6 Week Kits; Mom is Mounting Them?

[Samara]

Molly has a litter of 3 kits, all healthy, that are going to be 6 weeks on the nose tomorrow.

2 days ago she has started mounting them. I've seen does mount others before, but never wee kits.

What could be running through her head?

Is she stressed?

I believe she has enough space. They all have a few hours daily to run around the room the cage is in.

I included a picture; I wanted to clarify that the dish of veggies did not stay in with the kits. I started them on under 1/2oz of veggies yesterday. I let them each take a nibble of something they found tasty and removed it just for Mom while the wee ones were having free time.

So far so good. No loose poops in the box today, but I am taking it slow. Once a week or less for the little ones till they're 10+ weeks. And the licks came out also based on my posting about them earlier this week.

Any idea why Mum is mounting the bubs?

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

I have no clue. But I am going to move this to the rabbitry. The breeders should be able to answer this

 

[Samara]

Thanky for getting me in the right place! :wave2

 

[woahlookitsme]

In relation to moms size the babies size and the cage size I would separate the babies. Also if you can separate the boys and girls and watch for missing fur patches

 

[Samara]

Even though the kits aren't 8 weeks yet? I guess I could still put her cecals in their cage for their nutrients...

Why do I need to separate the males and females at this age though? :?

 

[LindseyG]

They should be ok as long as they are eating on their own. Even though they are separated from their mother I would still keep them with their siblings until 8 weeks.

 

[woahlookitsme]

Sorry Whenever we separate babies from mom we always keep same sex together because no telling how long we have to keep them together because there isn't an open cage for each individual baby. By 5 or 6 months we are able to separate individually but that was a habit to say that.

Is mom acting agitated towards them or fidgety in any way? Really it's telling me that mom is ready to be bred again but If you aren't planning on breeding again then I would watch them close or separate.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Definitely think it's time to house them separate. As to the girls and boys, it's a pound of prevention thing--may not be needed immediately, but not really that far off from being a reality.

 

[Samara]

Sounds good...thank you for the opinions guys.

Molly is eating and drinking normally, but she isn't lying with them, grooming them or doing any sort of general snuggling with them.

My soon to be neutered buck is next to her enclosure. Could that be the problem? Maybe she IS looking to be bred again because she can see and smell him?

Or maybe she feels like he's encroaching on her space? They have been near each other for months.

I will get Molly into a new pen this evening; I've read that it's best to keep the babies in their original pen to minimize the stress of Mom leaving...any validity to that?

Are these kits big for 6 weeks? They are English lop/lionhead crosses that thankfully she was able to carry and birth without any harm to herself or them. They don't SEEM so big but when I look at the pictures and they are almost her size I start to wonder...

 

[woahlookitsme]

I was quite surprised when seeing how big they were for 6 weeks. We always take the babies out of moms cage and usually they stay together so that always helps. I would always recommend keeping siblings together for as long as possible. I think that helps more than keeping them in the same cage. Moving them to a new cage also helps with them coping in new surroundings and makes them less sensitive to new things.

And i would blame the buck for her hormones and humping behavior

 

[majorv]

I agree that the buck is probably causing the behavior...6 weeks is a little young for the doe to be acting that way with the kits. If she is no longer grooming them or messing with them,it's probablytime to move them out. They'll beokay if you move them together into a separate cage.

 

[ZRabbits]

How's Molly and the babies doing now that they are separated? Hope all is well.

K

 

[Samara]

Much more relaxed! Thanks for asking

I told my husband that she might be looking to mate again and I think he developed an eye twitch.

 

[Samara]

We sexed the babies today! The shorthaired bub is a buck, the longhaired, long eared bub is also a buck and the runt who is longhaired with short, erect ears is a doe!

I doubled checked on Molly and Gubbs to be extra sure.

They're all mad at me now.

:surrender

 

[woahlookitsme]

Glad to hear everything is better
Lol about your husbands twitch

 

[LakeCondo]

Better angry than preggy.

 

[ZRabbits]

LakeCondo wrote:

Better angry than preggy.

Ditto.

Plus you really don't want to get your husband's eye twitching again. lol

K

 

[Samara]

Agreed!