Baby buns

Good Evening,

Looking for a bit of help....

My little Betsy has, this evening, had her first litter - however, she is sleeping outside of the bed area away from her babies.

Is this normal?? HELP!

I know i shouldnt disturb her or them but i am getting worried

Please please. xx

Yes, mother rabbits are rarely seen with their babies.

As Lillian says. To check she's feeding them, rub your hands thoroughly in the dirty bedding (v. important!) and check their tummies. If their tums are nicely rounded she's feeding them. If the skin is wrinkly she's not.

BetsandBob said:

Good Evening,

Looking for a bit of help....

My little Betsy has, this evening, had her first litter - however, she is sleeping outside of the bed area away from her babies.

Is this normal?? HELP!

I know i shouldnt disturb her or them but i am getting worried

Please please. xx

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hi there,
try not to worry to much, when my rabbit had babies she only used to pop in to check them a couple of times a day, thay dont sit with there babies like cats and dogs as thay are pray animals and this would draw attention to them, as said if you feel she is not feeding them (thay usually do this at night when no one around) check there tummys. Good luck, keep us updated. X

I was panicking that if i went anywhere near them she would reject them so i will rub my hands through the dirty bedding and have a look - when i first noticed them she'd covered them in some of her fur (so at first i didnt know she'd had them, and touched the fur because i noticed blood in her bedding :? i hope i haven't ruined it.. sorry, i am so paranoid!) and they were all grouped together, so i will literally have to pick each of them up and check their bellies are rounded? Even at a day old will they be ok to be picked up? (obviously after i have thoroughly rubbed her scent on my hands!)

Thank you for your help! xx

I never check the actual buns by touching them- i do open the nest a little sometimes, but it's not worth the mother disowning the babies- if she is outside the nest that is normal.

If they are moving thats good - cover the nest back up- let mum do the rest. It is more damaging to interfere than not.I have had mum reject some kits and keep others too- it is luck of the draw. You can also smell straight away if a baby has died. It is not pleasant. That's the time to remove a dead kit, don't mess with the nest or other babies and hope the mother will continue. I've had mum's raise other kits fine even after eating some of there babies. So do be careful touching them so she doesn't disown. This is a very sensitive time.

The less you go near them the better. When they come out of the nest- that is the time to be handling them-not until then.

Ok, tomorrow morning i will just lift the top off the nest and make sure theyre moving and take out any that are not and leave her to do the rest?

How long does it take for the mother to be ok with me seeing the babies? I know it must differ from case to case but i dont want to leave it ages through worry of her rejecting them, which will make me look as if i am neglecting her (if that makes sense!) xx

^^ i totally agree with Ambience. i never touched my babies i just let the mum get on with it thay know best, i just used to check every morning that thay were moving less is more at this stage. X

Sorry, i only just read that you had already answered my question - once they come out of the nest is when she'll be ok with me being around them, at what age is this normally? xx

BetsandBob said:

Sorry, i only just read that you had already answered my question - once they come out of the nest is when she'll be ok with me being around them, at what age is this normally? xx

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i honestly cant remember! i think its 2/3 weeks. try not to worry, i know its hard not to i was seriously stressed when i had mine. X

Its very hard not to worry with me, i worry about everything and especially when it comes to animals!

Right, so just so i am clear (i do apologise for all of these questions!)

I am removing the dead ones - to do so, i will rub my hands thoroughly through the bedding? Or shall i also leave those for her to sort out - i just dont want flies etc.

Also, i am relying on her feeding them at night - what steps should i take if it looks as though she has not fed them when i lift up the top of the nest tomorrow?

And no touching until they have left the nest!

Sorry again for all the questions - i would just feel so guilty if i made her reject them! xx

I was a nervous reck when i had mine, but when i look back i think why?
poppy was a good little mum and did'nt really need me.
i never had them from day 1, i think thay were aprox 10 days old when i found them, basicaly a friend of mine (an estate agent) asked me if i wanted 2 rabbits, as a tennent had left a property and left the rabbits in the house! , so i said i'd come to the house with her see what i could do ring the rspca if i needed to etc...
when we got there the 2 rabbits were in double story indoor cage (looked like a hamster cage) when i had a closer look i could see the bottom of the cage 'moving' then we realised there were babies!!
i got really upset coz i thought 'how could someone leave them'
the buck was still in with them all, thankfully the doe was'nt pregnant again.
so i took the buck out, put him in a pet carrier and lifted the whole indoor cage into the boot of my car, brought it home and moved mum and babies into a lovely big hutch i had, thats when i took out the dead one, thankfully only 1, i just lifted the whole nest into the new hutch and left it, poppy carried on looking after them even after all that! i did a lot of reserch into rearing kits, there is a lot of good advice on the internet if you get stuck. try not to worry but i know how you feel, i was exactly the same. XX

:wave: How are thay today???

i understand the panicking enjoy them while theyre young and less crazy in four weeks time theyre unrecognisable.

Ohhh gosh, thats horrible about them leaving the rabbits and babies behind, makes me so mad when people treat animals unfairly - no excuse for it!

I checked them when i got in from work, and all of them are still wriggling about - thank goodness, fingers crossed they will stay that way!!

My mum said that 'it doesnt look good' for a first litter.... is this true?? :? talk about making me worry more
Betsy did have a 'phantom' a few months ago, i dont know if this will make much of a difference of how she'd act this time around. xx

why would she say it dosent look good for a first litter?

if babies are wriggling this morning then chances are they will be ok
My ruby had a litter of six and i constantly worried about them.
theyre 4 weeks old and 1 day and still i worry:lol:

Because she'd been researching and apparently first litters are often not very good news

They all seemed to be ok after 5 and i did peek in there a little while ago and the bedding/fur was moving - but i didnt look very closely and it was obviously dark.

Betsy seems really happy too, almost a completely different rabbit than she has been for the past few weeks where she was constantly on edge and running away but now she seems relaxed, which is good! So proud! xx

missFloppyears said:

if babies are wriggling this morning then chances are they will be ok
My ruby had a litter of six and i constantly worried about them.
theyre 4 weeks old and 1 day and still i worry:lol:

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Fingers crossed!! I think Bets has had about 6 - its so hard to try and count without touching them especially when theyre so lively! xx

BetsandBob said:

Because she'd been researching and apparently first litters are often not very good news

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I think you'd know by now. The doe would have already killed or rejected her babies. So if they're still moving and their bellies look nice and round, so far so good.