Hello.....we need some advice!

[sarahsop]

Hello everyone!

I am not the most organised person in the world with a PC but I am sure I started to post here when I first got my new babies in April?? Anyway I have just created a new account and here we are!!!!!

So to introduce ourselves! I am Sarah and my bunnies are Lucy, Charlie and Lola. Lucy has been with us for a couple of years now and is a lovely big Rex, she however isn't very keen on hugs and cuddlesso my boys bought me a pair of bunnies for mothers day, charlie and Lola.

All was fine in our house until we paid a visit to our local vet for inoculations......only to find out the Charlie was a Lola and Lola was a Charlie. The breeder had told me that as long as I had the bunnies nutered and spayed they would live together fine and the vet told me that 6 months was the earliest they could do this, I stressed that I didn't want babies and they booked him in at 5 months!

So Charlie went off to the vets and was nutered, when I collected him the nurse said that we had to keep them seperate for at least a week to let him recover. I worried that they wouldn't settle down together however they were happy to go back together after the time apart, in fact they were ecstatic to be together again.

Then last saturday morning I went out to the cage and found babies!!! I instantly felt so irresponsible for letting this happen to my babies. Of course then everyone started to say O yes well rabbits can be fertile at 10 weeks.....thanks a lot! So now I feel a bit stupid too...........its all been a very steep learning curve!

Straight away I called the vets, who gave me some basic advice and I searched the internet for information. Anyway Lola is being a really good mum and is feeding the babies and looking after them well. I have left them along really but had to have a sneeky look when I clean out her litter box every morning. Charlie is sulking in the other hutch.

There are three altogether, one dark one and two who look identical to mum and dad. They are almost a week old now and have grown massivly.

Can anyone offer me some advice now as to what I should or shouldn't do now! I am leaving the nest well alone until they leave then nest but what then? Do I empty the whole thing away and replace with new?? When should I handle them?



Thank you in advance!







sarah x

 

[Flashy]

Hi there,

Welcome to the forum.

Please don't feel irresponsible because you listened to your vets advice. However, it does appear your vet is not a rabbit savvy vet (a rabbit expert) so it might be worth trying to find one in your area.

A male bunny can reproduce as soon as his testicles descend and for about up to 6 weeks after the snip. He can also be neutered anytime after his testicles drop (for future reference).

A doe will generally be able to breed at about 4-5 months, and be spayed at baout 5-6 months, although some vets will do it at 4.

Ok, onto the babies.

It sounds like you are doing a good job. It's really important to check the babies, so well done for doing that.

Are they all thriving and feeding, and looking like they have swallowed a pingpong ball?

At about 9 days, or so, you will probably need to change the nest, because at about 10-12 days they will start to open their eyes and they are then prone to eye infections. When you change the nest sve as much as you can from the nest they are in at the moment, any fur, as much hay as possible, but obviously not the dirty stuff.

Then, when you remake the nest, put all the stuff back in a similar arrangement to how it was before (although I found that my buns babies moved their nest location everytime I changed the nest, so don't be surpirsed if they do, just make sure they are all together).

You can start handling them now, just a quick check over to make sure that they are all healthy, round bellies, all limbs intake, no poo stuck on them, no problems where the umbilical cord was (although it is probably covered now, but if an area in the middle of their belly is weeping or bleeding that is probably what is doing it).

Before you handle them, you will probably want to stroke mum to get her scent on you, and maybe give her a treat to keep her occupied.

You will probably get better answers in the rabbitry part of the forum.

These links might also help you

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=5541&forum_id=8

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12047&forum_id=17

I hope this helps a little.

Good luck and keep us updated.

Take care

Tracy

 

[aurora369]

Hi there!

Like Tracey said above, don't feel guilty for following your vets advice! What has been done is done, and the only thing to do is move forward and make sure these babies get taken care of properly.

I handle babies everyday from birth. I remove the nest box from the cage and sit with the babies on my lap when I watch TV. I make a make shift nest out of a fleece blanket on my lap so they won't get cold and stroke them and hold them.

It is important to check the nest every day for babies that aren't doing well or anything that could go rotton and make the babies sick. Also check each baby for cleanliness and growth.

If you are concerned about the mother rejecting them (which for the most part is a big myth), then rub your hands on mom before handling babies.

Mom should be feeding the babies 1 or more times a day. If the bellies are nice and round, no wrinkles, then the babies are well fed.

As for cleaning the nest box, I would replace the hay if it's getting soiled but try to keep as much of it intact as possible. The babies know the nest by smell and if it changes they will start wandering away.

You may want to post a thread in the Rabbitry section about your babies. That way experienced breeders can post helpful hints for you. Take some pictures if you can.

--Dawn

 

[Michaela]

Welcome back to RO Sarah :wave:

Tracy and Dawn have already given you great advice, I'm no expert at all when it comes to baby buns, so I'll jut wish you luck that all goes smoothly.

You shouldn't feel stupid at all, you were just going on advice you were given, it's not your fault.:hug2: We should just concentrate on those little babies, it's so much fun watching them grow up.

~~~~~~~~~
~Michaela, Ebony, Pebble, Madison & Angel Bunny Berri~

 

[sarahsop]

Thanks everyone!

As soon as I heard that it was ok to lift them I braved my fingers and had a good look at them one by one. The largest is brown/black and has a lovely round tummy, hes very clean and wriggles well in your hand (this is good in human babies..) the next one is obviously going to be a character! This one was wriggling around in the nest from day one and is always on top of the others! He is mainly white with a few grey spots on his body, again clean and well fed. The last one is much smaller than the others, white with more gray spots. I noticed that one of his claws had a bit of dried blook on and there is a bit of a scab on his tummy? Again looks well fed!



As for caring for them I have already decided that if I can't find a good home amongst my friends then they will be staying right here! Only this time they won't be in any danger of early preganancies!



I might look for another vet as this one is also quite expensive although its very local which does reduce the stress for the animals.



Sarah x :biggrin2:



ps, I have taken lots of photos and will try and work out how to post them!

 

[sarahsop]

Some pictures for you to see, I have just had a shock at how much the babies have really grown in a week!!!!!



<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x93/sarahsop/IMG_9229.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>



<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x93/sarahsop/babies.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>


I have been trying to work out how to get the images to appear in this box instead of having to click on the link, anyone help?



sarah x

 

[sarahsop]

Sorted!



This is the babies today!



sarah x

ah x

 

[Flashy]

They are certainly very adorable

It sounds like you are being very responsible and well done for deciding to keep them if you can't find good homes.

This is a page where you can find a list of rabbit savvy vets.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=15071&forum_id=9

There might be one in your area. Some rabbits can tolerate travelling very well, others are not keen, but it shouldn't stress them too much. I recently changed from one that was 10 mins away, to one 30 mins away and it was a great choice because my bunnies are now getting far better care.

Hopefully the forum can help you through this litter

 

[sarahsop]

Thanks...this will sadly be my last litter though! It's lovelt to have babies but they soon grow into big boys and girls! Sexing them should be interesting as I was soooo wrong last time!



sarah x

 

[Flashy]

That is very true, they do

Sexing is really hard. We have struggled a great deal with our recent litter.

My best advice for that is to compare the buns, so that even if you get the gender wrong, you can still separate the genders, because it should be clear if they are different.

Also, keep checking them from three weeks or so upwards.

When you think you have decided what they are, just make sure that you keep checking them everyday. If you have any boys their testicles will descend from about 8 weeks to 4 months and they look like long pink beans either side of the base of the tail, and when one descends you will know it's a buck. So when they get a bit older, keep looking for their testicles, because that is a HUGE indication as to whether or not they are bucks.

 

[sarahsop]

Can't wait....:?



How do you get your avatar to blink like that?



sarah x

 

[Flashy]

I did it by downloading a program calling Easy GIF Animator. Then I chose the pics I wanted and shrunk them down to 100x100 pixels using this program http://www.resize2mail.com/?option=advanced

After that I played about with the program and the pictures. You can choose the order of the pics, the time they are shown, any writing you want. Once you get used to it, it's really easy to use