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Kellienkids

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Hi My name is Kellie and I live in BritishColumbia. We recently adopted two small rabbits, I believe about 2years old. One neutered male and not spayed female. Today I was feedingthem and noticed a big fluff ball in the hutch. Hmmmmm.....I gentlylifted some of the fluff with a peice of straw hoping to find nothingbut the pile of fluff is moving so I left it alone. I don;t know howmany babies are in there as i don't want to disturb them. I took themale out. We have had a bunny someone dropped of a while ago out frontand has been hanging around, is it possible that this male has somehowgotten my female pregnant thru the fence or do I have a botched neuter?The two have been together for two years and this is the first litter.I don't really know what to do, I know not to disrupt them and I won'ttell my children we have babies. Anything else? Thanks for any help,Kellie
 
You certainly have tokeep themales(hanging around and the neutured one)from the female orelse, you will end up with another litter.As for now, you shouldprovide the babies and the motherrabbit witha quietenvironment.

Do check every morning to make sure that the babies' tummies are fulland round. That means the mom has done her job. The mom usually feedthe babies at night and you might not have the chance to see it . Ifthe babies tummies are sunken, you will need to force feed them. ie, tohold the motherrabbit and let the babies drink her milk. Tryto keep the babies warm(with the mother's fur).

 
Thanks for your help, I am not totally ignorant torabbits but now that I have a litter, I am a bit intimidated and reallydon't want to jepordize the babies. Today the babies have a thin coatof hair, someone said to pick them up and see if their bellies arefull. I thought you weren't supposed to touch them? Veryconfusing, one opinion to the next, what does anyone suggest? Thanks inadvance, Kellie
 
I believe that you can pick up the babies to checkon them but try to minimise the distress cause to the mother..(don'tstress her)Maybe you can pick the babies when the mother is resting ata corner..

Sorry that I can't help you much because I am no professionaland have no experience..Anyway, congratulations to you (forthe litter) and hope that they will grow healthy and well!;)
 

Welcome Kellienkids, (and dUtCh too!)

You can pick the babies up and check on them. The mother won't neglectthem because of your scent. She's already familiar with your scentanyway.

You do need to be sure that their bellies are round like a little balland warm. Generally, rabbits feed their babies once a day and it'susually very early in the morning, at the break of dawn.

-Carolyn
 
Kelly, Don't be afraid to pick up and handle thekits. My son and I handle ours from the minute they areborn. We check them at least twice a day and hold each oneand talk to it. They get used to people even before they openthier eyes. Mom knows you and so there shouldn't be anyproblems. Keep us updated. We had 5 litters bornlast week. Had to do some shuffling around due to the coldtemps. Lost a few, but now have the litters distributed to 3moms and all are doing well. Donna
 


Pamnock: I can picture that so clearly with the Mom caring less about anything but that carrot she's eating. *laughs*


Kellyienkids: Having had the pleasure of meeting Donna and her rabbitsat a show, I remain impressed with how tame and comfortable all of herrabbits are with her and her son.

Trekcip1: Congratulations on the new litters! Sounds like quite the juggling act you've got happening over there.

-Carolyn


 
my rabbit had babies today. should I handle them?i've heard so many different stories 'Dont handle them, she'll pee onthem and they'll die" and "It doesnt matter" and "Its okay,but I wouldn't", So can someone please tell me if I can or cant lol I'mnot sure what to do exactly and I want to pick them up, but i dont wantMolly, thier mother to eat them.



Kellienkids- congrats on your litter...even though itwas a big surprise. lol. I would suggest feeding yourmotherrabbit some puppy food, so she wont eat her babies. Ifed my rabbit puppy food...becuase it has more protein in it. So i'dsuggest feeding herjust a little bit.



**Amanda**
 

Greetings ILoveRabbits856 and Kellienkids,

Please stop feeding Molly puppy food. Everything they need is in theirrabbit pellets, provided that it's a good quality pellet food. Amilking mom needs unlimited amounts of food, so fill her up on therabbit pellets and remove the puppy chow before she gets sick and/orisn't getting the proper nutrients she needs.

The kits can be handled without the mother eating or abandoning them.See Trekcip's note above. Do keep us posted on how the babies are doing.

-Carolyn
 
BABY UPDATE!!! Well today I went out and picked upthe little guys for the first time and the Mother couldn't have caredless, she's such a good girl! We have seven 6 day old bunnies, Man theyare so cute, One bit me I guess he thought I was Momma! Their teeth arethe tiniest things! So all is well, and she is eating her pellets, hayand carrots just fine, my male(the father) his name is Splash had to beput down today......which was very sad he was also super adorable, heended up getting an abcess on his penis, it was the size of a golf balland oozing blood and I would assume pus, so I took him to the Vet andthey didn't think it could be successfully drained and healed soinstead of bringing him home to suffer I decided he should be put outof his Misery. My daughter Heather is so distraught I feel bad for herbut what do you do.....


 


Hi Kellienkids,

Awwww, I'm so sorry about Splash. Poor little guy. I agree with yourdecision and don't envy you for having had to make it. So glad you havesome of his babies to carry on his legacy, but of course, you missSplash himself. My heart and prayers go out to you and the kids.There's a poem that you might like to share with your daughter:http://rainbowbridge.com He's a lucky rabbit to have been priviledgedto live with such a loving family.

Do the babies all have round fat bellies? Are they staying warm andcozy? They must be adorable!! As Trekcip says, she and her son handlethe babies a lot, and her rabbits are so docile and cuddly.

I'm so glad you gave us an update as to how they're doing. I wasthinking of you the other day and wondering how things were going.Thanks, I'm so glad to hear the news is good with respect to them.

-Carolyn
 
Congratulations on your new babies......and very sorry about your loss.

Was still wondering do you think it happened through the fence or by the neutered one??
 
When I took Splash to the Vet he said he definitelywas not neutered so now we know where the bunnies came from. The lady Iadopted from didn't have the facts I guess. At least he has a legacynow.....by the way the bunnies are purebred Netherland Dwarfs. Both themother and father had breeders tatoos.....interesting
 

Hi Kelsbun,

My guess is your rabbit got pregnant through the fence, if it ispregnant at all. The chances are much higher than that of a neuteringoperation going wrong.

* * * * * * * *

Greetings Kellienkids,

You won't have a problem finding homes for them, I'm sure. I bet they're gorgeous.

-Carolyn
 
I still don't know if my girl is really pregnant......back to her normal self today.

Just wanted to say...my name is Kelly also and I live in B.C. toooooo...on Vancouver Island. Isn't that funny!!!!
 
Let us know when you find out if it was a false pregnancy, Kelsbun, or if thereare 'buns in the oven'.

-Carolyn
 
Yea, I did stop feeding her puppy food after thebirth, but my best friend's Uncle had a rabbit farm, and he always fedhis rabbits dog food and they never ate their babies. Even someBreeding Food..its for rabbits, made especially for pregnant rabbits,well it has high protein and minerals, the puppy food i was giving herwas very similar to the breeding food. I've heard that u should andshould not give ur rabbit puppy food, but all was well....but I stoppedas soon as she had babies. So I am not sure really which is true....Thanks! By the way, Molly still has 3 babies, they are fattening upfrom her milk, and are the cutest things. I've picked them up once ortwice just to see if they were getting fed, and then I pet Molly, andshe seems to care less Kellienkids' rabbit. All is well, and if youwant to see pictures, go towww.freewebs.com/rabbitsandbunnies/





**Amanda**
 
I think that adult bunnies should have a higherintake of fibre(hay) while young bunnies require protein-riched foodfor their growth

ILoveRabbis856,is it true that bunnies can eat puppy food (protein)when pregnant?

 

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