Help! Advice needed

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Misscherry15

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2018
Messages
50
Reaction score
10
Location
Coventry
I recent found out that my two male rabbits are not actually both male.
The breeder confirmed them as both being males but i found out monday daytime that my grey lop is actually a doe and is pregnant.

My parents used to breed rabbits years ago when i was growing up so i remember somethings but not all and my parents cant remember themselves.

Monday i found out my doe was nesting. It is full of fur.
I checked her gently and she does indeed have kits that were wiggling around a bit.
No idea how many she is rather big and the kits feel big too.
I immediately brought a new hutch and seperate her and my buck.
I moved her into the new hutch as its more suitable. I moved her nest into there too.

She took very well to the new hutch and has accepted the nest and made it even bigger. Yesterday the nest was of a good size and she wasnt eating mist of the day. She ate barely anything and seemed a bit restless so i assumed birth was pending and would wake up to kits today. However she is still pregnant and her nest is unchanged in size from yesterday morning.

I do not know when she concieved so i dont know for sure when she is due but any advise would be great?
Im concerned. She is eating like normal today etc.
When should i expect her to birth. And at what point do i go vets to see if something is wrong?

Separately... when after having kits can she be spayed?
 
Last edited:
After the kits are weaned she can be spayed. Without knowing the breed date it’ll be hard to know when the kits are overdue. I’ve had does make a nest a week before, most made them a day or two before and a few made them right before they were kindling.
 
Thankyou for your reply. I think she may currently be in labour x will update in a bit
 
Babies are born and doing well. All alive. Now covered with mothers fur. 5 in total. Mum is well and eating alot of fresh fruit at the moment.
 
Great, nursing does need more protein than normal. If you give her pellets you’ll want to increase how much to give her. She’ll also go through more water while nursing.
 
Congratulations! Yes, like majorv said, she'll need a lot more food. Usually over this first week you will need to increase her food til you are feeding unlimited amounts of pellets, or close to it. Food consumption will usually triple.

This link has really good info on caring for unexpected litters and their mom.
http://flashsplace.webs.com/accidentallitters.htm

I also wanted to mention, that if you have your doe in the upstairs of a two story hutch with a hole and ramp to the lower level, that you will need to either block it off or make some sort of alteration so the babies can't fall down the hole if and when they wander out of the nest. Baby buns are very wiggly and have a knack for escaping, even when you think it might be impossible for them to do so.

eta: You'll also want to be careful about giving too much fruit. Excess sugars can lead to overgrowth of bad bacteria, and cause gut upset. I would feed more of her usual veggies, pellets, and hay instead.

Make sure they have a nice thick layer of mom's fur over them if they are outside and it's cold out. If she didn't pluck much, you can assist her and pluck some more from her belly. It should still be loose and easy to pull out.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top