COVERING UP BABIES

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babbitlover

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My rabbits just had bunnies, but she is coveringthem completely up... can they breath? is that what she is uppose todo?... like she is kicking all bedding on top of them, i can still seethe bedding moving from them being under it but are they ok???... Ihavent seen her ... feed them yet either. I am so worried. Oh goodness.
 
stop worrying! ;)they arebreathing fine. If she wasn't covering them up you'd havemore reason to be worried. remember those kits need to stayover 90 degrees at all times.

She will feed them. are you staying up to watchher? if so get some sleep!;) she may not even wantto nurse them with you around. rembember rabbits nurse theirbabies once a day only. and they can live 2-3 days withoutbeing fed. you will know if they are not being fed.

sorry i am being a little short, maybe i should go to bed too.
 
how do you check babies to make sure there allalive without ruining nests, should I check? i was freaking out becausei thought she did it out of stupidity, and suffocated them, but i guessthere ok than.. thank you
 
Ok, here is what normally happens, the doemakes a nest from hay or straw, whatever she is given. She then linesthat nest with her fur. Once the babies are born, she hops out of thenextbox. The babies use a swimming motion with their legs to coverthemselves up. The swimming motion fluffs the fur so it can stay dry.I've never actually seen a doe cover babies up, they do it themselves.The babies must stay covered when the doe isn't nursing or they willget chilled quite easily and die.

Does only nurse the babies once or twice a day. Sometimes they don'tnurse them at all until 24 hours after giving birth. Each doe has theirown schedule. Most does prefer that nobody is around when they donurse. You can check the babies once or twice a day, you should be ableto see the milk in their tummy beside the naval. Yes, you can actuallysee the white through the skin. If the babies are staying nice andround, they are being fed. If their skin is getting wrinkley and theyare thin in the tummy area, they are not getting fed.

Rabbits are prey animals so they "seem" to ignore the babies unlessthey are actually in feeding them. This is their natural behavior so asto not bring the babies to the attention of a predator.

Hope this helps,

Suzy
 

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