Fostering a litter- Advice Please!!!

[naturestee]

I'm at work and I just got an email from my hubby, who just got home from work himself. There was a message on the answering machine from the Sheboygan Humane Society, where I volunteer (but haven't been there for a while). One of the rabbits had babies and they are looking for a foster home to raise them... aka me since I'm the crazy rabbit lady. No way can I resist!

So unless somethinghappens between now and Saturday (they're closed for the holiday tomorrow), I'm getting babies.I don't know the breed and the only buns on Petfinder are boys.

First major question:Cage and Nestbox. I'm sure they're not in a nestbox now, I've never seen one in the supply room. What can I use, assuming it's a mid-size breed? They rarely get anything larger than aDutch. I'll be using my 42" dog crate for the cage but I obviously need to baby proof it so the little buggers don't fall out. Is hardware cloth good, or might the edges tear their skin? I could just go ghetto andzip-tie cardboard to the sides.

Food: I'll get some of whatever they're feeding. Adults are usually fedtimothy pellets and obviously that won't be sufficient. I can get Heinhold in 10lb bags (easier for me) and Purina, Pen Pals (45 min. drive), and another brand I forget in bigger bags. Nobody stocks Oxbow's alfalfa pellets and all of the other pet store brands here are crap. What do you like best?

Any tips onhow to make the move easier (I'll keep their nest if possible), signs of trouble, and good info to read would be very much appreciated!

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

I would use a smaller plastic storage box, the kind you can get easily at a dollar store or a dept store. Just get one a couple of inches longer and wider than the doe. Drill a couple holes in the bottom for drainage and a couple in the sides to zip tie it to the crate. Put a bed of shavings in the bottom and move the nest into it. I would proably just zip tie cardboard to the sides.

For feed I would use Heinhold. Lots of breeder in the Northeast use it and swear by it. I have had my issues with Purina and I don't know much about the others.

Good Luck Roger

 

[naturestee]

Just had a thought. I hope the feed stores are open on Saturday...

I'm pretty sure I have a plastic box at home that will work well. The hubby won't mind if I mutilate it for the sake of baby bunnies.

Shavings- that's another thing I guess I should get. I use wood pellets as litter. Or woulda big pile of hay be enough for nesting material?

 

[BlueGiants]

You can use the wood pellets if necessary, (shavings are better if you can get them)with a good thick layer of hay over it. (You want an absorbant layer under the hay to keep the babies dry). Make a hole in the middle and lay in the nesting materials (pulled fur, etc.) and put the babies in the middle. Don't tie the nestbox to the walls until you are sure the doe isn't using that corner to potty in. (ie: peeing or pooping on the babies!) If you can find out where she built the nest in the other cage, try to set up the new cage in the same manner.

The Heinold is a good food. But start the momma out on what she's used to from the shelter. Switch her over gradually. The babies won't start eating solid food until they are around 3 weeks old. You can start them on rolled oats (dry oatmeal) and hay, gradually mixing in pellets. (My personal preference is not to feed greens, vegesor fruits until they are 16 weeks old).

I think a layer of cardboard is probably safer for now.High enough to keep them from crawling out. (6" off the floor).

I've moved newborne litters into new cages with no problems. Set up the nestbox and put the babies in first, them momma.

Good luck with the litter! Photo's would be nice when you get them!

 

[Haley]

Just wanted to say congrats, Angela! I know you will make a wonderful foster grandma

With your knowedge and the advice of our experienced breeders, these babies couldnt be in better hands.

:hug:Haley

 

[naturestee]

Oats are ok for baby bunnies? I'll have to remember that. I won't be feeding anything except pellets and hay (and some oats) since they'll be going back to the shelter when they're old enough and that's all they'll be getting there.

I wish the message had given more details... I'm dying to know how many babies and what breed!

One more question for now- is newspaper ok for the floor of the cage? It's pretty slippery. I had a fleece blanket for Luna but that sounds like a bad idea for babies.

And don't worry, I'll take lots of pictures!:biggrin2:

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

Oats are very good for babies. I had a litter of 3 that were orphaned at 19 days old. None of the other does with litters would take them. They pulled through with oats and hay. They wouldn't eat enough pellets to survive at that age. They are doing well now at about 7 weeks. Maybe a little smaller than the others at the same age but they are healthy and catching up.I was going to supplement them with KMR but was afraid of enteritis and they were eating the oats and hay.

I would think that they babies would eat the newspaper. They are pretty inquisitive when they come out of the nestbox. My rabbits are in wire cages with boards to rest on. I do have the orphans in a solid bottom cage with shavings and it doesn't seem to bother them. I scoop out their potty corner every day and thoroughly clean the cage every 3 days.

HMMM I wonder if they will all make it back to the shelter LOL.

Roger

 

[BlueGiants]

When you pick up the babies, my suggestion would be to bring the nestbox all prepared with shavings (or pellets) and hay. Put it inside a larger box or carrier. Put the nesting materials right into the nestbox and put the babies in after. (You know that touching the babies will not make the momma reject or abandon them... the mothers instinct to care for her babies is much stronger than any smell you can put on them.)

Put the nest box back into the carrier and then put the doe in. Bring them home together, in the same carrier (or box) if possible. Take the nestbox out with the babies and put that into the new cage first. Then put the doe in.

Give her time to adjust. She won't feed the babies until tonight... don't worry if you don't see it... check them in the morning to see if they have full lil' bellies.

 

[Djakarta]

Congratulations on fostering !

Just a caution about using cardboard- the first mama bunny I fostered, Miranda, ate through the cardboard baby proofing. Luckily, she did so while the babies were still staying inside the nest box.

I ended up using flexible cutting boards to baby proof the pen. ( purchased in a 2 pack at the Dollar Store).

I used the full width to create a 12" high barrier, which kept the exploring babies safely inside the pen.

 

[naturestee]

I just visited the shelter, I've never seen them so excited to see me before, LOL! Mom's history- breeding machine for backyard breeder who bred for pets to sell. She dumped 5 rabbits (3 males 2 females all living together) at the shelter because she was getting too old to take care of them. Age- "too old to sell as a baby.":grumpy: Breed? Mom looks like a black dwarf mix, others are agouti, slightly larger (4-5 lbs), some with helicopter loppy ears. The other girl was spayed in time- she had 3 babies in her.

6 fat squirmy babies, 4 black 2 black dutch... talk about mixing breeds! Mom looks like she knows what she's doing. It's probably her umpteen-thousandth litter, grr.

I'm going to go finish preparations and I'll bring mom and babies home tonight.

And if anyone wants an angora there's one coming in later today...

 

[naturestee]

They're here! And I lied about the colors. One of the black and white buns looks like a marten pattern, not a Dutch. And one of the blacks looks blue.

And that angora? Tiny fuzzy lop. The family had it for a month and it's smaller than my hand still... 4 weeks old when bought? I'm not a happy camper.

Anyway, here's the pics! None of mom yet, I'll let her settle in first. Oh, and sorry for the blurriness. I just took a few fast pics as I didn't want to stress them out too much. And they were flopping around like fish, LOL!

 

[naturestee]

Oh and how much pellets should I be feeding the mom? She is eating alfalfa pellets, whatever random donated stuff it is at the moment. I gave her about 1/4 cup right away and that's about half gone now. She's about Fey's size, so maybe 3.5 lbs? Do you free-feed nursing moms or no? If I remember right some people do and some don't.

BTW when I checked on her she was stretched out and comfy, but she got up and thumped when she saw me and then ran to protect her kits.

 

[Djakarta]

What adorable babies !! I love the little dutch one with the pink, pink nose.

I was instructed to free feed bothmama bunnies that I fostered, but then both girls were very thin.

I gave them alfalfa hay in addition to Timothy and Orchard. I would crumble the alfalfa hay (leaves) into a separate bowl and the mamas would gobble it down.

I draped a towel over the part of the cage where the nest box was to give the mama bunny a little privacy and to make her feel the babies were hidden.

I'dclose offCookie and Mirandaout into the pen whenever I had to clean or check anything in the cage part of the enclosure. I'd lurethem out with a nice juicy salad, sothey neverseemed to mind me working in the cage.

 

[naturestee]

Thanks! The buns are alone in a mostly-unused (during summer, anyway) basement room, in a nice dark corner. I figured she'd feel pretty secure there. The mama didn't mind me touching her babies at the shelter after I petted her a little. She just lay down and let me do whatever I wanted.

She's getting some alfalfa hay too, because there's a lot in my current grass bale. I take it out when feeding the other buns, I figured I'd leave it in for her.

And I know, isn't that baby dutch the cutest?

I need to find a better name for the mama. I have this thing about calling animals by human names- I only like it in certain circumstances. Like Eve for my kitty, since she's a naughty girl. But Jayme just doesn't suit little mama bun.

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

Mydoes are fed a 16 % protein alfalfa based pellet. They normally get 1/2 cup per day and I slowly start increasing that amount until the kits are a week old and then I free feed them.

Roger

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

The babies are adorable!I want some pics of mom too! hehe. So glad you took them in!

Emily

 

[naturestee]

Thanks Roger!

One more question. Are water bowls ok with the babies? I'm just using a water bottle right now but I prefer bowls because they usually drink more from them.

I posted pics of the mama in the blog I made for her:
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=37280&forum_id=6

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Look at that pink little nose!! How cute!

Djakarta, that is a great idea! I have used plastic pocket folders cut in half to keep Clover from kicking all her litter out (she has a problem with that because of her leg)

 

[BlueGiants]

I don't use a water bowl in the cage until the babies are 3 weeks old. Before that, they are in danger of falling in and drowning. (Or if I have to use a bowl for the mom, I use the kind that clip to the walls , up off the floor.)

 

[Djakarta]

I used shallow cat food dishes and a quiche dishfor a water bowls. The quiche dish sometimes doubled as a wading pool. I was worried that the babies could become trapped in a deeper bowl.