Has anyone ever witnessed a rabbit do this before? Last night I checked on the babies, counted them for sure and then made the decision to move them to a kitty litter pan as their nest. The nest was still nicely put together but the babies would squirm to the farthest corner of the nest which, because of the way it is built is under the edge of the box. Hazel, from time to time, likes to sit on top of the box and I was afraid that one of the babies might squirm under the edge of the box and it would be seriously injured if Hazel jumped on top of the box. As well, the nest she built was super deep and two of the babies are smaller and not as active as the other three, they're a bit dehydrated etc. and keep getting pushed to the very bottom of the nest by their more active siblings. I wanted a shallower nest for them so that when she was feeding, they had a better chance of latching on to a nipple.
I moved them and all the fur from the nest into a carefresh lined, hay lined litter pan, plunked them in the exact same spot and called it a day. This morning when I got up and checked on them Hazel had torn it apart and moved (!) the babies to the middle of the cage. They were laying in a small hollowed out indent without any fur covering them, lying completely still. I freaked out and touched them and they became an immediate mass of wriggling, toasty warm meeping bunnies. So I moved them back into the litter pan and recovered them with fur. Hazel watched all of this with a mild expression of concern but all and all seemed pretty mellow about me moving them. It doesn't seem to bother her at all if I touch them, I thought she might be aggressive and defensive but she more has an attitude of "Oh hey, whatcha' doin' with those babies?".
However, I'm terribly concerned that she's going to move them again sans the fur during the day and with being at work I can't check on them. Ben is going to try and zip home during his lunch break and if she's moved them again, just cover them with fur to where ever she's moved them this time.
I feel absolutely wretched about this. If those babies die of exposure because she's moved them, it will be a direct result of my actions. But everything I had read and all the advice I was given said that bunnies don't move their babies. And the nest I created in the litter pan was in the exact same spot that the nest in the upside down box was.
Has anyone had bunnies move their babies before?
(I took more pictures last night, I'll post them in their blog with an update on how the bunnies are doing and a total number etc. as soon as I get the chance)
I moved them and all the fur from the nest into a carefresh lined, hay lined litter pan, plunked them in the exact same spot and called it a day. This morning when I got up and checked on them Hazel had torn it apart and moved (!) the babies to the middle of the cage. They were laying in a small hollowed out indent without any fur covering them, lying completely still. I freaked out and touched them and they became an immediate mass of wriggling, toasty warm meeping bunnies. So I moved them back into the litter pan and recovered them with fur. Hazel watched all of this with a mild expression of concern but all and all seemed pretty mellow about me moving them. It doesn't seem to bother her at all if I touch them, I thought she might be aggressive and defensive but she more has an attitude of "Oh hey, whatcha' doin' with those babies?".
However, I'm terribly concerned that she's going to move them again sans the fur during the day and with being at work I can't check on them. Ben is going to try and zip home during his lunch break and if she's moved them again, just cover them with fur to where ever she's moved them this time.
I feel absolutely wretched about this. If those babies die of exposure because she's moved them, it will be a direct result of my actions. But everything I had read and all the advice I was given said that bunnies don't move their babies. And the nest I created in the litter pan was in the exact same spot that the nest in the upside down box was.
Has anyone had bunnies move their babies before?
(I took more pictures last night, I'll post them in their blog with an update on how the bunnies are doing and a total number etc. as soon as I get the chance)