Advice Needed first time poster :)

:wave:

I have two adorable french lops. have kept the seperate in a 8ft by 8ft that my hubby built especially for them we have allowed them out together to have a run around together until we caught Charlie trying to mount Lola took him away straight away !! today we noticed Lola coming from her hutch with blood on her under body and feet she was cleaning it off... checked her hutch and she has a large nest in the corner with piles of fur.. I cannot see any babies and did not want to disturb the fur just encase.. Is ter a chance she has given birth ?

Thanks in advance

A very strong chance indeed. You should probably check on them, make yourself smell of her and check that they are all in the nest. She probably needs a checkup too to make sure there were no complications. Get daddy neutered ASAP.

yes highly likely


people are divided as to whether you need to make yourself smell like her before handling - but to be on the safe side rub your hands with her poo then gently part the nest fur and see what is in there.

From then on (if all is well) check every morning first thing that none of the babies has ended up out of the nest (put back if they have) and that they all look rounded and full. The female feeds once a day at night (anytime between midnight and dawn) so needs access to them then, she will mostly ignore them for the rest f the time.

Make sure they have plenty of hay and straw around them and if it gets very cold you will have to transfer them and her and the nest BUT try not to do this as it will disturb her.

Feed her as much as she will eat.

Actually at this time of year I would check a couple of times a day as once seperated a baby will rapidly get very cold as they have no fur. beware they will bounce about when you move the nesting fur!!

PS am presuming that the running around together has happened before?? as it takes 30 days from inception to birth !! If they have not run around together ever before today and she is bleeding now then it must be an injury and she needs checking.

Agreed, you need to check the nest for kits (baby rabbits are called kittens) and make sure any there are alive.

Don't allow the male near her again until at least 6 weeks, preferably 8 weeks after neutering, she can get pregnant pretty much straight away after giving birth, and it would take a huge toll on her body to have litters so close together.

You need to check her over thoroughly to make sure she actually HAS given birth, and that she has no injuries. If she hasnt then you need to ring your vet IMMEDIATELY, yes it is a Sunday but they will answer the phone and let you know if they think she needs an emergency appointment.

Thank You

Would like to thank you all for the advice My lovely bunny had given bith to six wonderfull kits, all seems fine they look healthy with full tummys and mum is in great form, looking forward to having them all bouncing around Will be contacting the vet tomorrow to arrange to have charlie nutered..

Thanks again

Are you going to keep them all? :mrgreen:

congratulations!!! 6 is a fine number. Do watch out for any that get dragged out of the nest - it often happens as they latch on when feeding and if not careful she will accidentally take one with her when she leaved the nest and then it falls off and gets cold etc. She cannot carry them (unlike cats). often there is one smaller one that will need keeping an extra bit of an eye on.

we had 6 accidents earlier this year and kept them all as one big group - its lovely watching them!

our bun fed her kits until about 10 weeks old and they gt big and strong as they had pellets as well after about 5 weeks old. .

and of course loads of hay!

Jenova said:

Are you going to keep them all? :mrgreen:

Click to expand...

Would love to keep them all together as a great big happy family, will see how things go, not sure if hubby will be happy to keep them all..but then again he spends half his time photographing the other two

Be aware that the boys become fertile around 12 weeks, sometimes sooner, so have them properly sexed and have a spare setup ready for them for this time. They can (and should) be neutered at this age which will drastically reduce the chance of them fighting amongst themselves, which is a near certainty if they dont get neutered.

Also, you should not let unbonded rabbits have time together unless you are bonding them, mainly because of the risk of injuries but also because its a bit harsh to give them a friend then take it away, especially as they are herd animals, so make sure you dont let Dad near the babies or Mum, unless you are bonding them.

Enjoy them, they dont stay small long!

parsnipbun said:

congratulations!!! 6 is a fine number. Do watch out for any that get dragged out of the nest - it often happens as they latch on when feeding and if not careful she will accidentally take one with her when she leaved the nest and then it falls off and gets cold etc. She cannot carry them (unlike cats). often there is one smaller one that will need keeping an extra bit of an eye on.

we had 6 accidents earlier this year and kept them all as one big group - its lovely watching them!

our bun fed her kits until about 10 weeks old and they gt big and strong as they had pellets as well after about 5 weeks old. .

and of course loads of hay!

Click to expand...

oh thanks for all advice your so good..Im really excited now, I was really upset with myself this morning beacuse I didnt realise she was expecting and i felt soooo bad.

nessar said:

Be aware that the boys become fertile around 12 weeks, sometimes sooner, so have them properly sexed and have a spare setup ready for them for this time. They can (and should) be neutered at this age which will drastically reduce the chance of them fighting amongst themselves, which is a near certainty if they dont get neutered.

Also, you should not let unbonded rabbits have time together unless you are bonding them, mainly because of the risk of injuries but also because its a bit harsh to give them a friend then take it away, especially as they are herd animals, so make sure you dont let Dad near the babies or Mum, unless you are bonding them.

Enjoy them, they dont stay small long!

Click to expand...

Thanks nessar, I have them sharing a huge pen with seperate sleeping areas both are divided by mesh wire, so they are not totally seperated from each other but can still bond, my plan eventually was to have them nutered and remove the mesh dividing them so they can live totally together !! am i naive in thinking this can happen ?

Charlie & Lola said:

Thanks nessar, I have them sharing a huge pen with seperate sleeping areas both are divided by mesh wire, so they are not totally seperated from each other but can still bond, my plan eventually was to have them nutered and remove the mesh dividing them so they can live totally together !! am i naive in thinking this can happen ?

Click to expand...

No this can happen, although its a bit more complicated than just removing the barrier between them. You would need to bond them properly, and you need to research this properly before you can do that, but basically you have to put them both into a small area that is neutral (i.e. neither has been there before) and supervise constantly (you cant even go away to sleep, you sleep next to the pen) for a minimum of 48 hours, preferably more. Definately more if you are bonding a group, a group bond is more complex. All bunnies involved in the bond should be neutered and spayed at least 6 weeks before. You dont HAVE to have baby females spayed beforehand if they are not yet hormonal, but be aware this may create problems for you later when they do get hormonal, so its best to.

edit: just wanted to add, make sure Charlie can not get to them, make sure the cages are secure, as Lola can get pregnant again, it only takes one hump, and Charlie could also kill the babies.

Forgot to add, if you want to keep all the babies together you can, but you must remove them from mum after 8 but before 12 weeks, and then have ALL the babies neutered at 14-16 weeks. This relies on you finding a vet that will neuter girls this early though, many wont. At this stage the boys will be fertile and the girls may, but if they are pregnant it will be very early on and you wouldnt be able to tell and the spay goes on as normal. This is what a rescue I know of do, so they can keep the litter together for space reasons. Obviously this needs forward planning as you need to find a rabbit savvy vet that will neuter them at this age.

Oh wow, what a shocker:shock: Don't feel bad - I think these accidents happen - my Charlie got at Poppy before they were both done and I was worried for the whole month - luckily I must have caught them in time, but these things do happen, even when you're careful:wave: