Accidental litter! Need advice!

[Kairiandriku]

Hello! I have a minirex who just had a litter this morning. 4 kits. When I pundits them they were all fat, but on the floor of the cage. She hid them under blankets, but never pulled fur or moved hay about. Two of them got away from the blankets and out of the cage. I had let the boy bunny out of his car first this morning (not knowing) and the biggest kit was right there in his path (he usually runs about behind the cage.) My female bunny started to freak out and that was when I saw the kit! It must have only just got out because it was warm. I put my guy bunny away and focused on the girl. I am hoping that when she freaked out about him jumping over the baby, it was showing some investment in the kits. she is super finicky! I can barely brush her on a normal day, so there was no pulling fur from her. I gathered up all the kits hoping I found them all and made what I hope is an acceptable nest box. I made an hole in the center and put the kits in. They objected to being moved but settled into a nice snuggle and calmed down. When I put the nest box in and shut the door, mom went to them and check it out with a sniff. then she hopped away to eat. so I have a few questions. How deep in the eye box should the kits be? What do in do about her not pulling fur? They are buried in carefresh and surrounded by hay. Do I cover them completely or just leave them in the depression? Will mom know where I put the kits? Is there a chance of her ignoring them since I moved them? Or maybe she is relieved that they can't escape again? I had no idea how far newborn kits could crawl! how often should I check on them? Does mom need any post -pregnancy treatment? Will a super finicky /frisky doe be an okay nurser? There was all let bright red spot inn her litter box this morning, which inn assume was from the after birth. Will she continue to bleed? Our bunnies all store in n door in n door all store warm state. What is a good temperature for the kits? I was late getting into their room today because my young son has been up all night throwing up. It was also my older son's birthday yesterday so perhaps everything happening all last once is what makes it all seem overwhelming.

 

[woahlookitsme]

If your babies are inside then they will be fine with whatever temp you keep your house at. The babies will regulate their own temp. If they get cold they will stay together if they get hot they will spread out. Keeping them secure in the nest box is the best thing. We had brittannia petite babies once. They were in a nestbox and in mom's wire cage in our playroom. The babies were so active that two of them got out of the nest box out through the wires of the cage fell to the floor and halfway across the room before we found them. They were just fine when we found them but don't underestimate them. If you have seen a wooden nest box for rabbits that is what we use. Since that incident we always make sure to push any bedding material away from the lowest part in the front because that's how we thought they got out.

First time mom's are always tough. I'd say about half of them do right and their first litter survives or they don't do anything right and their first litter dies. If your babies last the first 48 hours then that means mom is feeding them just fine. Moving the babies isn't a huge issue. She should find them and continue to take care of them.

We always check on our babies twice a day. This means actually putting an eye on each baby at least once a day to make sure theres nothing wrong with them physically and to make sure mom is feeding them. Yes this means taking them out of the nest and handling them.

Mom shouldn't need any extra care except just make sure she's getting enough protein (~16%) and hay. The babies will start eating on mom's food around 3 weeks of age which is fine.

If mom is fussy just keep an eye on her stress levels. We have had does in the past that have to have their babies taken at ~5-6 weeks old because the doe just becomes so stressed by the babies it becomes dangerous for the babies.