Please Help!

[Almi]

Well, some of you know that my doe, Emmy, gotpregnant a month ago. She had her babies right on schedule 31days later (which was yesterday).Thereare3 lovely little babes. They're all healthy asfar as I know.

What I would like to know is:

- Can they be handled right away after birth, or will the mother cannibalize/abandon them?

- Is it ok to be letting other people take a quick peek at the babies, or is it harmful?

- Should I start feeding Emmy more, or any supplements?

- Should the nest be cleaned at all? (If so, when can I do it?)

- Should I leave the cage alone, and just clean the litterbox, or can I clean out all the fur and blood? : P

- What about the development of the babies? When will they be completely weaned and such?



Any other information, suggestions, comments are welcome!

Thanks for any help!

 

[Bassetluv]

I'll try and answer some of your questions Almi,but I haven't raised rabbits in many years now, so anything I suggestshould firstbe verified by others (there's so many bunnyexperts on this site!).

- Can they be handled right away after birth, or will the mother cannibalize/abandon them?

When I was raising rabbits, I generally left the babies alone for thefirst few days. I would usually check to make sure all were alive andhealthy (do a quick check of the nest), but other than that I'd leavethem undisturbed.

- Is it ok to be letting other people take a quick peek at the babies, or is it harmful?

I never let others around the nursing mom for the first week or two.Rabbits are extremely sensitive and can become quite nervous, esp. ifit is their first litter. The less disturbed she is by others thebetter.

- Should I start feeding Emmy more, or any supplements?

I used to feed the nursing mom as much hay and pellets as she wouldchoose to consume. I never gave supplements, but others on the sitemight have better suggestions on this.

- Should the nest be cleaned at all? (If so, when can I do it?)

I only touched the nest and cleaned it if there was a lot of debris(blood, etc.) in the lining. Otherwise, if it looked clean I left it.The mom usually does a great job of keeping the nest tidy. If there isa litterbox continue cleaning that as usual.

- Should I leave the cage alone, and just clean the litterbox, or can I clean out all the fur and blood? : P

See above )

- What about the development of the babies? When will they be completely weaned and such?


Oh gosh...six weeks I believe is weaning time, right guys? I used toleave mine till they were eight weeks before I fully weaned them fromthe mom. Again, others will have a better idea.

It's been over 20 years since I raised rabbit babies, so I'm rusty!



***Oh, and I meant to add that I did check the babies quickly on adaily basis, just to make sure all were thriving and doing well...

 

[Almi]

Ok. Good, I was thinking that I would leave thempretty much alone for the first week, and then perhaps is it ok to holdthem? And I have been only doing a quick check of them everyday to see that all is well. They are lively littlethings! One was rooting around the nest quite a bit during"pet feeding time." Very cute!

So far only family has been able to have a quick peek atthem. I won't let others(that don't live in thehouse) see until a week. How does that sound?

Ok, I will feed her extra then. Thank you!

Anything else I should know or be aware of?

 

[dajeti2]

Almi, Congratulations on the babies, Yeah Emmy.

Carolyn put together an awesome post. It deals with pregnancyfrom conception to weaning. Here is the link. It was tons of invaluableinformation. I am so happy for you.

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=5541&forum_id=1

Tina

 

[Emmy-webby]

Congrats on the new babies,Almi! If you have the time, give Emmy a hug for me? I mean, if youcan!

My rabbit's name is also called Emmy! Yaya! Hehe.Something in common, eh? Haha. Congrats, again on the new baby buns. Ihope they all grow healthy and strong like their suppose tobe!

Katy