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Babies in burrow

Hello I'm trying to find anyone who's been in a similar situation to us. My New Zealand white Dora was rescued from a neighbour who bought her as a companion rabbit for the one they already had but when he died she was shut into a hutch that was way too small for her and neglected. We have her in a 30ft by 5ft run and she has never been shut in again as this upsets her to much. She would never go into the hutch she came with but will now lay in the two she has available to her but shutting her in freaks her out.
Our dilemma is that 20 days ago she gave birth in the afternoon I found two dead babies in the run but she had built a nest in her dutch run so we assumed that she had had the rest in there., so a few days ago we had a peek but there were no babies so we assumed that the two she had were it, but I've just been into her hutch again today and all the nest bedding has disappeared so we can only assume she has taken it down her burrow.
Everything I read is about caged rabbits and I cannot find any info to help me ascertain whether she has any babies down her burrow and if she does when we are likely to see them. She has changed in character being a little more flighty than usual, she is eating and drinking loads but Dora would eat for england anyway. I've contacted a couple of local drain companies to see if they would be willing to put a camera down the hole but to no avail.
I was advised on another rabbit forum that I should have shut her in before the babies were born but I think this person neglected to understand that she would have been totally freaked out if we did that to her and would most definitely have killed all the babies.
Please can anyone help with this dilemma any thoughts or comments would be greatly recieved.
THANK YOU
 
Welcome to the forum :)

There's a sticky in the health section about accidental litters, which may be of a small amount of use but probably not hugely.

Really, all you can do is let her get on with it and feed unlimited food. They will start to show themselves at about 2-3 weeks and slowly start to gain confidence with coming further and further out (unless mum sits with her bum in the burrow entrance to keep them in).

She will hopefully have good natural senses so will know to throw any dead ones out the nest. And that is the main problem, you can't check the babies and help her, so it's just down to having to trust her really. I hope things go ok :)
 
I have been in this situation and as Sky-O says there is nothing you can do. She will appreciate greens etc if she already eats them and at around 3 weeks the little ones will start to appear. Now I founnd that once they come out of the nest they will start to follow Mum to where she is fed hopefully somewhere safe and they will not return to the nest once they have arrived at the place where Mum sleeps. They will stay with Mum and wont return to the nest. Mum will need extra food then and for quite a few weeks as the babies will start to eat all that Mum is eating. Let us know how they get on.
 
thankfully she isn't in with another male so you shouldn't have any more issues (as long as males are removed at the correct age!) its unfortunate that she decided to burrow but it's only natural :) Once the babies are weaned etc it might be worth digging down a little way, laying mesh under the run and then covering over and returfing so that she can dig but not escape :)

Hopefully she'll be a great mum :love:
 
Forgot to ask - where is the Father? Hopefully you have separated them by now? If not he could kill the babies and definitely get Mum pregnant again!
 
Where's Daddy?????

Forgot to ask - where is the Father? Hopefully you have separated them by now? If not he could kill the babies and definitely get Mum pregnant again!

He's in his own seperate run now and has been done, it was a sheer accident that he got to Dora anyway and as luck would have it he was booked in the vets on the Monday but as I was cleaning them out on the Saturday she broke into him. They are now in totally seperate parts of the garden
 
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