can tell sexes pretty certain at 6 weeks just by looking at a few school rabbits, but if you can't tell at a year...How can one even breed rabbits and not being able to tell the sex?? Put two random ones together and hope they're male and female?
 
Some pics of babies!

Hopefully this works, here is some pics of babies now, all four lived :D I didnt want to be annoying them taking photos too young but here they are now, 3 weeks old, out and about loads, very curious! :p
Keeping one as company for mum!
HPIM5176.jpg


HPIM5177.jpg


HPIM5183.jpg


HPIM5191.jpg


HPIM5186.jpg


HPIM5187.jpg


HPIM5196.jpg


HPIM5195.jpg
 
They are seriously beautifu! I would post those piccies on the Photo thread - you will get more viewing and going 'awww'. Plus, you might even get someone offering to rehome one or two - they are very cute!

It is good that you are keeping one as company for mum, if you keep a girl that is meant to work better I think...how much that is true I'm not sure. Maybe start another thread and ask?

They are very lovely, well done on keeping them alive, whatever you did was obviously the right thing!

Emma
 
aw they are adorable is it lovely having little buns in the house or hard work? i got told buster was a boy but that was confimed at about 3 months when he started getting his pink lipstick out standing against the cage and started spraying when ever i went near him. good luck with the rehome x
 
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