Help with new babies please...

Im not sure if this is the right section to post in (please move if not)
I have a litter of 4 in the nest at the moment. They are now 6 days old.

I have 2 questions...First- At what time are the babies 'safe' from being attacked/killed by mum?
Second- When can I clean out the whole cage including the nest?
I know it wont be for a while but cant seem to find any posts relating to it

Thanks x

Hi there,

Why do you feel that the mum bun may hurt/kill the kits? Is she doing something to make you feel this?

It's generally best to just check them twice a day and leave mum to care for them. You'll know if she's feeding them because their bellies will be pink and round. You may not see her feeding them though or spending much time with them, this is not unusual. Mum buns only feed once or twice a day.

I wouldn't touch the nest at all until the kits start to wean. You can clean mum's area now though if you like.

Good luck!

Crazylady said:

Im not sure if this is the right section to post in (please move if not)
I have a litter of 4 in the nest at the moment. They are now 6 days old.

I have 2 questions...First- At what time are the babies 'safe' from being attacked/killed by mum?
Second- When can I clean out the whole cage including the nest?
I know it wont be for a while but cant seem to find any posts relating to it

Thanks x

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I do not think that they are ever 100% safe from being attacked, but once they leave the nest they will have less chance of intentionally being killed.

It's 4-5 weeks they leave the nest at, to explore and feed on mum's pellets etc. Ours were coming out at 3 1/2 weeks! I have photos of them sitting next to a minute food bowl I put on for them, but it looked HUGE complare to them :lol::lol:

You can clean the nest out a this point. You can clean the cage out around the nest - just don't spray any petsprays etc. Leave the nest until they move out of it though.

Once they are confident in moving out of the nest, you can start handling them and pop them in a wicker laundry basket with the top covered or similar, in a safe place (away from cats) whilst you clean out the nest.

One thing to remember though is that kits can wiggle out of the nest and fall down ladders, etc before their eyes open. If you find a kit out of the nest, rub your hands in the rabbits dirty bedding, pick the kit up, warm him (as they freeze to death!) using a luke warm covered hot water bottle (or pop him inside your top) then place him back with the others in the nest.

Mum moves poorly kits out of the nest, so if you find the same one is out of the nest a lot this could be why.

Awww I miss having baby buns.. ours grew up into marauding monsters! :lol::lol: They are delightful!

BTW: APH I looked at your site, and am fascinated! I was curious as to why they don't eat slugs etc as they do in the wild in the UK? What do they natively eat in Africa? :wave:

aussiebun said:

Hi there,

Why do you feel that the mum bun may hurt/kill the kits? Is she doing something to make you feel this?.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply...she is not doing anything to concern me...in fact she seems to be doing a grand job, its just that after much reading it was something that I was aware of that could happen if mum got upset or disturbed too much..just trying to do the best by her

linzi1loveanimals said:

BTW: APH I looked at your site, and am fascinated! I was curious as to why they don't eat slugs etc as they do in the wild in the UK? What do they natively eat in Africa? :wave:

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Thankyou for your reply.

They can eat slugs and snails but the only problem is that here we use soo many weed killers, plant foods, slug pellets etc that you can never be sure if a slug would be safe to eat They do eat a variety of insects-mealworms, waxworms,crickets, beetles etc...
In the wild it would be much the same....bugs and the odd bit of meat or berries. The APH's are quite different to our native hogs and require different care. Also veterinary treatment for them is different- different drugs are to be used with APH's. I do need to update my caresheet as its not as comprehensive as I would like but my OH ismy web developer so I am last in line for stuff to be done...lol

Thankyou for looking at my site..but as I say it is a work in progress

They will leave the nest at 3 weeks, not 4-5 weeks, and once they leave the nest will start to nibble on hay, pellets and greenfood as well as having milk from mum.

You are fine to clean around the nest once they are a week or so old, some mothers push all the dirty area from the day compartment into the nest so you have no choice but to remove it!

If you take the babies out with some of the fur and hay around them, take mum out as well, then clean out and put in fresh bedding and hay, return the babies with the fur/hay they were born in and then 10 minutes later put mum back, you will be fine.

As long as the mother trusts you and doesn't show signs of agitation when you are around, you will be fine to handle the babies, just make sure you rub your hands in the dirty corner of the hutch first to get your scent on you.

fionaw said:

They will leave the nest at 3 weeks, not 4-5 weeks, and once they leave the nest will start to nibble on hay, pellets and greenfood as well as having milk from mum.

You are fine to clean around the nest once they are a week or so old, some mothers push all the dirty area from the day compartment into the nest so you have no choice but to remove it!

If you take the babies out with some of the fur and hay around them, take mum out as well, then clean out and put in fresh bedding and hay, return the babies with the fur/hay they were born in and then 10 minutes later put mum back, you will be fine.

As long as the mother trusts you and doesn't show signs of agitation when you are around, you will be fine to handle the babies, just make sure you rub your hands in the dirty corner of the hutch first to get your scent on you.

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Please do not allow baby rabbits under 12 weeks of age to eat green foods, other than hay - as green foods will increase their risk of death by enteritis or the chronic runs. Some feed titbits at 10 weeks but certainly not when they leave the nest! The babies will leave the nest properly at 4-5 weeks, at 3 weeks they potter about but will return to the nest frequently. This info is from the numerous books, websites, this forum and other literature in general - which I read about baby rabbits, when our PAH Adoption doe had 4 kits. I was totally unprepared as I didn't know she was pregnant! Neither did the vet!

Info took from Handrearing Kits page: http://www.tinytotsrabbitry.com/gen/newkits.html
but it simply points out the vegeable rule as highlighted. It really isn't worth risking.

FEEDING INSTRUCTIONS:
Newborn kits should be fed every 6 hours for the first 2 weeks. Then you can go to every eight hours for the third week, and every 12 hours for week number four. After the fourth week, the kits should be eating pellets, hay and drinking enough water to sustain them. Good quality grass hay should be given around 4 weeks of age, to help digest the pellets they are eating. Do not feed any fruits or vegetables at this time. They're digestive system isn't ready for this, and it can cause diarrhea. And this can cause death very quickly due to dehydration, so please don't feed the 4 week old kits anything other than pelleted feed and grass hay.

As long as the mother has been fed green foods when pregnant and lactating you will have no problem with the babies eating green foods when they first leave the nest, with mine it is the first thing they tuck into! Of course you don't want to overdo it and introduce anything new gradually, but I have never had a problem with them eating greenfood from a young age.

Obviously if you do not give the mum greenfood and she is just fed dry food and hay then it is absolutely the wrong thing to do, but if you feed a natural diet as I do, they will be fine, after all it's what wild rabbits do!