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bigfloppy

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Dec 19, 2004
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Location
, New Jersey, USA
I wentadd extra straw and pine beddingtomy rabbits hutch today and found four beautifulbabies:shock: (eyes shut with fur, about four inches long)in a wellmade fur lined 'nest'. I have had my 'mother' dutchbunny fortwo years, was told she was a he....then I had to transfer her to aspecially made hutch outside due to my dogs constant nagging of her. Wewent to the shelter and adopted a lovely white lop to keep her companysince she wouldnt be with us all the time inside. I had him neutereddue to spraying three days later but voila! To late!

The problem is it is cold outside, around freezing here in NJ withexpected snow. I stapled two layers of plastic around the hutch, thenthrew a blanket over top for insulation, leaving the front open forair. The box part is enclosed on bottom and sides/top withwood, no mesh, and filled with hay and pine shavings as well as mama'shair. Ive provided her with extra food and water, plusvitamins. Will they be okay? My husband thinks I should not bother themor stress them and the mother by bringing them in. He seemsto think as do I that the temperature change will harm them. My vetsclosed...cant ask her. I was away for four days and had someone caringfor them, so I wonder how old are the kits? When shouldIseperate them from the mother? I'm stressing out!

Thanks in advance!
 
bigfloppy wrote:
Iwentadd extra straw and pine bedding tomy rabbitshutch today and found four beautiful babies:shock: (eyes shut with fur,about four inches long)in a well made fur lined 'nest'. I have had my'mother' dutchbunny for two years, was told she was ahe....then I had to transfer her to a specially made hutch outside dueto my dogs constant nagging of her. We went to the shelter and adopteda lovely white lop to keep her company since she wouldnt be with us allthe time inside. I had him neutered due to spraying three days laterbut voila! To late!

The problem is it is cold outside, around freezing here in NJ withexpected snow. I stapled two layers of plastic around the hutch, thenthrew a blanket over top for insulation, leaving the front open forair. The box part is enclosed on bottom and sides/top withwood, no mesh, and filled with hay and pine shavings as well as mama'shair. Ive provided her with extra food and water, plusvitamins. Will they be okay? My husband thinks I should not bother themor stress them and the mother by bringing them in. He seemsto think as do I that the temperature change will harm them. My vetsclosed...cant ask her. I was away for four days and had someone caringfor them, so I wonder how old are the kits? When shouldIseperate them from the mother? I'm stressing out!

Thanks in advance!
How warm do they babies feel? If theyre huddled together and feel warmand toasty you may not have to anything. Your hubby is more than likelyright about the extreme temp changes doing more harm than good.

Do you have a room in your house that is cooler than the rest of thehouse but warmer than it is outside? A lot of breeders I know will"shelf" their babies during this time of year. That is....bring thebabies in but only take them outside in the early morning and lateafternoon to feed. The other alternative would be to bring all of themin....mother included but since she has no separate nestbox...I'm notsure how well that would work. I really hope someone can help you withthese questions that is more experienced with breeding and babies.

How much fur do they have?You might be able to tell anapproximate age by theamount of fur.If you have acamera...you could take pics and post them and we may be able to letyou in on the age.Baby buns are born hairless, so theyre atleast a couple days old...probably more.

Lanna
 
Since the temps are really dropping, I'd put thekids in a sturdy cardboard box and bring them inside. Theycan be taken out twice a day for the doe to nurse them. Thenesting material will have the does scent on it, so only clean out verysoiled areas -- not the entire box.

The kits begin coming out of the nest box at about 2 weeks ofage. They are weaned at 6-8 weeks and need to be separated bysex at 12 weeks of age.

Pam
 
Definitely do what Pam said. She's theexpert here! Too cold for the babies this week to beoutside. I'd leave the plastic and stuff up for the otherbunnies.

Shouldn't she take the male out from the doe? Eventhough he'sneutered now, she needs to be alone with the babies when they are outthere?

Also, if you have a camera..... we love pictures :)
 
I'm just paranoid about the cold -- I'd hate tosay that they'd be fine outside, only to have them freeze to death:( Normally, large breeds that have built a good nest do wellin very cold temps. The smaller breeds often don't fare aswell and may have a more difficult time holding their body temp.



Pam
 
pamnock wrote:
I'mjust paranoid about the cold -- I'd hate to say that they'd be fineoutside, only to have them freeze to death :( Normally, largebreeds that have built a good nest do well in very coldtemps. The smaller breeds often don't fare as well and mayhave a more difficult time holding their body temp.



Pam
I agree with you there Pam. I'd be so scared to leave them in the coldor to advise it...then something happen to them. I'm lucky enough tohave a heated barn, but if it were my babies out in thecoldI'd bring them in.

Lanna
 
lanna21974 wrote:
I'm lucky enough to have a heated barn, but if itwere my babies out in the coldI'd bring them in.

Lanna
You are lucky! I would love to have a heated barn! Idon't think I could put bo out there tho. I want him where Ican pet him anytime I walk by. I would like a nice all seasonroom that he could enjoy and I could keep him in there. Ourhouse is very open and it's hard to keep him from going into rooms allover the house. :?
 
So far good news! We got past thebitter cold spell and I checked this morning and all is well, warm andfuzzy. Told Mama (her name is GiGi, black and white dutch) she wasdoing such a good job. It's funny because daddy checks on them as well,especially if Im near the babies he keeps tabs on what I'm doing. Gigibit me ysterday whileI was wearing my husbnads jacket, myguess is because I smelled funny?Daddy is to mildtoanything but watch. ( daddy bun is mini lop, white withgray ears named Floppy)

The vet had said they may die from the temp extreme from outside (23)to inside (about 75, 85 though when wood stove is going) My motherherelikes the house warm for her aching joints! I wrapped thehutch up with layers of plastic and a woolen blanket on top. Loaded itwith straw, and they made a tunnel back to the nest inside thebox.

So far so good!
 
bigfloppy wrote:
Iwanted to add that ifI can borrow a digital camera I willpost photos!!!
You can always have walmart develop your film andhave them put the pics on a disc :D
 
They eyes oepned today. Its the firsttimeI picked them up!It looks asthoughthree will be all white and onepatternedafter my dutch, but they are sweet. Two of the white ones looked asthough mommy or daddy pee'd on them though. They had orange on themdried, but I gave mom and dad a carrot this morning. When will theystart crawling?

Good idea about walmart and the disk! :D


 
To answer one of your first questions:

Your kits are about 10 days old if their eyes are opening.

congrats! Also on the buck--it's rare to have one so concerned about the babies!!

Rose
 
I have another question, when the kits get a fewweeks older and are hopping around will my male get territorial andpossibly harm them? As I mentioned before he was neutered about onemonth ago..a day before I'm guessing the matingHe has FINALLYstopped spraying.

He is so sweet though, I saw him on Petfinder, due to be put down. Iflew up to the shelter to bail him out! Someone found him wanderingoutside and had brought him in to the shelter. He sat unclaimed, buyyou could tell he was some childs bunny mom must have got sick ofbecause he is so good with children and very nosey. Knowing how peopleare I may keep the whole brood and take them up to the ASPCA low costneuter clinic and just keep them. The thought of them ending up in ashelter kills me.
 
Should the buck not be removed from around thekits? I think that it is common for them to attack... butmaybe not in every case, as you've seen!

And congratulations on the kits! They sound gorgeous! I can't wait to see pictures! :D

Ang xx
 
Well, as of this morning I was getting my morningcuppa tea ready before my kiddos woke up and the Christmas chaos began.ILooked out my window to my buns and lo andbeholdI saw two little white furballs out of the box and inthe freezing cold front of the hutch. I threw on my robe and went out.I opened the back and saw Floppy, the male had torn apart the box andtaken all the nest apart and made himself a cozy nest outside theprotected area!!!! So much for the nice dad routine. After severalattempts to remake the nest and him stealing it, I brought the kitsinside in my bunny/puppy carrier. Floppy made two tunnels and a sort ofhay/shaving taj mahal.

So doI take them out to nurse once or twice a day and whattime? How long should I leave them out?They are gettingaround quite well now and I worry about them getting hurt or dadgetting mad and hurting one.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!
 
The babies only need to nurse twice a day for afew minutes. When was the buck neutered? It'spossible that you may be expecting another litter of kits if he wasneutered less than a month ago.

The buck shouldn't be in the cage at all with the babies as there is a chance he may injure them.

Pam
 
I went out to Petsmart and bought the delux bunnycage for inside, along with all the supplies. Who knew babybunnies would cost me $100 in supplies already! Mom and kits areindoors now, and the babies are starting to hop around! It's beyondsweet, they all have such personality. One is so fat and round, one isnosey and into everything, one sleeps all the time , and the other justwants to snuggle.

Floppy was neutered two days after I brought him home from the shelter,that was five weeks ago now, so she couldnt get pregnant while pregnantright? I'm hoping, cute as the kits are that this is it!!!

I'm waiting for my film. :DW/ the holiday andthe ice/snow everythingis slow.

Does anyone else have problems with outdoor rabbits and squirrels? Theyclimb all over the hutch, sniffing face to face with the buns, tryingto get to the food!!!
 

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