Nursing Doe Sick of Her Kids After 18 Days?

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Rjblindt

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We got our second bunny and 30 days later I come home from work we found out our first one was a boy... Surprise!!!!! 7 more cute little babies! I removed the new found male from the cage (in what we assumed to be about 20 minutes to an hour of birth) and turned the xpen into a second cage for him and made a nest box for her. 2 of them died in the first few days (one got separated from the pack and the other just kinda died in the night) but since they have all been plump and energetic. Fast forward to day 15, they all hop out, however Daenerys (our nursing doe) still went to the box to feed. The box was nasty yesterday, on day 17, (even after cleaning) and they were always under the cage step (we have a living world deluxe habitat large cage) so we tossed it and replaced it with an igloo so they still had space to hide in. Soon after we found that somehow Daenerys messed up the step and it started to collapse on them so we put the bottom of their animal carrier underneath so the step was at least still there, but no under hang.
The little buggers can can get up to bother her for food and are slowly taking over the step. Yesterday and Today when they have tried to feed from her she just freaks out and runs away and hunkers down so they can get at her nipples. We have made a nice run around area for her outside her cage where they cant get at her, but shes constantly peeing and pooing out here (which she has never done before) so we have to keep a sharp eye on her so she doesn't (she also darts right back in when she sees that we notice but the kids bother her again so she comes running out). When all of her babies harass her for food she also starts shaking a good bit when she goes loaf mode. Her nipples are definitely more prominent then the first weeks, but not particularly hard. Shes been eating and drinking the same as the last two weeks as well.
As far as we know its her first litter (rescued from a nasty house and they owners said she was around a year) and we are worried that shes abandoned them or something. One of my friends told me she might be pregnant again. We have been thinking about bringing her and her kids to the vet, but I wanted to hear your thoughts on the topic first. Is this Normal or Bad? I'm just super worried.
 
I don't breed so I don't have any experience with this but from what I read, first litters often go awry. She could indeed be pregnant again which might not help. Other members will probably chime in to tell you what to do - I remember hearing people say that when the doe wouldn't feed the kits (if you are positive she's not feeding them - you can make sure by looking at the kits whose bellies should be round... don't know if it's as obvious on a 18 day old kit, as they have fur ^^') you could hold her and put the kits next to her so that they can eat As a side note, even if you probably put that together by yourself by now: putting intact rabbits together is NEVER a good idea, no matter what you think their sex might be. Putting aside the fact that rabbits are often sexed wrong, if you did have two does, putting them together probably would have resulted in violent fighting. Rabbits must always be spayed and neutered before being put together and same sex pairs are a lot more difficult to bond than a male / female pairing. On the bright side, your rabbits should do fine together once the kits are gone and they are both desexed. Now would be a good time to neuter the buck, you'll be able to have the female spayed once the babies are all weaned (she doesn't sound that young, considering you rescued her, so I would not wait too much to do this).
 
Your doe is getting tired of the kits bothering her. At almost 3 weeks they should be eating mom's pellets anyway, and other than a once and possibly twice a day nursing she should be allowed to go somewhere she won't be bothered by them. At that age the kits don't really need a nesting box anymore so you could probably take it out, or you could turn it on its side if you're not ready to do that.
 

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