Hi there from UK! Meet my 2 house bunnies, Daisy & Bane - and their 4 little kits!

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Georgia1993

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Hi there! My 2 bunnies, Daisy and Bane, I bought and was told they were both male - but hey presto, on monday we found 4 happy little kits. Daisy (formerly Douglas) is a brilliant mum and is taking such good care of her new additions. Bane was amazing, assisted in fur pulling, which has resulted in the most cosy nest. I separated Bane from his wife and children, just to be on the safe side!

All the kits seem healthy, please take a look at my post in health and wellbeing if you're familiar with newborns, as I am not and have a couple of questions!

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f27/newborn-kits-questions-78251/

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Hi! What cuties! Can't wait to see what the kittens looks like when their fur comes through!

:brown-bunny
 
Hi Georgia! Daisy and Bane are so cute, I bet their kits are going to turn out absolutely gorgeous. :} Are you planning on keeping them all, or will you be seeking out homes for them once they're old enough?
 
They're adorable! Separating Bane from Daisy and her kits was absolutely the right way to go - "dad" can potentially stress out the mom and kill kits, so keeping them apart is necessary.

As a warning, females can be bred again immediately after giving birth (for the first 72h), so unfortunately there's a good chance she's pregnant again. An "emergency spay" (same as a regular spay, but done on a pregnant female) can serve as an abortion, since the majority of vets remove the uterus during a rabbit spay, but I don't know if that's an option when she's nursing. I know a lactating and/or pregnant cat can be spayed without issue (in fact, that's often the only way to break the breeding cycle with stray cats) - I learned that when I took a class with San Antonio's TNR (trap-neuter-release) program to qualify me for free or dirt cheap neuters for a couple stray cats that took up residence on my property. However, I suspect that it may not be doable with rabbits or that, at the very least, it would vary from vet to vet.

(Edit: I just remembered that you're in the UK... it's fairly common practice there for vets to leave the uterus in a normal spay and only remove the ovaries - that's a newer practice, which started in the UK, although some US vets have adopted it (mine in San Antonio, for example)... they may still be willing to remove the uterus if an emergency spay is an option, though).

I strongly recommend calling your vet (ask to talk to the actual vet rather than a receptionist or tech), explaining the situation and talking with them about your options. Make sure to mention your rabbits' age (since I'm guessing they're young and bred as soon as they reached sexual maturity), since back-to-back litters are stressful on any female's body but particularly so when she's not fully grown yet (pregnancy-related risks such as stuck kits are also far more likely in juveniles). Your vet, assuming they're very rabbit-savvy, will definitely be able to give you better advice than we can for your situation.

Regardless of how you deal with mom and the potential of a second litter, I would get Bane neutered ASAP - it takes as much as 6-8 weeks for a male's hormones to be fully gone and for him to no longer be fertile (only 4 weeks max for females' hormones and they're infertile immediately), so getting him done now will allow his hormones to dissipate by the time the kits are weaned.

Also, if you choose to keep any kits, bear in mind that they need to be spayed/neutered for health and behavioral reasons as soon as they're old enough even if they'll be kept in same-*** pairs, which can get very costly. Males can hit puberty as early as 12 weeks old and females' hormones typically kick in around 4-6 months, so depending on how quickly you can find homes for the kits, it may be necessary to keep them in individual enclosures. Males should be separated from females by 3 months old and rabbits of the same gender should be closely monitored for signs of fighting and separated at the first sign.

Best of luck with your kits! I'll check out your questions in the other thread :)
 
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Welcome to the forum. That's why I learned how to determine *** on my own. Once got a sweet little "mixed, male, mini" that we had to change her name as she was really mixed--some shelter people are better than others.
 

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