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Baby rabbits born yesterday from tame stray silver marten - are they half wild? HELP!

F

flowerface

New Kit
I recently found a beautiful stray silver marten rabbit, very tame and friendly. I had had seen her straying for a couple of weeks before I managed to catch her. This was on the 19th July and today (13th August) gave birth to 8 babies (a surprise to me). I thought it could have been from a moments accident when my male continental giant got out with her, but dates don't work out (25 days).
Presumably they will be half wild, although they appear to be silver marten colour (black with cream bellies). They are very good size (bigger than expected and seem very healthy. Not sure if they were half wild whether the agouti gene is more dominant, as these don't appear to be wild type colour?
My question is;
At what age can I check and handle the babies (mum is very happy in my presence and very tame)?

Has anyone experience of half wild rabbits - will they be tame?

Do you think they sound if they are in fact half wild?

Any advice on raring babies rabbits would be appreciated.
 
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This might be helpful :)

First best guess is that they are NOT half wildies because you wouldn't expect those to be all that colour, or even at all that colour- you would expect agoutis, primarily, maybe a few blacks and maybe an otter (but unlikely).

However, if they are half wildies it is good to be prepared just in case. If you handle them early and treat them well they will learn to trust at a basic level. They will have both domestic and wild traits. They will likely be more handshy but very nosey, adventurous and inquisitive. maybe very good escape artists and need a lot of space.

Half wildies, if that is what they turn out to be are amazing, and so special, but they need a very aware and vigilant owner- someone who can put the rabbits needs before their own and not take any fearful behaviour personally.

For now though, treat them the same as any other babies because they are. The rest will become clear in due course.
 
Thank you and that is helpful, as my feeling too is that they would be some agouti colours. There are a few all blacks, but mainly black "silver" marten colours.
I would put some pics on, but it doesn't seem to all it. They are currently in a storey hutch, which is also a worry. The bottom half is the run, so I cannot move them downstairs. I am a very experience rabbit owner of over 20 years and 20 plus rabbits, however, I am a complete novice when it come to breeding. The only other single storey hutches I have, have a male rabbit in and other have guinea pigs. I could swap but I was worried that this would cause more problems with smells, etc. Also, as mother was a stray I normally let are out in the garden most of the day, would you still suggest that this would be a good idea?

Thanks again for support.
 
I would suggest blocking off access to downstairs for the moment, until the babies are able to navigate the ramp by choice (so about 5 weeks maybe).

If mum is safe in the garden (I'm presuming she is otherwise you wouldn't do it) and she can choose whether or not to get back in then yes, let her out (if she can't choose then maybe find a way to allow her access somehow- not sure how, but you might need to be a little creative). She'll only tend to them very sporadically and in the wild would be off and about anyway.

It all gets much for fun (chaotic, stressful and brain taxing?) when the babies open their eyes and can navigate out the nest (at about 2-2.5 weeks old). that's when the fun starts.
 
Only thing with blocking it off would be mum getting to and from the babies!!! Ooh this is very brain taxing, like you said. I wish I could have prepared better. It is one of the hutches with a large run at the bottom and then ramp upto the hutch bit, which is not large enough the keep a rabbit in full time - it is more like a sleeping compartment (approx 2.5 by 2ft). So I could block her in with them, so a bit of a dilemma really. Luckily she has built the nest far back in the hutch, away from the stairs, so I was thinking for the time being to put some 3 inch high wood to separate them off a bit and stop them rolling out. Not sure what I will do when they open their eyes????
 
Can you maybe take a photo of the area? It might give us more of an idea for what we can suggest. You're going to need something ASAP because it's very easy for them to get dragged out the nest area.
 



This is my half-wildie, to give you some idea of how they like to burrow etc! Sadly I had to have him pts last year.
 
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rabbit4_zpsd67e441e.jpg.html
rabbit2_zpsba5cad32.jpg.html
 
I would think the 3" would work for now and then close the ramp when they are around 10/11 days an opening their eyes. If she's happy for you to handle her you could lift her into the run (for an hour or so twice a day) for exercise after that. It will only be a couple of weeks and then you could move them all down a level, once they are racing about the whole top level.
 
Pictures added (horray!!). First one is mum, who is very tame and obviously was a well loved pet, second is one of the babies (there are 7, 5 look black with cream bellies like mum and 2 look pure black), third is the nest area and forth the hutch.
What do you think about the babes - I am so confused, if they are half wild, would you expect to see some agouti's for might they change colour? I had seen her straying for approx 6 weeks before having the opportunity to catch her. I found her on the 19th July and she had them yesterday, so she must have been pregnant (about 1 week) when I found her. Surely they must be wild, unless there is another domestic rabbit hanging around. I was convinced it was my conti until I worked the dates out. Pity I can't do a Jeremy Kyle!!!
 
flowerface said:
Pictures added (horray!!). First one is mum, who is very tame and obviously was a well loved pet, second is one of the babies (there are 7, 5 look black with cream bellies like mum and 2 look pure black), third is the nest area and forth the hutch.
What do you think about the babes - I am so confused, if they are half wild, would you expect to see some agouti's for might they change colour? I had seen her straying for approx 6 weeks before having the opportunity to catch her. I found her on the 19th July and she had them yesterday, so she must have been pregnant (about 1 week) when I found her. Surely they must be wild, unless there is another domestic rabbit hanging around. I was convinced it was my conti until I worked the dates out. Pity I can't do a Jeremy Kyle!!!
Click to expand...

Black tends to dominate all other colors, for instance had a solid brown boy and a spotted black and white girl and none of their babies had the least little bit of brown in them. There were a lot of gray/white babies though and you would think that your kits would have at least some gray in them if they were fathered by a buck lighter in color.
One possibility is that she was bred to another silver while still with her original owner and she escaped or they dumped her (heaven forbid) on account of her being pregnant. Good luck anyway those babies are cute and healthy looking!
 
She was straying for about 6 weeks, at least! So she must have got pregnant whilst out and about, but most people with half wildies seem to be always agouti, so I am confused to why there are 2 black, 3 defo agouti and 2 that I am not sure about, as they appear more black/blue with pink bellies but their underside tail is not white??? So whether these could be more of a otter or marten colour like mum. I just keep hoping she has bred with another domestic, as I am worried about how I will rehome then if they are half wild.
 
I don't know much about coloring, but I think agouti babies may start off looking black.
 
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