I have babies, really really need advice

[star_girl]

hi,
i havnt actually posted on thisforum before, but i signed up a week or so ago just to have a littlelook around because i have two rabbits, ginger and freckles, and i justgenerally love bunnies.
Anyway i really do need to post now because i need advice.
When i got my bunnies in about July/August i was told they were bothmale, but it turns out that Ginger is a girl rabbit. I did have mysuspicions a week or so ago because she was collecting hay and pullingfur as though he was nesting. My suspicions were yesterday confirmedwhen i went out to feed them at about half leven at night and i openedthe sheltered part of thier hutch to check they had enough hay andstraw and i saw baby rabbits! I tapped on the window and shouted to myboyfriend 'omg there is baby rabbits in here' he was like 'no youimagening it' and didnt belive me (don't blame him becasue im alwayswinding him up' anyway i swore to him there was all night so thismorning he went out to check and to his surprise there they were, 4,maybe 5 baby rabbits.
I assumed they were born yesterday becasue i hadnt noticed them beforebut after looking through this forum they don't seem to look like whatnew born rabbits look like and they see to be rather a lot bigger andhave the beginnings ir fur and markings (they all appear to look likefreckles) Also freckles has been a bit funny the last week or so notreally coming out of the sheltered area where i found the babies.

So basically, Ginger has had a litter, to my surprise, that may havebeen there for a lot longer than i thought, but i dont know how a wouldhave missed it.
I know baberly anything about caring for a little of baby rabbits andthier parents so i would very much appriciate some advice from you guysas i want to do what is best.

Should i be puitting any special food in?
What should i do about the fact it is getting really cold at night?
Is it best not to touch them?
Do they parents need anything special doing or giving to them?
How old do you think they are?
Is it going to effect the babies the fact that ginger and freckles are bro/sis?
and just any general advice that will help me!

Sorry this is such a long mesage!!

Ill appriciate any advice you got!

Anna xxxx

 

[pamnock]

The most important step to take right now is toremove the male (buck) from the cage. It's probably that he'salready mated with the doe again (does are very receptive immediatelyafter giving birth), and you may be expecting another litter 31 daysafter your current litter was born.

You can distract the doe with a little treat to check on the babies andbe certain there are no dead ones in the nest. Be careful -some does are very protective over their young.

If they are in a small sheltered box, just be certain there is plenty of hay to provide insulation and keep them warms.

The doe will only feed the kits once or twice per day, so you may notactually see her caring for them at all. Very thin kits withwrinkled skin is an indication that they are not doing well.

The doe doesn't require any special foods. Just increase herregular ration slightly in a few days as her milk production increases.

In cases of sibling mating, there isincreased likelihood ofinheriting congenital defects that the line may recessively carry.



Pam

 

[star_girl]

hi

thanks for your reply.

i havn't taken the male out yet, i don't actually have anywhere else toput him yet. i will take him to to doctored at the vets so i can keepthe pair together, but if i split them fopr now then put them backtogther will there be any problems or will they still be cool with oneanother?

ive got a pic of the babies now

they are all alive, i think there is 5. can you tell from this pic ifthey are ok and healthy or is that too difficult. also could anyonegive me a rough age?

i think they are gorgeous but i am trying not to get attached to themjust incase of complicatation. i mean i hope to god they are all gunnabe fine and well but i know there is a high chance that it wont be so.

i know its a while off yet but when the babies start eating solids willi need to change the food to junior food rather than what the mothercurrently eats??

thanks for your help

anna xxx

 

[Haley]

I dont know much about babies, but Pam wasright..you need to get dad out of there. Do you have a bathroom orsomewhere you could put him and his litterbox? Or could you run out andbut a small doggie playpen or something to keep him in for now?

btw, very very cute babies!

 

[samixXx]

very cute babies
im not on expert but i think they look about a week old.
they look healthy.

 

[pamnock]

I agree that they appear to be about 7 days oldand look very healthy. Their eyes will open at about 10-14days of age.

The male and female may still get along when reunited.However, the issue here is that you don't want your doe to endlesslyproduce litters of kits, so this situation needs to beaddressed. They either need to be separated, or the buckneeds to be neutered.

It is very likely that the doe has already mated and has another litter due in a couple weeks.

Most certainly remove the buck from the cage. Babies willneed to be separated by sex by 12 weeks of age, or they will also startreproducing.

Pam

 

[star_girl]

ive just been to the shops to buy somwhere forfreckles to live temporarily. im going to ring the vets first thingtomorrow and sort out about getting him neutered asap. i cant believethey have been there for a week and i didnt spot them before!
im glad they all look healthy!!
gunna go and move freckles into his temp home now. thanks for yourhelp, im sure ill be back a lot over the next few weeks asking for moreadvice as im a total novice as you can tell!

anna xxxx

 

[pamnock]

star_girl wrote:

i cant believe they have been there fora week and i didnt spot them before!
im glad they all look healthy!!

anna xxxx

Yep - most certainly have been there The babies are bornfurless. The little chestnut on the far right would haveactually been born black -- takes about a week for the brown coloredfur to grow in.



Pam

 

[star_girl]

Ive taken Freckles out now (much to his disgust)so its just ginger and her babies now. Im going to ring the vetstomorrow to sort out about having freckles neutered. Once he isneutered do i need to wait untill the babies are weined before ire-introduce him into the hucth with ginger?

Also ginger isnt particully protective over her babies, i mean sheobviously is good mum because she must be feeding the babies andkeeping them warm because it is cold out at the moment and we even hada frost a couple of days last week and the babies are all alive andwell. and she has made a wonderful nest. but when i open the hutch tocheck on them she doesnt seem particularly bothered, when freckles wasstill in there he was a tonne more bother than she was, is this normal,it doesnt mean she will stop looking after them does it??

now i know they are in there i have put a blanket over the hutch andstuffed a little bit of newspaper down the door where there is a littlegap where it opens to keep the draft out, because like a said it iscold outside, when i came home from work at half 7 there was already alight frost on my car!

i havn't touched the babies yet because i wasnt sure about whether ishould or not, is it ok for me too, if not when can I? I know i keepasking (probably obvious) questions but i just want to do my best forthe little ones to give them a fair start in life.

Also i just wanted to add that i have been having a proper nosey roundthis forum, in this section and the others and its so good. I love allthe pictures and theres some great advice on here and some beautifulbunnies!

Anna xxxxx

 

[Starlight Rabbitry]

Sounds like you are doing a great job.It is o.k. for you to touch the babies. Just remember thatthey are very wiggly and can jump and squirm right out of your hands sohold them securely. It is normal for a mother not to be tooprotective of their babies especially when they trust you.

Good luck with them.

Sharon

 

[Haley]

star_girl wrote:

Once he is neutered do i need to wait untill the babies areweined before i re-introduce him into the hucth with ginger?

Anna,

Having him neutered is great. Just make sure you have a vet who handlesrabbits frequently, so they know which meds are safe and such (not allvets see rabbits). We have a rabbit-savvy vet listing on here if youneed some help.

With regards to re-introducing him, you will want to wait. Males canstill impregnate a doe up to around 6 weeks after the neuter, so Ithink it would be best to just wait until the kits are weaned beforeputting dad back in. Just make sure when you do, you are very carefulabout putting them together. Re-introduce them on neutral territory.Hopefully they will still be buddies, but you never know..

Youre doing a great job! Feel free to keep asking lots of questions.We're all happy to help where we can (and the breeders on here areabsolute geniouses, they know so much!).

Oh, and welcome to the forum! Im so glad you found this place when you did, mustve been fate

-Haley

 

[star_girl]

hello all. Been out to the bunnies today and thebabies are all good. can't belive how much more furry they have gottonover night. I am falling in love with them more each time i go see themthey are absolutly adorable. They are moving around a lot more today aswell. and it looks as though their eyes are beginning to open. Ive alsobooked Freckles in the the vets today to be neutered, gunna have itdone a week on wednesday. Only going to be £42, so im pleased aboutthat. also the vets i am going to deal with a lot of small animals andi aksed them if they frequently neuter rabbits and the nurse i wasspeaking too said all the vets are experienced in doing the procedure.
Ive also managed to find homes for 3 of them when they are old enoughto leave which is fab, because they are going to people i know well andi can trust to look after them well. Infact my boyfriend is having twoso ill be seeing them every day anyway. But ive still just got myfingers crossed that are all going to be ok, but from what i can tellthey all seem fantastic.
Anyway this post is really just an excuse to put some of the pics on a took today!!...

This is my absolute FAVOURITE picture, they are cuddling, cutest things EVER!

and i like this one because you can see all thier markings!

Anna xxxxx

 

[babybabbit]

hi, definitely 5 healthy babies there-they're adorable!!!! i'd say they're about a week old if not a couple of days more!
but you are so lucky they really are beutiful lil buns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

babyb:bunnybutt:

 

[Haley]

Beautiful pictures!:kiss:

 

[Snuggys Mom]

Oh, they're adorable!

Well, at least you won't have to change Freckles' name! It works for a girl or a boy!

 

[star_girl]

Hello all!

Well the babies eyes are pretty much open now, some more than others!
They have also began venturing away from the nest and following thier mum around trying to get fed!!

But i have more questions now they are at the next stage!

Ok,
The sheltered part of the hutch where the nest was isfine, but the reast of the hutch has gotton a little mucky where gingerhas been hanging round, is it ok for me just to give it a quick cleanso the babies arn't treading all on mucl and stuff?

When do they start drinking water?? and when they do will i need to geta lower down water bottle, with a smaller drip thing on it?

Should i change the food in the hutch, or add baby food. Ginger hasExel pellets, just the standard ones in the dark green bag, but when ifirst had the rabbits they had the junoir pellets in the light greenbags, is it worth getting some of this?

Should i put 'toys' in for the babies to explore, like toilet roll middles or little boxes??

And generally any other advice people might have for me, something i may have over looked!

They are all seeming very healthy and happy, i picked them up for thefirst time, and i am totally in love (even though one of the littlebrown ones wee'd on me!!), i don't know how im going to gove themaway...but i'll make the most of the while i have them, i am seriouslyconsidering keeping a couple though...hehe

I'll put the pics i took of them today on my blog i set up yesterday if you wanna have a little looky!

Thanks

Anna xxxxx

 

[samixXx]

yeah its a good idea to clean the hutch to avoid infections.
i dont change the food type but some other breeders might.
as soon as they start exploring properly they will learn to use the water bottle.
i use a big bottle for mom at a height she can use comfortably and a smaller rabbit or hamster bottle for babies low down.
i give my babys toilet roll tubes, empty boxes, rattles,balls. mine love anything noisy and they move the balls around withthere noses.
im sure the other members will have better advice for u

 

[pamnock]

Remove wet/soiled litter, but never completelyclean out the nesting area. The doe places scent on thenest. If all the nesting material is replaced, the kits willleave the area in search of their scented nest.

Pam

 

[naturestee]

Once they get the hang of walking, the babieswill probably love toys. The mom will too. Here's alist of fun, inexpensive toys that you could give them:

http://www.adoptarabbit.org/articles/2003/Toys.pdf

 

[aurora369]

I would make sure the cage is very clean. I clean my foster cage everyday. Just don't clean the nest out.

Toys are wonderful, and will make your babies very happy.Also make sure to handle them lots. The more time spent withyou or just people in general, the friendlier they will be. Ialways take a blanket, and have snuggle time with the babies at thisage on the couch while I watch TV.

I haven't had to change the nozzle on the water bottles, but make surethat the babies can easily reach the tip. They will copy momand learn how to use it just fine.

As for food, how much protien does the food you are feeding nowhave? I always feed a 16% protein feed to my nursing moms andbabies. If the food you are feeding now doesn't have enoughprotein, do a slow switch over with mom so she doesn't get an upsettummy.

The babies won't quite be nibbling on the food yet, but in about a week they will be.

--Dawn