Thanks for the replies to my earlier post about our surprise babies. 
Maybe you can help me with some more questions.
We are going away on vacation in about 10 days, when the babies will beabout 2 weeks old. This trip was planned before we knew we'd havebabies. We are getting a housesitter to take care of all our critters,but we don't have any prospective housesitters who know anything aboutrabbits, let alone baby rabbits.
So I am pondering the situation and have a lot of questions. By 2 weeksof age, I expect their eyes will have opened and they will be moremobile. Whichever housesitter we hire won't be at the house all dayevery day--they all work at least part time. I'm home a lot with my 3kids so I check on the rabbits often. Will they all be OK if they don'thave as much supervision? I can try to enlist friends and neighbors tocome check on them additionally--is that necessary?
Do I have to worry about them getting out of the nest between 2-3 weeksof age? How mobile will they be? If they can get out, will they know togo back in to be nursed?
They are in an outdoor hutch. We let the adult rabbits out during theday (separately for now!) to explore their little fenced run. We hadbeen planning to connect the 2 hutches with a tube and build a rampdown from one doorway, so they can go in and out at will during theday. If the nest is in the hutch that does not have a ramp, and thetube connecting the hutches is several inches off the floor, will thebabies be safe in that hutch?
It has been warm recently but if there's a cold snap (not unheard of inMarch) will the babies know to stay together in the nest, even if theyCAN get out?
The nest box has a 1-inch lip at the doorway opening that is servingthe purpose of holding them in right now, but a curious kit with openeyes could climb over it easily--I just don't know how old they tend tobe when they start trying to climb out. Should we make it harder forthem to get out? That would require switching them to a deepopen-topped box from the enclosed one they're in now. Would changingthe nest configuration freak out the mama bunny?
I tend to trust the natural process, and so far so good with the mamataking care of her kits. But I'm SO new at this! It makes me nervousnot to be around for a week while they're still so little, and not toknow what to expect in terms of their development. Thanks for anyanswers/advice you may have.
Stacy
mama to 3 kids
caretaker of 1 cat, 1 toad, 2 rabbits and 3 surprise kits!
Maybe you can help me with some more questions.We are going away on vacation in about 10 days, when the babies will beabout 2 weeks old. This trip was planned before we knew we'd havebabies. We are getting a housesitter to take care of all our critters,but we don't have any prospective housesitters who know anything aboutrabbits, let alone baby rabbits.
So I am pondering the situation and have a lot of questions. By 2 weeksof age, I expect their eyes will have opened and they will be moremobile. Whichever housesitter we hire won't be at the house all dayevery day--they all work at least part time. I'm home a lot with my 3kids so I check on the rabbits often. Will they all be OK if they don'thave as much supervision? I can try to enlist friends and neighbors tocome check on them additionally--is that necessary?
Do I have to worry about them getting out of the nest between 2-3 weeksof age? How mobile will they be? If they can get out, will they know togo back in to be nursed?
They are in an outdoor hutch. We let the adult rabbits out during theday (separately for now!) to explore their little fenced run. We hadbeen planning to connect the 2 hutches with a tube and build a rampdown from one doorway, so they can go in and out at will during theday. If the nest is in the hutch that does not have a ramp, and thetube connecting the hutches is several inches off the floor, will thebabies be safe in that hutch?
It has been warm recently but if there's a cold snap (not unheard of inMarch) will the babies know to stay together in the nest, even if theyCAN get out?
The nest box has a 1-inch lip at the doorway opening that is servingthe purpose of holding them in right now, but a curious kit with openeyes could climb over it easily--I just don't know how old they tend tobe when they start trying to climb out. Should we make it harder forthem to get out? That would require switching them to a deepopen-topped box from the enclosed one they're in now. Would changingthe nest configuration freak out the mama bunny?
I tend to trust the natural process, and so far so good with the mamataking care of her kits. But I'm SO new at this! It makes me nervousnot to be around for a week while they're still so little, and not toknow what to expect in terms of their development. Thanks for anyanswers/advice you may have.
Stacy
mama to 3 kids
caretaker of 1 cat, 1 toad, 2 rabbits and 3 surprise kits!
