Anyone got a plan????

Hi haven't posted anything for a little while as I was waiting to give an update to all those who gave me advice about Dora my bun that had had babies. Unfortunately although she had built a beautiful nest in her hutch when we had a sneak we discovered that there were no babies in there, so we thought the couple she had lost were it until we had another look in her hutch and discovered all the nesting material had disappeared, so we assumed she'd had anymore down her burrow but nearly 8 weeks on we haven't seen any babies but have seen baby poos and as Dora's are the size of cannonballs we're sure they belong to least one baby.
Now I've updated you our predicament is all I can assume is that whatever babies there are they are behaving like wild buns, Doras burrow is extensive and I have asked for help from local plumbing companies hoping one would be animal friendly and put their camera down but I've had no luck. I need some ideas as to how we can capture these babies as at the moment our only option seems to be digging them out which of course would endanger their lives. Someone has suggested a live rabbit trap any ideas please as I don't want anymore unplanned pregnancies.

If Mum goes in at night and that is where you put her food, I would have thought that any babies would follow her in. Of course if she stays out all night then this is why you haven''t seen them but they will be sleeping with her. Why are you afraid of another unplanned pregnancy as I don't understand.

tonibun said:

If Mum goes in at night and that is where you put her food, I would have thought that any babies would follow her in. Of course if she stays out all night then this is why you haven''t seen them but they will be sleeping with her. Why are you afraid of another unplanned pregnancy as I don't understand.

Click to expand...

The babies are going to be 8weeks on tues and if i can't figure out how to catch them within the next few weeks they could start breeding. Will they defo be sleeping with mum because we've tried going out at all times of day and night and never seen anything.

I think it's strange that you haven't seen them playing out yet! :? If there are babies they should be exploring by now.

Best plan would be to get mum spayed so her sons can't make her pregnant. The gurls will mature layer than the boys so you still have a few safe weeks to encourage them out. As Tonibun has said they should come out at night. If you feed mum her pellets and veg then you should be able to catch the babies once you've worked out how many there are and block off the burrow.

I wouldn't think you would have much joy with a drain camera to be honest, they are mounted on brushes so they fit in the middle of a drain so all they would do is get stuck on the soil and risk a tunnel collapse.

If i were you i think i would hold a normal camera/phone down the hole and take a photo so you can see where it goes, then by standing on the opposite side to the hole (so youre not standing on the unstable part) slowly start to make the entrance wider and remove the top soil above each part and dig it open. Maybe put in one of the flexible green pet tunnels you can buy to 'reinforce' the bit you are exposing in case it starts to cave in. And then every couple of feet repeat they process with the camera so you are always aware of where the tunnel goes that you are digging. It does seem odd that you haven't seen any babies at all yet, but as you say, there's a risk that they will start breeding themselves soon so I think the only way you will get to them is to tunnel in to find them. Good luck x

Baby rabbit poo

ripminnie said:

I think it's strange that you haven't seen them playing out yet! :? If there are babies they should be exploring by now.

Click to expand...

the only reason we think there are babies is because of the tiny poo. I just bbeen out to her with the flood light and torch and she goes to check her hole as if to make sure whoever was up is back in. My dog has behaved as if there's a new smell in the run and then checked the hutches we have been kindly given by freecyclers. Would she be so jumpy as to makes sure they go back in the hole as we have an allotment at the back of the house and have seen a fox on there recently

digging them out

Santa said:

I wouldn't think you would have much joy with a drain camera to be honest, they are mounted on brushes so they fit in the middle of a drain so all they would do is get stuck on the soil and risk a tunnel collapse.

If i were you i think i would hold a normal camera/phone down the hole and take a photo so you can see where it goes, then by standing on the opposite side to the hole (so youre not standing on the unstable part) slowly start to make the entrance wider and remove the top soil above each part and dig it open. Maybe put in one of the flexible green pet tunnels you can buy to 'reinforce' the bit you are exposing in case it starts to cave in. And then every couple of feet repeat they process with the camera so you are always aware of where the tunnel goes that you are digging. It does seem odd that you haven't seen any babies at all yet, but as you say, there's a risk that they will start breeding themselves soon so I think the only way you will get to them is to tunnel in to find them. Good luck x

Click to expand...

We know the burrow has two tunnels one is rather short as it hits hard core but the other is extending out of the run into the garden
so i assume the nest is at the end of this tunnel.Thanks for the advice on how to dig think we're gonna give it a go after Christmas if all else fails but could end up digging up the whole garden ho hum. Have to break that one to hubby gently lol