Rabbits, Newborn

Need your precious advice.

I have 2 rabbits, 1 male and 1 female. At first they were living in an outdoor wooden rabbit house. I thought it be more natural for rabbits to live on the ground and allow to dig holes. So I built an area for them to live. Yesterday, I went to feed them and play with them, everything’s fine. Today when I’m feeding them and turn around, I saw 3 newborn rabbits! 2 of them laying on the dirt and covered by 10-20 ants. The other one was 2-3 feet away and covered A LOT of ants. The mom didn’t seem to care and still eating. This one, the skin is much more pinkish compare to the other 2.

I quickly grabbed a box, put a tshirt inside, and put the babies in the box. I moved the box, along with the dad and mom back to the wooden rabbit house. I’m afraid leaving them outside on the ground, the babies will be attacked by the ants again.
My questions:

1. Should I put 5 rabbits (dad, mom, 3 babies) back on the ground? Am I worrying too much?
2. Why aren’t the baby rabbits inside the hole they dug?
3. Is it normal that the babies are covered with ants and the mother didn’t do anything?
4. Since the tshirts that the babies are laying on right now were worn and washed, I’m worried that there’s scent on the shirt and the mother will not go near it.

Any suggestions would be more than appreciated.

Thanks.

First of all you need to separate the doe and buck! The buck will just breed with the doe again and she will always be pregnant which is dangerous and she will end up dying not to mention that she will not be healthy enough to take care of the babies that are nursing off her!

I would make a nest for them in a nest box and put them in a area where the mother can get to them...

Make sure all ants are off the babies, maybe wash them to get dirt off and to make sure every ant is off. Make sure not to get any water on or near there ears, mouth or nose!

Can you post a photo of them to see how bad the ants have gotten them? Please?

Make sure they have full tummies and have gotten milk and if they don't have plump stomachs turn the mother over and hold the babies on a nipple and let them suckle to make sure they get milk.

When I had a baby be attacked by ants I put some savlon antiseptic cream on everyday and she got better and I sold her (she is now around 14wks)

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I wouldn't put them back on the ground. The buck does need to be separated from mom and kits. How old is the doe? If this is her first litter she may not take care of them, but you need to put her and the kits in a protected place and give her a chance. She should nurse them within 24 hours. Newborns are very susceptible to high and low temps so make sure the box has hay in it and some of mom's hair. If she didn't pull any you can pluck some from her belly pretty easy. The box should be a little bigger than the doe so she can get in it and turn around without stepping on the kits.

Thanks a lot for the responses. The buck has been separated! Hope it’s not too late.

I can’t really tell if they have full tummies. This morning, when I tried to grab the buck from the rabbit house, the mom jumps into the baby box right away, and starts licking them. Every time when I open the rabbit house, the first thing mom does is jump into the box. I took the box out to take some pictures, and when putting it back, the mom does try to look at the box right away. But I’m still not sure if mom is feeding them.

The doe is around a year old I believe. I got it 6 months ago and it was half the size of the buck. Yes, this is the first litter.

I have the pictures below. Should I still put hay inside the box along with fur? I didn’t put it in the first place because I read somewhere online that their skin’s still pretty soft and those timothy hay I got feels pretty rough to me.

Again, thanks a lot for the responses.

Pictures attached:

They look like that have been fed at least once I would just keep an eye on them. There skin isn't that bad...

You will need a box that is half enclosed at the top like this:
View attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1442178798.922865.jpg

Do you think i need to fill it with timothy hay?

Fill it with any hay you have and pull some of mums hair out (unless she already has) make it into a nest and put the babies in cover them with some hair and they should be fine.

Your box needs to have higher sides than the cardboard box you're using. Newborn kits can crawl and their eyes won't open until they're 10-14 days old. The bars on your cage are wide enough that a kit can get through them, so it's important to find something with higher sides. I don't know what your temps are but until they have hair they can die quite easily if they get cold. That's why we're suggesting placing them in a layer of hay with mom's hair both under them and over them.

Yeah I agree the babies could fit through there easy! The mother can also accidentally kick them in that nest