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We Have Baby Bunnies!

With any change in diet, there is a strong likelihood of an upset stomach. She will also be dealing with the additional stress of a litter, which may also show through excess caecals (which is most likely what this is). That said, can you see if she has done any regular, normal poo? Is she clean underneath?

I would gradually increase her pellets over the next few days until you are feeding unlimited pellets. As she feeds them, she will need more and more protein and, in the not too distant, babies will need unlimited pellets too. My experience is that when they eat unlimited pellets, they will get excess caecals.

Alfalfa is totally up to you. She doesn't need it, but for some rabbits it works for them. Just make changes gradually, and one at a time, because she is going through major changes and we don't want to stress her body more than it needs to be.

I don't know about echinacea though, sorry.
 
With any change in diet, there is a strong likelihood of an upset stomach. She will also be dealing with the additional stress of a litter, which may also show through excess caecals (which is most likely what this is). That said, can you see if she has done any regular, normal poo? Is she clean underneath?

I would gradually increase her pellets over the next few days until you are feeding unlimited pellets. As she feeds them, she will need more and more protein and, in the not too distant, babies will need unlimited pellets too. My experience is that when they eat unlimited pellets, they will get excess caecals.

Alfalfa is totally up to you. She doesn't need it, but for some rabbits it works for them. Just make changes gradually, and one at a time, because she is going through major changes and we don't want to stress her body more than it needs to be.

I don't know about echinacea though, sorry.

Her bottom is clean. I checked. She's had normal poo in her tray too. She spends most of her time sitting in her litter tray now. When I gave her extra pellets, she isn't eating them all for the sake of it. She eats her fill and there's always some left which she saves for later! It still doesn't look like she's touched her hay though.
 
Her bottom is clean. I checked. She's had normal poo in her tray too. She spends most of her time sitting in her litter tray now. When I gave her extra pellets, she isn't eating them all for the sake of it. She eats her fill and there's always some left which she saves for later! It still doesn't look like she's touched her hay though.

She's smart. She will be running on instincts and, given that she is currently successfully raising her first litter, we have to trust them. She will do and eat what she needs.

Do the babies have nice, full, round tummies?
 
I've just checked the box and it says Ethanol which may be harmful to alcoholics so I'm presuming yes! Oh no. Which brand should I use that doesn't have alcohol?


What you have bought is a very good brand, it works well (I have evidence!) and you can easily get rid of the alcohol in it before giving it to Mamma xx

(That's the reason I asked about the alcohol, not because what you bought wasn't good!)
 
What you have bought is a very good brand, it works well (I have evidence!) and you can easily get rid of the alcohol in it before giving it to Mamma xx

(That's the reason I asked about the alcohol, not because what you bought wasn't good!)

How do I get rid of the alcohol in it?? And how much should I use??
 
She's smart. She will be running on instincts and, given that she is currently successfully raising her first litter, we have to trust them. She will do and eat what she needs.

Do the babies have nice, full, round tummies?
2 of them look very round but one of them is smaller. It's tummy isn't sunken and it's skin not wrinkly around it's tummy but it's 10g lighter than the other 2. Could this be because it's just the smallest or maybe female?? I don't want to handle them too much and maybe I should just rust mum. But I might check again tomorrow. I'm worried that I might do something that will cause her to reject them or something go wrong.
 
2 of them look very round but one of them is smaller. It's tummy isn't sunken and it's skin not wrinkly around it's tummy but it's 10g lighter than the other 2. Could this be because it's just the smallest or maybe female?? I don't want to handle them too much and maybe I should just rust mum. But I might check again tomorrow. I'm worried that I might do something that will cause her to reject them or something go wrong.

If she is feeding them, then it's unlikely if you look and check, that she will reject them.

Are you taking them out to weigh them? I personally wouldn't worry about that unless one looked like it wasn't thriving.

The little one is unlikely to be little due to gender, however, it could have been conceived later (so delievered slightly earlier), or, as rabbits have two horns to their uterus, it could have been squashed in (which would be my best guess), although it could be some other kind of issue, like a health issue. That's the one to keep an eye on, to make sure it is developing and getting food. If it is not getting a full tummy then you can help mum feed it alone (which may or may not be successful).
 
If she is feeding them, then it's unlikely if you look and check, that she will reject them.

Are you taking them out to weigh them? I personally wouldn't worry about that unless one looked like it wasn't thriving.

The little one is unlikely to be little due to gender, however, it could have been conceived later (so delievered slightly earlier), or, as rabbits have two horns to their uterus, it could have been squashed in (which would be my best guess), although it could be some other kind of issue, like a health issue. That's the one to keep an eye on, to make sure it is developing and getting food. If it is not getting a full tummy then you can help mum feed it alone (which may or may not be successful).

I put the scales in the hutch and quickly weighed them on a piece of kitchen towel and then returned them to the nest so not to make them cold. I tried to be as quick as possible. All were wriggling today but I didn't remove and weigh any. I thought I might every other day at the most, just to keep an eye on the small one.
 
I put the scales in the hutch and quickly weighed them on a piece of kitchen towel and then returned them to the nest so not to make them cold. I tried to be as quick as possible. All were wriggling today but I didn't remove and weigh any. I thought I might every other day at the most, just to keep an eye on the small one.

You wont go wrong by heeding Sky-O's advice about your unexpected litter. She would be my first 'go to' in a situation such as yours :) I hope that all the babies thrive and that Mummy Bunny copes OK too xx
 
I put the scales in the hutch and quickly weighed them on a piece of kitchen towel and then returned them to the nest so not to make them cold. I tried to be as quick as possible. All were wriggling today but I didn't remove and weigh any. I thought I might every other day at the most, just to keep an eye on the small one.


I think you're doing brilliantly!

Thank you for your PM - I shall be back to you v soon :)
 
So I've just weighed them for the second time and they have almost doubled their birth weight. 2 have gained 29g and the the small one has gained 22g in 2 days!! I'm so relieved! They all look in really good condition with lovely round tummies! She's clearly doing a fantastic job for a young mummy! Exhale!!!!
 
So I've just weighed them for the second time and they have almost doubled their birth weight. 2 have gained 29g and the the small one has gained 22g in 2 days!! I'm so relieved! They all look in really good condition with lovely round tummies! She's clearly doing a fantastic job for a young mummy! Exhale!!!!

Wonderful :love:
 
So I've just weighed them for the second time and they have almost doubled their birth weight. 2 have gained 29g and the the small one has gained 22g in 2 days!! I'm so relieved! They all look in really good condition with lovely round tummies! She's clearly doing a fantastic job for a young mummy! Exhale!!!!


You're doing brilliantly with them Louise :D
 
Thank you for all your support. It's been a few days so I thought I'd give an update. Mum is fantastic! She's taking really good care of them. They are fed, gaining weight, always cosy warm and clean. All are gaining weight and they have fur now too. The 2 larger ones are gaining weight at exactly the same rate just 1g between them. The small one however is still much smaller. The previous weigh they all gained 12g but today although it's gained another 12g it's siblings gained 29g each. So the larger ones are 107/108g and the smallest is only 78g. Is this normal? Also the other 2 seem to try to crawl forward off if the scales as if searching for milk but the small one seems to try doing this and then keep rolling off the scales as if it has very poor coordination in comparison to the other 2. Don't worry about the scales they are only 2cm high at the very most and are in the hutch on straw when weighing, so the rolling off won't have harmed it but every time I placed it on and tried to get an accurate weight it kept rolling off! Is this normal? Could something be wrong with this one perhaps??
 
Thank you for all your support. It's been a few days so I thought I'd give an update. Mum is fantastic! She's taking really good care of them. They are fed, gaining weight, always cosy warm and clean. All are gaining weight and they have fur now too. The 2 larger ones are gaining weight at exactly the same rate just 1g between them. The small one however is still much smaller. The previous weigh they all gained 12g but today although it's gained another 12g it's siblings gained 29g each. So the larger ones are 107/108g and the smallest is only 78g. Is this normal? Also the other 2 seem to try to crawl forward off if the scales as if searching for milk but the small one seems to try doing this and then keep rolling off the scales as if it has very poor coordination in comparison to the other 2. Don't worry about the scales they are only 2cm high at the very most and are in the hutch on straw when weighing, so the rolling off won't have harmed it but every time I placed it on and tried to get an accurate weight it kept rolling off! Is this normal? Could something be wrong with this one perhaps??

It may be due to the overall developmental delay of the 'runt'. As he/she is gaining weight, albeit more slowly, I would not worry too much at this stage. If Mum is relaxed in your presence and with you handling her you could try to get the runt to latch on for an extra feed. The bigger Kits may bundle the runt out of the way at feed time so he/she may not get a fair quota from the milk bar x
 
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