bunnybunbun2008
Member
My rabbit just had bunnies, so what do I do? What should the mother's diet be, how do i care for them. Also how fast do they reroduce.
Need Help new bunnies
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Spring
Well-Known Member
First off, seperate the male immediately, they can breed right after delivering, and it is very stressfull on the doe's system to be nursing little ones and pregnant. So seperate the male immediately..
For everything else, moving it to the rabbitry for help.
For everything else, moving it to the rabbitry for help.
polly
Well-Known Member
check the nest make sure there are no dead babies, if they are all ok and warm then leave them be. you could check them later just to see if mum has fed them ( they will have ping pong tummies)
As Spring said keep the male and female seperated (adults) you will keep the babies with mum for at least 6 weeks to 8 weeks and depending on breed the male babies hsould be taken away from mum at 8 weeks.
Good luck with them
As Spring said keep the male and female seperated (adults) you will keep the babies with mum for at least 6 weeks to 8 weeks and depending on breed the male babies hsould be taken away from mum at 8 weeks.
Good luck with them
MyRabbits
Well-Known Member
Congratulations, but my what a surprise. I can relate. It's happened to me before too. Rabbits are notoriously difficult to sex correctly at the time of weaning/purchase.
You might find the several care articles at House Rabbit Society, http://www.rabbit.org , useful to you in this endeavor.
Keep an eye on the kits, checking and handling them daily so that they will be used to being handled. The mother should be keeping them clean, but if she is not doing so because she is so young and it is her first litter, you will need to do this. Wiping their bottoms off after they have been fed.
I am guessing that your doe is quite young. My experience with does that were accidentally young mothers has been mixed. First time mothers can be more nervous and difficult than more experienced mothers, sometimes even stomping or cannibalizing their young. If for any reason, something should happen to your doe or to her ability to properly care for her young, you may need to feed the babies yourself with an oral syringe. There are many good recipes for formula. Here's one from "Care of the Domestic Rabbit," by Dr. Chris Hayhow, current president of ARBA:
500 ml whole milk
30 ml light corn syrup (Karo)
2 Tablespoons powdered mild
1 1/2 teaspoons bone meal
2 egg yolks.
Rabbits can apparently also nurse on goats milk and some kitten formulas. . .
Keep us posted on how you are doing. Without asking, you have gotten yourself into a potentially wonderfully rewarding experience. What breed is she and how many kits did she have? Take pictures and videos and keep records of how the litter progresses. To keep the different kits recognizable, you may want to mark the inner side of the outer ear with a sharpie, using a numbering system. You will probably have to refresh the markings every couple of days. . .
You might find the several care articles at House Rabbit Society, http://www.rabbit.org , useful to you in this endeavor.
Keep an eye on the kits, checking and handling them daily so that they will be used to being handled. The mother should be keeping them clean, but if she is not doing so because she is so young and it is her first litter, you will need to do this. Wiping their bottoms off after they have been fed.
I am guessing that your doe is quite young. My experience with does that were accidentally young mothers has been mixed. First time mothers can be more nervous and difficult than more experienced mothers, sometimes even stomping or cannibalizing their young. If for any reason, something should happen to your doe or to her ability to properly care for her young, you may need to feed the babies yourself with an oral syringe. There are many good recipes for formula. Here's one from "Care of the Domestic Rabbit," by Dr. Chris Hayhow, current president of ARBA:
500 ml whole milk
30 ml light corn syrup (Karo)
2 Tablespoons powdered mild
1 1/2 teaspoons bone meal
2 egg yolks.
Rabbits can apparently also nurse on goats milk and some kitten formulas. . .
Keep us posted on how you are doing. Without asking, you have gotten yourself into a potentially wonderfully rewarding experience. What breed is she and how many kits did she have? Take pictures and videos and keep records of how the litter progresses. To keep the different kits recognizable, you may want to mark the inner side of the outer ear with a sharpie, using a numbering system. You will probably have to refresh the markings every couple of days. . .
gentle giants
Well-Known Member
MyRabbits wrote:
I have to add something here. It would be quite helpful if we knew how old the doe is, her breed, etc. WhatI want to stress here is that, unless you are certain the doe is not feeding her kits, do not try to feed them yourself. It is very difficult to hand feed baby rabbits without them aspirating the milk, which will kill them. If the doe isn't feeding, what you should try first is to get the doe to stay over the nest (she feeds them by standing upright over the babies, they reach upwards to her belly to nurse) Hold a treat of some kind there in front of her while she is on the nest, try to keep her there for about five minutes or so.You could also turn her over on her back and set the babies on her belly to nurse. This is riskier, though, because if she kicks or struggles the babies could go flying.
As far as the doe's diet, it should be the same foods, just more of them-plain pellets, with no colorful bits in them, and lots of hay. Don't increase her feed a lot at once, just gradually as the babies get bigger and need more milk. And as you have already been told, get the father and mother separated NOW. They can breed again as soon as a couple of hours after birth. Rabbits can have a litter every four weeks, given the chance. They don't go into heat, like a cat or dog, they can get pregnant at any time. I hope we have helped you out--now we would like to see pictures of the babies please! LOL
I have to add something here. It would be quite helpful if we knew how old the doe is, her breed, etc. WhatI want to stress here is that, unless you are certain the doe is not feeding her kits, do not try to feed them yourself. It is very difficult to hand feed baby rabbits without them aspirating the milk, which will kill them. If the doe isn't feeding, what you should try first is to get the doe to stay over the nest (she feeds them by standing upright over the babies, they reach upwards to her belly to nurse) Hold a treat of some kind there in front of her while she is on the nest, try to keep her there for about five minutes or so.You could also turn her over on her back and set the babies on her belly to nurse. This is riskier, though, because if she kicks or struggles the babies could go flying.
As far as the doe's diet, it should be the same foods, just more of them-plain pellets, with no colorful bits in them, and lots of hay. Don't increase her feed a lot at once, just gradually as the babies get bigger and need more milk. And as you have already been told, get the father and mother separated NOW. They can breed again as soon as a couple of hours after birth. Rabbits can have a litter every four weeks, given the chance. They don't go into heat, like a cat or dog, they can get pregnant at any time. I hope we have helped you out--now we would like to see pictures of the babies please! LOL
