A few accidental litter questions.

I have read http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?327923. But still have a few questions regarding what to do. (Can skip the background of the situation to the question if its too long)

Background:

My wife and I have previously had a house rabbit, and my wife has always been crazy about rabbits. She heard from a co-worker that her rabbit had given birth and all the babies had died. Turns out that the owner was pretty neglectful and didn't even know the rabbit had given birth till the babies already had a little bit of fur (which I am told is about a week). The previous owner was then trying to get rid of mummy bunny so my wife offered to take her. We already had an outside hutch and still have all the house rabbit bits from the last rabbit. When we got the rabbit she was delivered in a washing up basket She was also very thin. She is only 6 months old.

At first we kept her in the kitchen as a house rabbit, but we were a bit low on space as we also have 4 guinea pigs who have free rein over the kitchen usually. So she was moved outside into the hutch. She had been using the hutch for about a week, when she started nesting. We kept an eye on the situation as we thought it might be due to the death of the previous litter or a phantom pregnancy which my wife's previous rabbit use to have regularly.

Yesterday it started to rain extremely heavily, so I went to bring the rabbit inside as she is a little unhelpful (nice way of saying little be thick) and kept just sitting in the rain. Once I bought her in I went to get food and thought best to check her bed to see if it was also wet. This is when I saw the little babies in the nest. So I quickly took mummy bunny back out to the hutch and spent the next hour in the rain trying to waterproof the hutch as best I could.

Mummy bunny is eating well and we have been putting out extra food and a variety of veg and treats, just as she was very thin to begin with. Haven't checked the babies that much really, as we rang a vet and they said to leave them well alone.

However: Questions.
- With the forecast still being pretty wet would it be a good idea to move the babies and mum inside?
- If moved would mum find the babies again?
- If we touch them is she likely to bite there heads off? (Bit graphic but its what my wife believes will happen)
- If she is to stay out side how much investigating can we do to keep an eye on them? The main problem with this is that I had to cover the hutch with a tarpoollin to make sure it was waterproof and it makes a lot of noise when moving it to look in the nest.

I could probably think of a few more worries but I think I have rabbled on long enough. And I hope its not too long.

Thanks.

im affraid i have no experience with this however didnt want to read and run. well done for taking care of the poor little girlie- sounds like shes had a rough time! i know for certain others have good advice regarding this on here so im sure they will turn up soon. my only advice for now is for later down the line. it might be once shes recovered from bringing up the kits, to get her spayed as this can really calm them down and prevent problems like uterine cancer in the future. all the best :wave:

lucy24 said:

im affraid i have no experience with this however didnt want to read and run. well done for taking care of the poor little girlie- sounds like shes had a rough time! i know for certain others have good advice regarding this on here so im sure they will turn up soon. my only advice for now is for later down the line. it might be once shes recovered from bringing up the kits, to get her spayed as this can really calm them down and prevent problems like uterine cancer in the future. all the best :wave:

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Thanks for the reply. Yea we had planned to get her spayed next week, had even rang the vet to book. We had thought that the previous owner might of had the sense to separate her from the boy after the first litter... (dull) Seems not.

Welcome to the forum. It would be worthwhile reading this link. http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?327923 It might answer some of your questions.

With regards to the rest of your questions, here are my answers.

- With the forecast still being pretty wet would it be a good idea to move the babies and mum inside? Rain isn't a problem if the accommodation is fully weather proofed, however, if it is not fully weather proofed and the inside is getting wet then it would be healthier to move them
- If moved would mum find the babies again? You would need to salavage as much of the nest as possible. It's unlikely that it would be feasible because if you're moving them it implies the hutch is wet but if you could keep the babies in the nest in the hutch and move the hutch inside, that would be preferable- if the hutch is safe and ok to live in.
- If we touch them is she likely to bite there heads off? (Bit graphic but its what my wife believes will happen) Please see the link I provided earlier.
- If she is to stay out side how much investigating can we do to keep an eye on them? The main problem with this is that I had to cover the hutch with a tarpoollin to make sure it was waterproof and it makes a lot of noise when moving it to look in the nest. This is also likely to be answered in the link. If mummy is not bothered by the moving of the tarpaulin then babies won't be. If she is, then you'll need to think of another plan to try and keep it dry.

I hope that helps

Sky-O said:

Welcome to the forum. It would be worthwhile reading this link. http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?327923 It might answer some of your questions.

With regards to the rest of your questions, here are my answers.

- With the forecast still being pretty wet would it be a good idea to move the babies and mum inside? Rain isn't a problem if the accommodation is fully weather proofed, however, if it is not fully weather proofed and the inside is getting wet then it would be healthier to move them
- If moved would mum find the babies again? You would need to salavage as much of the nest as possible. It's unlikely that it would be feasible because if you're moving them it implies the hutch is wet but if you could keep the babies in the nest in the hutch and move the hutch inside, that would be preferable- if the hutch is safe and ok to live in.
- If we touch them is she likely to bite there heads off? (Bit graphic but its what my wife believes will happen) Please see the link I provided earlier.
- If she is to stay out side how much investigating can we do to keep an eye on them? The main problem with this is that I had to cover the hutch with a tarpoollin to make sure it was waterproof and it makes a lot of noise when moving it to look in the nest. This is also likely to be answered in the link. If mummy is not bothered by the moving of the tarpaulin then babies won't be. If she is, then you'll need to think of another plan to try and keep it dry.

I hope that helps

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Thank you, i read the link and was helpful. I think for now we will leave them as is. Mum is out running about the garden and getting up to her usual mischief so she must be ok. Guessing she is doing the ignoring phase.

When it comes to checking babies, having the mother somewhere else so she does know/see, would that be good or bad? Just she runs in and out of the kitchen at the moment and doesn't seem overly bothered by getting stroked in the kitchen.

Well done for taking on this bun and for taking the trouble to find out what's best for her and the babies, sadly not everybun is so lucky.

I think it is often advised to get someone to distract mum with some food while you make your hands smell like her by stroking her and rubbing your hands in her litter before checking on the babies.

Do you have a gazebo or large parasol you could use to but over the hutch to keep the weather off?

Dustyrabbit said:

Well done for taking on this bun and for taking the trouble to find out what's best for her and the babies, sadly not everybun is so lucky.

I think it is often advised to get someone to distract mum with some food while you make your hands smell like her by stroking her and rubbing your hands in her litter before checking on the babies.

Do you have a gazebo or large parasol you could use to but over the hutch to keep the weather off?

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Yea my wife is a sucker for a cute face, I think we'll end up with a farm of animals at this rate

Will try the distracting to check. As for parasol/gazebo no. But if the tarpoolin starts to make too much noise might try and turn it into some sort of tent.