Unexpected litter

Hey guys

Happy New year to you all, I'm new to this forum, I'm hoping to get some advice for you...
I brought 2 miniature lion lops, they will be a year old in Febuary and was told they were both females.....

we have had them since they were 8 weeks old.

Anyway won't go on but basically i went out to the hutch 3 days ago to do the usual giving them breakfast etc... and i found the female giving birth...

sadly 2 of the babies had died.


I got a different hutch and moved the male out straight away after looking on internet on what I'm supposed to do.

the female seems to have made a huge nest with all the straw and hay, but she doesn't seem to be going into it, I am worried if the last baby is being fed?

my question is: do i have a rummage around in the nest to check on the baby or do i leave well alone?

this is the first time of us having rabbits and its the first time I've dealt with babies...

any advice welcome please

Thanks

Charlie x

Im very surprised you have got away with having a litter before now It depends how settled the mum rabbit is with you, whether you check or not. If she is very nervous i would try coaxing her away with something tasty she likes, while she is eating it rub your hands in her bedding to get her scent on you and have a quick look trying not to disturb thing to much. Your female might already be pregnant agian so mark on the calender 4 weeks from the time you found the babies and expect more buns. The mum bun might only venture to the nest once a day and usually at night when nobody is watching. To check if baby has been fed see if the tummy is round. If baby is wrinkly this could be a sign that its not been fed. Mum buns ted to look after their babies fairly well without help. xxx good luck

Thank you... I will try that, she is a bit nervous around me.

Do I need to be cleaning the nest out? Do I put the rabbit outside in the run for a bit or just leave her in the hutch with the baby? X

Hello and welcome! This has happened to me so you are not alone! W & S above has given you good advice so won't repeat that. I trust you will now be getting Dad neutered? Even if Mum's last baby has died, she won't be rrady for spaying for a couple of months. This is to allow her to recover first.

Hello & welcome to the forum.

I'm sure there will be of the very lovely knowledgeable people along in a bit to give guidance. They've certainly helped me enough.

Rabbits can breed again nearly straight after birth so well done for getting the boy out of there straight away. The logistics of that would have really thrown me.

I do know that in the wild, mother rabbits only spend about 5-10 minutes a couple of times a day feeding her babies. The rest of the time they keep their distance so as not to attract predators to their young. So the fact she isn't showing much interest is normal.

I would probably be tempted to have a quick peek, just for my sake of mind, but not rummage too much.

However I don't know if that's the "right" thing to do or not.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

Ch4rlie said:

Hey guys

Happy New year to you all, I'm new to this forum, I'm hoping to get some advice for you...
I brought 2 miniature lion lops, they will be a year old in Febuary and was told they were both females.....

we have had them since they were 8 weeks old.

Anyway won't go on but basically i went out to the hutch 3 days ago to do the usual giving them breakfast etc... and i found the female giving birth...

sadly 2 of the babies had died.


I got a different hutch and moved the male out straight away after looking on internet on what I'm supposed to do.

the female seems to have made a huge nest with all the straw and hay, but she doesn't seem to be going into it, I am worried if the last baby is being fed?

my question is: do i have a rummage around in the nest to check on the baby or do i leave well alone?

this is the first time of us having rabbits and its the first time I've dealt with babies...

any advice welcome please

Thanks

Charlie x

Click to expand...

Hi Charlie and welcome to the forum :wave:

There's some really good advice here, so have a read and ask any more questions you may have:

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

You dont have to clean the nest out yet just spot clean and leave the nest how it is. Regarding mum going in run, i found she didnt want to leave her hutch but did give her the opportunity anyway just in case. That link what mightymax has gave is brill by the way.

Well I've just been out there, and can not see the baby anywhere, but the rabbit keeps going back into the nest!

Could there be a chance the last baby has died, and she has eaten it? X

Could it be that the baby is deeply buried in the nest? if it's alone in there it might get as deep down as it can to keep warm.

I have had a good look, every time I give her hay she takes it to add to the nest! It's the biggest nest I've seen lol. Think I will leave it a few days and see what happens xx

So many have been caught out like this and I'm amazed that your doe hasn't become pregnant until now. What a shock for all concerned! I'm surprised that your vet didn't pick up on the sexes when they had their vaccinations.

good you've taken dad out and just leave the doe to get on with looking after them, make sure hse has fresh water and plenty of veg if she is used to having veg.
If a two tiered hutch you will need to block off hole to other floor to stop babies falling down. Keep protected from the cold wind.

And have a word witrh your vet as to why they didn't sex properly as when you had your rabbits vacs, and assuming you did, the vet should have checked them over and spooted the testicles. Come to that any ownershould be checking their rabbits and so able to spot a pair of extra bits!

Hope the babies do well

She's probably going into the nest to feed her baby. I would leave her be now and have another look tomorrow.

Thanks everyone! X

It's not usual for them to add more hay to the nest once they've had their babies. It's possible she could be having more(rabbits have two uterine horns), so keep a look out for more babies on their way. If she is covering the original nest with more hay, then I would be concerned about the lone baby getting buried under it all and getting trapped. If so then I would carefully dig around in the nest to try and locate the baby and put it in a warm safe location until mom settles down and stops adding hay to her nest. Also, she should have pulled fur to line the nest with, which also helps keep the babies warm.

If the lone baby is not in there, take a good look around the surrounding area. Babies can get pulled out of the nest when they are latched onto mom nursing when she hops out, and can quickly get chilled out of the nest. They are also very wiggly and small and can very easily wiggle their way through pen/hutch bars. I've known of people that have found babies on the floor clear across the room.