Need some help! New at this and don't know what to do

Love your rabbit
Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
E

emitopher

Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2011
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Location
Temecula, California, USA
Please no bashing :)

We adopted two rabbits who we were told were both females. We had plans to get them both spayed at 7 months to protect their health. At two weeks before they were off to the vet to get fixed, one of them gave birth while we were gone. Guess, they were not both girls! We removed the male as soon as we could and had him neutered, but it had been 5 or 6 hours since she gave birth before we got home. She had 7 babies but only 3 of them made it to past three weeks. She is being a great mom and feeding them well. She also is very comfortable with us and lets us handle them and her.

My big problem is the fact that she very well could be pregnant again. If she was mated the same day as she gave birth, she would be 24 days pregnant now.
I need to know what I should do with the older kits. Should I leave them in with mama until she gives birth (if she does)? Should I move the mama to a new cage or the kits? Will the 4 week old kits still need to be given supplemental "milk"? They will have been eating timothy hay and Oxbow young rabbit pellets and drinking water for more than two weeks when the new litter arrives.

We are trying very hard to be responsible pet owners. We have homes for all of the three kits from the first litter, but want to keep them together as long as we can for their health.

We will be getting the mama spayed as soon as we can, but if she does have the second litter, we will have to wait until the second litter is weaned.

Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. We are doing all we can to make sure that our beloved pets are happy and healthy. I apologize for all of the questions!

Thank you!


 
In my crazy internet research (I am trying all I can) and by asking the vet who neutered the male, I was told she could get pregnant again within hours of giving birth. The male was in there with her for at least 6 hours after she had the babies, so I assume she is pregnant. If not, great! We will leave the babies with her a few more weeks. They will not be going to new homes until they are 8 weeks. I just need to be ready if it happens so that all of them have the best chance we can give them.

Thanks!
 
We can't afford a trip to the vet unless it is an emergency until the end of the month. She doesn't look any bigger, but I didn't notice she looked bigger before and she had 7 kits in there. I don't know how else to check.
 
Thanks! I will try to check her more in a bit. Since would be so far along, I am trying to be very careful. You think at 23 days, I would be able to feel something :)
Thanks again!
 
If she did get rebred, it's probably too late to reliably palpate her since the kits by this point will most likely feel more like the rest of her insides.

It's a tough call with the older litter. Commercial rabbitries that breed their does almost to death will wean kits as young as three weeks so the doe can kindle the following week, but the kits have to be fed special diets (research rabbit creep feed) while their tummies are so delicate (although they no longer REQUIRE replacement milk, and most bottle fed babies are weaned no later than 4 weeks anyway). On the other hand, letting the mom nurse right up until the birth of her second litter is not healthy for her--nursing is the most taxing on her condition.

I would say make your judgment (if you can't feel the kits) based on her behavior. If she seems to be acting like she wants her older kits to leave her (more than just the normal "quit trying to nurse, it's not dinner time!" behavior), she is probably pregnant, and you should probably remove the kits to make room for the next litter. But don't let the older kits go to their new homes until they're 6 weeks old.
 
I tried to palpate her but we didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. She was none too happy about it though!
She does not seem like she wants to get the babies away from her at all. She snuggles with them even when they are not nursing and seems to enjoy being with them when they are not bugging her to nurse. She hasn't pulled out any hair yet either like she did in the few days before they were born.
We will keep an eye out for more signs within the next week. If she is pregnant, we know exactly what day she conceived, so we should be able to know when babies should arrive.

We will keep the older kits until they are at least 6 weeks old no matter what.

I was thinking that we might keep them apart at night and the early morning and let them stay in with her all day for the next week or two until we know for sure. I am not sure what we would have to feed them for replacement milk if they didn't nurse, but I could find out if I needed to.

Thanks for all of the help!

 
No point in keeping them apart. Usually they only get to nurse once a day anyway, except for sneaking a little here and there, which is usually unsuccessful.

If she's fine with the kits, I'd just leave them. It's unlikely she's pregnant.

You might consider giving her a nest box that the older kits can't easily get into (maybe a second box for them too so they have some place comfy to lie). If she does kindle, remove the older kits immediately. They shouldn't need any replacement milk at 4 weeks old, just monitor their poops to make sure they all stay healthy.
 
If she's pregnant, I'm thinking she will most likely wean them herself around day 28 or so to get ready for the new litter.

I'd leave them in with her for now and just take a "wait and see" attitude.

Sounds like she's a good mom...she'll know when its time to push those kits away.....

Good luck!
 
This happened to one of my rescue bunnies recently. She came into the rescue with her 2 seven day old babies and when they where around 4 weeks old she had 5 more babies. I did seperate her babies from her because I didn't want her to get too stressed out with them.
The two babies are doing wonderful together with out their mother and the 5 new babies are now 2 weeks old. It is up to you but I think if they are eating solid food to seperate the older babies from mom if she does have another litter.
 
Thought I would give an update :)
Mama bun gave birth to 5 new kits today. All were born alive and mama made a really nice nest. Mama looks good as well.

We have the three older kits in a cage right next to her. She can see them. Do you think we should move them somewhere where they will not bother her? I think she would know they were gone, and she doesn't seem to be stressed by them, but I want to make sure she is comfortable.

Daddy bunny gained himself a few more weeks in seclusion since mama can't get fixed now for a bit. We did take the daddy in two weeks ago and had him fixed, but we don't want to have him in with the new babies or the older kits.

Any additional advice would be helpful!

Thanks!
 
Keep the dad away from the kits and the mom. He can still get her pregnant until about 4-6 weeks after being neutered. You don't want to take any chances. Rabbits also don't really know or care that they are the mom/dad of a litter. He could hurt them as he may feel they are a threat to him. If you did want to try bonding him, wait until his hormones have calmed down again and the kits are older, around 8-12 weeks. Even at that age, there is no guarantee and there is a good chance the baby would have issues when it reaches maturity. I would wait until you can get the mom spayed and let her heal, the try to re bond her and the dad together.

For the kits, you will need to separate them by sex at around 8-10 weeks. Some can breed at a young age and it is best to separate them before that can happen.
 
Yes, we know to keep dad away from the kits. He has been secluded since we came home and found the first litter. I am more worried that the first three who are caged right next to her and the new litter will stress her out. She never pushed them away before the second litter was born, but I don't want the older three to stress her out :)
 
The mom should be fine with the babies next to her.. I have litters all the time and other rabbits are next door in different (holes) cages..
 
Keep the older litter by mom. this will help to keep them from stressing and dying. they wont bother her. Keep dad away from mom until she has either been spayed or has healed from the litters and the litters are weaned this usually happens about 6-8 weeks(can happen at 4 but most people hate this method including most commercial breeders, the veiws on weaning are changing alot), she will let you know. increase her feed while she is nursing. plenty of pellets, hay, and vegetables. Carrots will help her with weight. The older kits should be fine as long as they keep eating and drinking and their poop continues to look normal. if anything changes let us know. make sure the kits are getting plenty of food as well. make sure the young kits are gaining weight fine. I think thats it. if you have any questions feel free to contact me. pm me personally and I will add you as a friend on Facebook, I have lots of rabbit breeder friends who could help too, if you want.

PMR :happybunny:
 
I think the important question at this point is, where are the pictures? :)

I have to live vicariously through all the cute baby bunners here :)
 
No pics of the new babies yet. I don't want to disturb them since she built such a beautiful nest for them this time! All five have full tummies now, so they must have eaten last night :)

These are the two that will soon need new homes


This one is SO sweet that he will be staying with us :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top