Baby Rabbit Housing

Hi,

I have two mini mops, they live in a two tier, 4ft hutch in my garden about 5 weeks ago i sepatated them, so Oli could be neautured and I didn't end up with any suprise babies! Oli lives in the bottom and Paloma lives in the top. The breeder must have told me the wrong ages and now I have 3, 1 month old baby mini lops, which I love and I'm going to keep!

I have purchased another 2 tier, 5ft hutch for the babies to live in once they are grown up!

At the moment because Paloma and the babies are in the top it is getting very crowed and I don't want them to feel squished.

My Options Are;

1. Carry on, will they be okay?

2. Move Oli into the new hutch, and put the ladder back in the current hutch. The current hutch is where their next is, but I don't want them to fall downt the stairs, or down the hole for the ladder, because they run around like crazy! Also then the new, bigger hutch will smell like Oli and this is where the babies are going to live.

3. Move Paloma and the babies in to the new, bigger hutch. Ladder issues still, I could move their nest over, but the bed area is on the opposite side of the hutch. Will this confuse them?

Obviously I want the best for my bunnies, so all advice is greatly appriciated! :bunny: :rabbit2:

Hi, welcome to the forum.

RWAF recommends at least 60 square foot per pair of bunnies, this means your current space and new hutch are far too small. Given your situation, buying a shed, or a dog kennel with attached run would probably be the best option. As the babies grow additional levels could be added in and a predator safe run attached to the shed.

You could use the hutches you currently have as hideouts in their run or sleeping space in the shed.

You also need to get the babies sexed by a rabbit savvy vet as any males will need to be separated soon. There is a list on RWAF & also Francis Harcourt-browns website.

When mum has stopped feeding she will need to be spayed as will any other female's at six months. Dad and any boy's will need to be neutered too and kept separate from the females until hormones have died down before being rebonded.

I would say a shed/aviary or kennel setup would be your best bet. Have you considered bonding them all into one big group once they are all neutered/spayed?

i would say move mum and babies to the bigger hutch but keep them on one level for a while longer. this will still give them slightly more space. however, i'm not sure regarding moving the nest so maybe wait for someone else to confirm whether this would be ok.

then i'd let the male have full use of the 4ft hutch again.

i'd also recommend increasing their accommodation aswell as what they have now is alot smaller than is recommended, as others have said.

have the babies been sexed yet? and do you have any pics of the babies and mum and dad?

If the babies are a month old and running about you should be fine to move them. You'll probably find the nest is a bit stinky so needs removing anyway. A ramp might be a little tricky so I'd be tempted to pop them in the bottom level of the new hutch. Then in a couple of weeks when they are a little bigger open up the upstairs so they can have more space.

There is no reason they could all live together as a group so you could look into a large run connected to both hutches so they lived as a big family after neutering

ive has similar problems but with 6 babies. I moved mum and babies in to a 6ft hutch at 4 weeks doing exactly has tamsin as suggested with the ramp. You are going to need a spare hutch for if any of the babies fall out when hormones kick in. All mine got on great until 11 weeks of age then fights started between certain ones. Im not trying to put you off keeping the babies because i couldnt have give these buns up for a million pound, just have something in place for emergencies when they get older, then when they are all spayed (which they will all have to be done if you are keeping them) they can be a happy family like tamsin said. Do lots of reading on this forum, my buns wouldnt be half as happy if i hadnt joined this forum. cant wait to see your buns.

Hi and welcome to the forum :wave:. Good luck with what you decide to do, ultimately they are going to need a lot more space though x