Okay.. the nest box is out.. now another question!

[bhoffman]

Sorry for so many questions. I had done soo much research before even trying to breed.. I thought I had everything down. But apparently not.

OKay, so I took the nest box out today, and left the babies some of the bedding from it. But.. I usually let Bubbles have free run of the room.. no big deal.. But now that the bunnies are out.. they can easily get out of the cage that they are in.. (they are in a xtra large wired dog kennel). I ddont feel comforable leaving them run free in the room.. But at the same time.. I am scared to lock Bubbles in the cage with the babies! Scared she will hurt them or something for being too confined to them. Should I just let her run free with her food and water available for her on the outside of the cage and lock the cage until her feeding time (which is usually 10am), or should I lock her in the cage with the babies?? This part sucks.. I will be figuring someting out so that I can leave the door open and she can come and go as she pleases without babies getting out. but probably wnt be able to be set up for until later. ANY advice/ideas would be awesome

 

[iLuvMyLilBuns]

How old are the babies? If they are old enough maybe you could let them play outside of the cage and moniter them and when you arn't able to watch them then put them back in the cage.

I don't think you should lock Bubbles out of the cage. Maybe you could get one of those dog gates/playpen to put around the kennel so that Bubbles can get out and the babies can also and you won't have to worry about the babies wandering. If you don't have a dog gate/playpen you can use whatever to keep them confined.

Just my suggestion :nod Whatever works for you is best. Good luck and I hope I helped! :apollo:

 

[KittyKatMe]

Since they are only 2 weeks, you could put up a wire or wood barrier in front of the door that is big enough for Bubbles to easily jump over, but keeping the babies confined. Once they are about 4 weeks, you can let them out without supervision as long as the room is bunny proofed. The playpen is also a good idea, but you'd be surprised at how small they can make themselves to fit through tiny holes. Mine could get through 1" wire until they were 5 weeks! Plus, they were standard Rex! So if you choose to use the playpen, make sure that the holes in between the wire are as small as possible.

 

[bhoffman]

Thanks!! I actually ended up putting up a little board accross the door. She can get in and out.. but babies cant!!

I will invest in a xpen or something before I rebreed her.
Thanks!!

 

[iLuvMyLilBuns]

I didn't think of that! That's a great idea :rabbithop

 

[bhoffman]

Yeah.. so far it is working. I will go back in, in a bit to check and make sure it hasnt fallen over or anything. It is soo cute though watching the babies chase mom around trying to sneak a feeding.

 

[iLuvMyLilBuns]

Yes it is soo cute! How many babies are there?

 

[bhoffman]

There are 4. I have some pics posted here.. somewhere.. titled as 12 daysold

 

[ldoerr]

For my first few litters I made a small pen using some NIC pannels. I then put cardboard around the bottom so that it went up 3-4 inches on the sides. This made it so the babies could not get out.

 

[MyBabyHasPaws]

Pretty good idea!

We should see updated pix

 

[Hyatt101]

I agree with Maria, we need more pics!!

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Rabbits don't intentionally hurt their babies. Most breeding rabbits are housed in a cage and live with their little ones 24/7. If you happen to find a (very very) rare doe who does get aggressive with her babies, she should not be bred anyway. That isn't the temperament you want to be producing.

It is great to let your doe out to play, but she should have access to her kits anytime you are not supervising. Otherwise, she may get anxious about not having access to them and that's where you could start seeing territorial or aggressive tendencies.