New Baby Rabbits. Need help please.

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

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

Nibblesrabbit

New Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2020
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Location
Nevada
Our bunny had babies three days ago. They were doing good. In a nice nesting box, mom pulled the fur. Their tummy were big yesterday. I went this morning and it looks like she has started to possibly eat them which I am sick over. They all have sores and they don't look like they have been fed as their tummies are thin. I am just not sure what is best to do. I did pull her out and held her and the babies did eat but tummy aren't big. Maybe she isn't producing milk. Not sure though. Should I remove the babies from the mother and only put in with her morning and night to feed? Or will she just continue to eat them? The other thing is we have another female in the large cage with them, could it be her that is eating them? Any guidance is mutely appreciated. Thank you!
 
Oh no! Separate the mom and the other female. I would make sure that the babies are eating every 3 hours, warm, and have full tummies. Could you send a picture?
 
Rabbits don't feed every 3 hours, twice a day is normal.

Taking the nestbox out and retrurn it for feeding, at least for 1 or 2 days until everything becomes routine is an option. Overgrooming can happen, but I think there are chances that she gets the hang of it, If she would eating them there wouldn't be much left but a bloody mess, they do eat dead kits.

I have 2 pairs of breeding does, so there is always a second doe around and I do not seperate them for more than one or two days , and that only if it is really necessary to not upset their hierachy, and they still get garden time together. I would consider a situation like this a reason for at least part time seperation around feeding time if you think them being in one cage causes stress.
Never had one messing with the others kits.
But each of my pairs have 2 hutches, connected with a tunnel, so if they feel like it they can avoid each other as long as they like, I'm not sure this would be working that well if they were in one cage.
 
Rabbits don't feed every 3 hours, twice a day is normal.

Taking the nestbox out and retrurn it for feeding, at least for 1 or 2 days until everything becomes routine is an option. Overgrooming can happen, but I think there are chances that she gets the hang of it, If she would eating them there wouldn't be much left but a bloody mess, they do eat dead kits.

I have 2 pairs of breeding does, so there is always a second doe around and I do not seperate them for more than one or two days , and that only if it is really necessary to not upset their hierachy, and they still get garden time together. I would consider a situation like this a reason for at least part time seperation around feeding time if you think them being in one cage causes stress.
Never had one messing with the others kits.
But each of my pairs have 2 hutches, connected with a tunnel, so if they feel like it they can avoid each other as long as they like, I'm not sure this would be working that well if they were in one cage.
Thank you for the advice. I will try putting the nesting box morning and night. All the babies are still alive just looked like they all got a nibbled on last night. There are 2 out of the 5 that don't have big belly's so I think I am going to try to supplement.
 
Hand feeding has it's risks, for me it's a last resort, rabbit milk is something rather special (I used a mixture of condensed goat milk, egg yolk, and syrup).
When there are kits that are well fed, and others that didn't get their share I take the fattest 1/3 of the litter out for one feeding (or every 3rd if necessary) to reduce the competition on the milk buffet. Doesn't hurt the well fed kits and one full belly can make a huge difference for the others.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top