is Momma bunny abandoning her babies???

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Binks

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Hello, I'm new here so I'm not sure if I'm in the right thread or not please let me know.

I'll just get right into it- my rabbit recently had 7 babies all alive and well, she's been eating lots for the past 10 days and feeding them consistently. Her babies are very healthy, round, and are extremely active. Their eyes have not started to open yet (now 11 days old) but they are very actively trying to escape their nest and either seek out Mom-bun or simply pile up outside to sleep...??? what

Ever since Mom-bun accidentally saw one crawl out, she has been very anxious about keeping the nest closed and has started to slow her eating. She seems to have forgotten or chose not to feed them the night after this incident. So to ensure the babies stay inside the nest I have decided to raise the walls of the nest altogether, also raising the entrance to it so the babies may be less motivated to climb out.(nest is a large upside-down plastic box, raised about 3 inches higher with cardboard). But ever since this new improvement, Mom-bun doesn't seem to want to go inside to feed them at all anymore, and guess what- the babies are still escaping... I actually sat and watched as one climbed up a hay wall, stumbled around, and continued to gracefully fall out onto some cotton balls (set on the ground outside the nest for just such an occasion.)

I took them all out at one point to raise the nest and placed them all in a temporary blanket lined box- no one even tried to escape it and were all very cozy and content. I'm not sure what their motivation is for escaping the actual nest, be it curiosity, or simply trying to stretch... though the nest itself is quite large and the babes can go just about anywhere inside. A theory is they might simply be too hot? Suffocating? Worse? I just don't know... can't seem to find anything helpful on any websites either.

As frustrating as the escapees may be, I'm worried they're not being fed anymore because I raised the nest. Is Mom-bun abandoning them because of a taller nest? Is she simply rejecting the nest? Maybe the entrance is to high/small? She still jumps on top of it to rest, but doesn't appear to be going inside at all. Her cage is right by my bed and I will usually hear her blocking the nest entrance after a feeding while I'm trying to sleep (she digs and shoves everything in front of the entrance, food or not, no excuses!). I have not heard any routine digging, and have not seen her inside (her tail usually sticks out of the nest while inside) for 2 days now.
While there might be a simple solution staring me in the face, I just can't seem to find it... I have also never had such an active litter before! This is also Mom-bun's first litter, just in case that might be part of the issue... any kind of help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

there are currently 3 babies outside of the nest right now just sleeping in a pile, loving life ... time may be important
 
How do you know she doesn't feed?

Meddling with the nest might make her nervous - then many rabbits wouldn't go near the nest when someone is around, you'll never notice her feeding - they are prey animals and protect the nest this way. But I very much doubt she would stop feeding because of that, just give her privacy.

If she indeed stopps feeding for more than a day something is amiss, then check her teats for things like mastitis.

Kits crawl out of the nest when it's too warm, in nature the nest is in an underground tunnel, much cooler in summer than a hutch, cage or even indoors.
They can climb much better than adults, so take care that they can't get far, you can put a wood/cardboard wall, 3-4" high some distance around the nest, far enough that the doe can move around the box.
 
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The babies' bellies are noticeably thinner and flatter feeling today than yesterday, and she is suddenly stopped eating as much as she used to maybe 2 days ago, she never used to have leftover lettuce, now she takes 3 bites and hops away. Her belly is the same hot and pink and ready to feed, but she doesn't seem to be interested in the sort.

If you read the last part I said: "Her cage is right by my bed and I will usually hear her blocking the nest entrance after a feeding while I'm trying to sleep"

It is routine that she feeds them, then digs and throws everything in her path in front of the nest entrance to block it. It is usually very loud as the cage has a hollow plastic flooring, often waking me up. This is the indication that she has been in the nest and is feeding them- and she has not done this for 2 days.

Would exchanging the nest with a different and topless box make things worse? I have a feeling the entrance to the nest may be to high for her.

Thanks for the reply.
 
Try holding her in your lap and either bring a baby at a time up from underneath to feed, or try turning her over on her back (in your lap) and see if you can put one on her belly to feed. We had a doe abandon her babies after 2 weeks...no apparent reason...but that's when the kits started leaving the nest, most likely to search for milk. Hopefully, you can get her interested in feeding them again, because they're too young to wean. Last resort is hand feeding.
 
Thanks for the help, I got her to feed them recently, all is well at the moment.
I was thinking about it earlier and realized now that she may have simply been too hot to eat today (summer!) and a nice air conditioning perked her up some. That was certainly a scare though!

Thanks again!
 

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