Help And Advice Please!!

hi, i know i have not introduced myself but im in a bit of a hurry to get help.
my name is sarah
3 days ago i got a phone call from a friend who need me to look after some rabbits for her for a while as she was trying to sort somethings out. she has given me 11 bunnys in a cage big enough for 3 bunnys. i didnt know at the time that once upon a time it was 5 bunnys and they had breed and had 2 litters to make 6 more. i was told by her that they where all neutered so i thought thats fine so i have let them out of there cage in a backroom of my house so they have a lot more space to run around in. this morning i went in to water them and feed them only to find lots of bits of baby bunnys everywhere i managed to find enough bits to work out there where 3 (there could of been more). i removed the dead babies and phoned her asking 'if they where neutered why where they babies' and she told me that is was only the boys who had been but that she must of forgotten to neuter one of them and didnt seem that bothered about the dead babies, the problem is there are 3 boys and 8 girls i have since moved evey bunny away from each other into cat boxes, dog cages and other rooms around my house to be safe so there are no more dead babies (killed by other rabbits). i have found that the little netherland dwarf has been making a nest since about 1pm and she has pulled most of her tummy hair out and it is 3:00am now and she is still making her nest. there is another bunny who is missing her tummy hair but i havent seen her make a nest. i know which one did have the babies as her backend was still bloody, im just so scarred they are all going to be pregnant, my friend said she would take them back as soon as i needed them gone but i dont want to give them back to her yet, as im worried she will let them keep breeding, i also do not want to tell her if there are babies as i dont think she will let them go. i know plenty of people who will rehome the bunnys she has got now but she just dismissed it when i offered. the worst thing is we both studied animal care and she knows perfectly well how to look after animals, she has also worked in an animal shelter for 3 years, i dont know why she is being like this.
i really need some advice on trying to find if they are knocked up and how to talk to my friend as she is very fragile (mentally) and i dont want to upset her i just really want to get it over to her that she cant do this, i cant just home them with out her say so either.
please do not be mean to me as im trying to do my best by these bunnys also sorry for any spelling or punctuation mistakes.
thanks

Gosh what a situation to be in. Good that you have managed to separate the buns out. Rabbits only take a short time to give birth - if they are pulling fur nesting- there is a good chance- if they have been near a male- all of them can be pregnant.

I hope someone can give you further advice on how to speak to your friend. It's something i think personally only you would know- as you said she is "fragile".

I would wait and see what happens- it sounds like your in the best position to help them and get them sorted. I think will be in the next few days if they are nesting- maybe 3 max. Keep on the look out for more kits i'd say.

P.s welcome to the forum- hope someone can help further.

i just cant sleep im so worried about them. if i had money i would send them all to the vet and have them checked but i never thought i would be in this state. but i may go mad if they are all having babies. but the one that had the litter this morning is only a few months old and is tiny compared to her parents.

BastAmor said:

i just cant sleep im so worried about them. if i had money i would send them all to the vet and have them checked but i never thought i would be in this state. but i may go mad if they are all having babies. but the one that had the litter this morning is only a few months old and is tiny compared to her parents.

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So sorry to hear you are in this position. Sounds like the best thing would be to get her to agree for you to rehome them- as she can't ensure neutering as you have mentioned- perhaps you could have some commitment of that from the prospective new owners as you say you are lacking in funds yourself. Perhaps you could post on the forum and find homes with ru members. x

If she is keeping them in awful accomodation, then you could possibly contact the RSPCA?
I know she's your friend but these porr little bunnies need proper care. You're doing your best for them, but you could end up with a lot of buns which will end up very expensive for you!
Talking to her may be difficult but maybe try and explain to her the dangers of letting them breed? Talk to her about how their accomodation is too small and you're worried about them. It's always difficult dealing with friends but you need to speak up for these buns as they can't do it for themselves!

Hugs to you xx

Just wanted to say thinking of you and all those bunnies

That was an horrible experience for you. What an awful position to be in.

I hope that this all works out and that you can persuade you friend to do the right thing.

Good luck x

still no sign of baby bunnies but there is a rather good nest been made. i have bought her lots of good food to munch on and keep her happy. if she she or any other does have any i think i may rehome them with out telling my friend, i know plenty of people who will have them its just getting her to let me give a few away.

baby bunnies should stay with the mother to have her milk for 8 weeks I believe- do check on here. also if you re-home them un-neutered they may breed as its difficult to tell the sex when tiny.

I hope someone who has had baby bunnies will come on to help you.

Perhaps you could have an informal chat with an RSPCA officer as I'm sure they would prefer to help your friend to look after the bunnies properly rather than take them off her.

Perhaps a local rescue could foster a few for you to ease the pressure until your friend returns?

Well done for having the good sense to separate them.

sue:wave:

aw bless you, what a tough situation to be in

what i would do is ring the rspca - they don't just come steamrolling in to take animals away. they try to educate owners and make living situations better.
if she had someone in authority speak to her, she might understand a bit more

i know about how to care for them when there babies thankfully (but thanks for advising me anyway ) so i wont be takeing any babies away till there old enough and hopefully get them sexed, theres enough unwanted bunnys in the world with them breeding as well . i mean that i wouldnt give her the bunnies back till the babies where old enough and i would only give her the ones she had before. i wouldnt let them go to anyone who doesnt know about bunnys or someone who wouldnt neutered them. i may contact my old college where i learnt animal care and see if they have any room as i know they will neuter them and care for them. she has told me if i cant have them she can put them somewhere else but im scared of them going to someone who wouldnt know what to do with them and just let them keep humping and eatting there babies in there tiny cage. she hasnt got a stable place to stay at the moment. its not fair on these little bunnies but i dont want to get her back up so she wont listen or just demand them back and i would hate to get in a fight with her as i wouldnt let them go with out one.

oh dear this is such a horrible situation to be in. Something you dont want to hear is that the one who gave birth could be pregnant again, it can happen very quickly after giving birth.

It sounds horrible but it was probably for the best that those babies were killed as your friend doesnt sound very responsible. What do you mean the bunny had blood on her, can you be more specific? I havent bred rabbits for about 10 years but I dont remember there ever being any blood covering the mother.

Can you contact a rescue? If you dont want to involve the rspca that is understandable but there are many independant rescues. They could come round and sex the bunnies for you and tell you which males are neutered, so you at least know what you are dealing with. Then you could put the neutered boys back together (hopefully their bond wont have been broken from being separated) meaning there is less pressure on you to keep them all in different rooms. But dont let the neutered males near the females, they can still be fertile 6 weeks post op. I wouldnt trust your friend to know reliably so make sure you get a rescue or vet to sex them. They could also put any potential babies on a waiting list.

In the meantime all you can do is wait. I THINK the gestation period is a month, so you wont know for sure until a month from when you separated them. My bet is all the females will be pregnant though. I trust you know about a bunny's diet needing to consist of 80% unlimited hay and only to feed a few pellets? I'd give more than the normal eggcup per bun of pellets at the moment though, it is a great stress on any animals body to be constantly pregnant with no break between the pregnancies.

BastAmor, I've not got any advice but i just wanted to say that i wish you all the best and well done for trying to do the right thing. xxx

I wouldn't change the diet suddenly or reduce the dried food whether mix or pellets. By all means add more hay, but a rabbits diet should be changed very gradually over a few weeks as you dont want any upset tums or big changes. You could make gradual changes over 3 weeks as long as your friend doesn't stick them straight back n the old diet when she returns. How long is your friend away?

sue:wave:

by blood i ment her backend was bloody, i dont know how old the babies where when i got in there but i was in a few hours before and hadnt seen anything so they might not of been that long born. i know what you mean by it might of been a good thing they died its horrid to say but it is true. i have all the boys together and all the girls are on there own with little houses so they can nest if the want but only one seems to of but i guess they can wait up till the day before to make one. i had no idea about them still being able to get the females pregnant up to 6 weeks after :s. i know after she got them back from the vets she just put them back in the cage together with out giving them time to recover, she told me that some of them nibbled at other ones but she seems to think thats fine including when they are humping each other (which seems to happen to much and very rough as some have scabs on ther neck) i asked her to get the females nuetered just in case they are pregnant and not that far gone but she said they didnt need to be as the boys where. i dont want to bring the idea that any of them are pregnant up, as i would like to raise them and rehome them with out her knowing. she is coming over tomorrow with more hay and veg for them i just hope the black one doesnt have any before she comes.

just checked her a few seconds ago, i lifted her little bed thing up as i normally do. i was looking (i dont touch just look lol) and i saw a bit of fluff that didnt look fluffy but it was a lil dead baby so i pulled it out. i did have a lil poke about and found a small group of babys i think there might be about 2 or 3. so i put the lid down. i checked her and she was eatting some after birth, i gave her a stroke as she is very friendly bunny even though my friend said she isnt. she is coming over tonight with more food im hoping she wont see them :s i cant move them but i dont want her to see them grr i just hope if she looks in the bed they will be all wrapped up. my mother said she will have them for me, just that litter though lol.

is there any food that i can give her alot of to help her out with milk and raising the young uns