Please help bunny had babies and i have questions !

Hi,

I'm totally new to the site and hoping to get some advice, I have 2 Rabbits, A giant French Lop (Dizzee) 2+ years old female, and a Lionhaired dwarf (George) 1+ Years old Male, they live in separate hutches always have, George has a run to play in, and Dizzee has free run of the garden as she is too big to escape, every now and then George is allowed free run of the garden under supervision, he has always tried it on with Dizzee but has always seemed too small to mount the Gaint :roll:

Yesterday when cleaning the poo corner of Dizzee's hutch we noticed babies in the bedroom bit, with loads of fur, this must have happened over night as there was no fur the previous night and certainly no babies.

I'm totally put of my depth
Firstly Dizzee's Hutch is not very big and does not have an attached run, as mentioned before she is usually in the garden and goes away for night,
I rushed out last night and bought a huge hutch with attached run, can i move her and the babies into this hutch ?
im worried she is going to stand on the babies?

Should i check to see how many babies there are?
should i check to see if they are all alive?
Dizzee seems ok she is eating and drinking alot but has coped well with me going into the hutch to feed and stroke her.
she is generally a big baby herself loves cuddles and kisses.

i have not seen her nurse the babies either, will they be ok?

im sorry if i sound like a rambling mad woman, im 8 months pregnant myself so at the moment know everything about human babies and nothing about baby bunnies

any advice is greatly welcome
x

First of all, as you have just learnt, a small bunny CAN get a large one pregnant, so dont let them out together again, even supervised, not ever. You could however get him neutered, as rabbits all should be for health reasons, and then in the future he could have a friend, perhaps her or perhaps one or two of the babies.

Secondly, I dont think there are any hutches big enough for a french lop, they need a shed or playhouse really, unless you get something custom made. If you wanted to get something custom made I'd go for 3ft high, 3ft deep, and at least 8-9ft long, as a rabbit needs to be able to stand tall on its back legs, lie in any direction stretched out, and be able to do 4 uninterupted hops from one side of the hutch to another, in order for it to meet rspca and rwaf welfare standards.... which by the time you've gone to all that trouble you might as well just get a shed.

But dont move them, you cant until the babies are older, as she may reject them.

You likely wont see her feed, but that doesnt mean that she isnt. You can check the kittens (thats what baby rabbits are called) to see if they have round bellies if you like, but dont have any strong smells on your hands, and rub your hands on her and in her bedding before touching them.

There is a sticky thread somewhere, I think in the Behaviour section, on accidental littters, read it as soon as you can, you really need to.

nessar said:

First of all, as you have just learnt, a small bunny CAN get a large one pregnant, so dont let them out together again, even supervised, not ever. You could however get him neutered, as rabbits all should be for health reasons, and then in the future he could have a friend, perhaps her or perhaps one or two of the babies.

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Hi Nessar,
Yes very much lesson learnt, he is now booked in at the vets, rang them as soon as they opened this morning.
do you have any advice on my other questions ?
Sophie

I'm at work one phone but there is z sticky at the top of this forum about accidental litters. Reading that might be really helpful

Sophie86 said:

Hi Nessar,
Yes very much lesson learnt, he is now booked in at the vets, rang them as soon as they opened this morning.
do you have any advice on my other questions ?
Sophie

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Sorry, the forum posted the first bit before I was finished, not sure why, so I have edited the post to include the other info that I was going to say

Sky-O said:

I'm at work one phone but there is z sticky at the top of this forum about accidental litters. Reading that might be really helpful

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This one: http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?327923-Accidental-Litters-and-Taking-on-Babies

sorry sophie, it was in the Health section not Behaviour

nessar said:

This one: http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?327923-Accidental-Litters-and-Taking-on-Babies

sorry sophie, it was in the Health section not Behaviour

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Thankyou, will read straight away,
Dizzee did have a shed, she hated it. it was massive she would go in and just thump and go mad, very much out of character, and when we got her out in the mornings she would jump back in her old hutch she really had a chip on her shoulder about it.

the hutch i bought last night is really really BIG with the attached run it is crazy big, i just hope she doesn't hate this hutch too,
when you you advise moving her into this hutch ?

will she stand on/squash the babies? shes huge and they are so small!

Sophie86 said:

the hutch i bought last night is really really BIG with the attached run it is crazy big, i just hope she doesn't hate this hutch too,
when you you advise moving her into this hutch ?

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:wave: I can't offer any advice on the babbas - the stickies mentioned are the best place for that.

Just a question really regarding this really big hutch and crazy big run you've bought - would you mind telling me where you got it and what it's like please.

A friend and I have a mobile Rabbit Care stand that we takes to shows/ fairs etc. and I'm always on the lookout for good accommodation to recommend as it is hard to come by.

Many thanks

Sky-O said:

I'm at work one phone but there is z sticky at the top of this forum about accidental litters. Reading that might be really helpful

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Thanks Sky-O just read this, lots of great information

luvabun said:

:wave: I can't offer any advice on the babbas - the stickies mentioned are the best place for that.

Just a question really regarding this really big hutch and crazy big run you've bought - would you mind telling me where you got it and what it's like please.

A friend and I have a mobile Rabbit Care stand that we takes to shows/ fairs etc. and I'm always on the lookout for good accommodation to recommend as it is hard to come by.

Many thanks

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Hi,

we bought if from Kennel Gate pet superstore,

the hutch itself is one level and has 3 entry points to it, i will get my husband to measure it when he come home from work tonight.
the run attaches to the front of it, where 1 of the entry points opens to allow bunny to get out into the run, again i will get my husband to measure that too.

:wave:

ok so after reading the sticky, im going to check the babies,
is there a better time of day to do this? where is would stress mum out less?
it says not to have hands smell of soap so should i wash my hands before i touch them or not, i understand i need to get mums scent onto my hands first but not sure if i should wash them first too ?

bunny litters

Hi there, I rescued 3 bunnies 2 of whom were pregnant as the male they were kept with was un-neutered (back yard breeders) so had a crash course too.
Don't worry about her standing on the litter, she will know exactly where they are and the likelihood she won't go there until it is feeding time. Which might only be once a day my two mummies only fed at 9pm each night and never went near the nests otherwise.
I also had to move mine as we were moving house 1 week after they had had them. All I did was fuss her first, then scooped the whole nest up into the moving box, then the same again into the hutches at the new place. Afterwards she went in and rearranged the nests and checked on them, they were fine. So if you are going to move them and her into the new place, I'd make sure she knows where they are and keep her locked in for a bit. You will probably find she can then go out into the garden as normal during the day and put her away at night again when she will feed them.
my two mummies breast fed for 6 months (though I did have to take the boys away at months) But in the wild they'd ween them at 6 weeks, so just make sure you get them sexed properly and take any boys out at 2-3 months old.
You can lose babies when they ween as the change from milk to solids is a tricky one with their guts being so susceptible to change, so look out for diahorrea on the little ones, Super excel for young kits seemed to work for us and we kept all 6 babies.
Anything else I can help with please let me know.

helenpitt said:

Hi there, I rescued 3 bunnies 2 of whom were pregnant as the male they were kept with was un-neutered (back yard breeders) so had a crash course too.
Don't worry about her standing on the litter, she will know exactly where they are and the likelihood she won't go there until it is feeding time. Which might only be once a day my two mummies only fed at 9pm each night and never went near the nests otherwise.
I also had to move mine as we were moving house 1 week after they had had them. All I did was fuss her first, then scooped the whole nest up into the moving box, then the same again into the hutches at the new place. Afterwards she went in and rearranged the nests and checked on them, they were fine. So if you are going to move them and her into the new place, I'd make sure she knows where they are and keep her locked in for a bit. You will probably find she can then go out into the garden as normal during the day and put her away at night again when she will feed them.
my two mummies breast fed for 6 months (though I did have to take the boys away at months) But in the wild they'd ween them at 6 weeks, so just make sure you get them sexed properly and take any boys out at 2-3 months old.
You can lose babies when they ween as the change from milk to solids is a tricky one with their guts being so susceptible to change, so look out for diahorrea on the little ones, Super excel for young kits seemed to work for us and we kept all 6 babies.
Anything else I can help with please let me know.

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Hi Helenpitt,
Thanks for the advice, its all been quite a shock, i just hope i can help her and the babies in any way i can

bunny mummies are usually pretty good, there instincts are amazing. Mummy will need more food than normal obviously, broccoli and stuff with iron and calcium in would be good, but don't fall for the milk soaked bread thing she won't need that sweetcorn is also a good one. she'll clean the nest out too and keep it tidy, and you'll probably notice she has a bald tummy from lining the nest, plus its easier for the kits to feed.
Have you had a poke in there yet to see how many there are? they'll most likely be scurrying around after 10-14 days, they are amazingly cute.

helenpitt said:

bunny mummies are usually pretty good, there instincts are amazing. Mummy will need more food than normal obviously, broccoli and stuff with iron and calcium in would be good, but don't fall for the milk soaked bread thing she won't need that sweetcorn is also a good one. she'll clean the nest out too and keep it tidy, and you'll probably notice she has a bald tummy from lining the nest, plus its easier for the kits to feed.
Have you had a poke in there yet to see how many there are? they'll most likely be scurrying around after 10-14 days, they are amazingly cute.

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I am itching to go and have a look, i just dont want to upset her, i saw 4 trying to get to her yesterday, thats when i first noticed that she had had them, and i could still see movement under the fur so i think there is def more the 4, but i dont know if there are any dead ones in there, i really need to get some courage and go look, although i may wait until my husband comes home as being pregnant myself if i find a dead baby i think i may sob for hours im far to hormonal for this right now lol :roll:

The likelihood is that if there is a dead one, mummy will have "cleaned up" (she will eat it usually) So unless there is one out of the nest, you shouldn't need to worry. but I had a still born one and it was very upsetting, so I don't blame you, let hubbie do it!

9 maybe 10

Ok just been out, gave mum some fuss and managed to have a peek at the babies,

Mum was fine with me being there and didn't bother with me looking in the nest at all,

I didnt touch the babies directly, they were all very active some of them seemed to be almost jumping amount and making little noises.
i counted 9 for sure maybe 10 and possible 11 its hard to tell they all seem to be the same colour !

all alive couldn't see any dead ones.

I currently have a litter of 7 here from an accidental litter they will be 9 weeks old tomorrow so any questions i can help with my pm box is always open

Well done you! how brave of you, crikey that is a big litter fingers crossed for them all, best get mummy fed up full and ready to make lots of milk!

sazzy said:

I currently have a litter of 7 here from an accidental litter they will be 9 weeks old tomorrow so any questions i can help with my pm box is always open

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awww thankyou so much,
your pictures look like my Dizzee and George

I'm intrigued to see what these babies will look like, with mum being a Giant French Lop and Dad being a lionhaired dwarf,
i have no idea weather they will be big or small.

Did you lose any of your babies?
is it common for some to die?
is 9 quite a big litter?

sorry im full of questions