Please help! Giving birth? Preparing?

[woahlookitsme]

As far as breeding siblings there can always be variances. My friend just told me when she even line bred daughter to father both babies didn't survive past 4 weeks. She said they looked like they came down with mucoid enteritis. If it was due to linebreeding no one can really determine but good things and bad things can happen.

I would check the hole every day. If she is pulling fur she may be close to birthing. Most bun moms give birth at night or early morning and then we have only had one that give birth either late morning or early afternoon. Also babies are fed 1-2 times a day. Usually at night or early morning. Definitely check the hole or where ever she is nesting in the morning.

 

[Thumperina]

woahlookitsme, thanks. I don't quiet understand about checking the hole. I thought people were not supposed to touch the babies at all. The problem is that the hole is narrow and long, my arm wouldn't reach the end. I was using flashlight to see in there but can't say that I could really see well inside. When my rabbit sat in it, I could hardly see her.
What to do if I check and see babies?

Doyour rabbits in Texas live indoors? If not, how they survive the heat?

 

[LindseyG]

The rabbit has probably already given birth if she is covering the hole and pulling hair. It is perfectly alright to touch the babies. You will actually definitely want to touch them to check on them and make sure all are alive and doing well. It is ok to handle them from day one. It is a myth that they will get abandoned. One dead baby can make all the other babies sick so checking the nest is very important. Also if not held from an early age the baby rabbits will be flighty and won't make very good pets. By the time they come out of the hole they will be scared to death of humans and almost wild. Is there any way you can put something over the hole that will shade it? The ground should be much cooler than everything else, wild rabbits dig burrows like this to have their babies.

 

[woahlookitsme]

Everything that Lindsey Said and No Our rabbits live outdoors. In the summer I am usually home between school and work in the hottest part of the day. Our rabbits are kept in hutches off the ground with metal roofing and insulation at the top. They are surrounded by fencing on two sides and our house on one side with the northside being the only open side. So, we use fans on almost every cage or they are at least able to feel the fan from a cage over. In the hot summer we filled water bowls three times a day and I would put ice in them during mid day. I also brought out frozen gatorade and powerade bottles (1 for single buns and 2+ for mom and litters). Also in the cages each rabbit has big 12x12inch ceramic tiles (in the summer they are on the slick side and in the winter we turn them over). My mom when she came home would also take water and rub it on the buns ears I would also rub some over their body to help cool down when wind blew.

If any rabbits were panting or had saliva on chins we would immediately bring them inside in carriers. We had to do this to only two rabbits (mother and son actually lol)

We didnt lose a single rabbit even when there was a 24day streak of 100+ temperatures. *Knocks on wood* hopefully it will be better this summer

 

[Thumperina]

Thanks everybody!
I have checked the hole with the flashlight and haven't discovered anything. The rabbit hasn't been in the hole since Monday. On Monday she was very active bringing hay there,but almost no activities since that.
I was giving them plastic milk containers with frozen water, but they ignored it. But they haven't seen a really hot weather yet.

 

[Thumperina]

Still no sign of babies has ben discovered, I just checked the box she had for the last night. I wonder if she can have false pregnancy at this age. I need to learn how to pulpate her tummy.
I have read thatdoe needs to lift up her tail to allowbuck to mate with her. He can mount her frequently without really mating, but thedoe needs to say "OK", and this happens at about 6 months of her age. Do you think this makes sense? I had hoped this would be our case.
Can buck be neutered at any age? 5 month is not too young?

 

[woahlookitsme]

vets ask that bucks be neutered when their testicles drop (5-6mos). Its just much easier to perform the surgery and they dont have to go in and find the testes.

She could have a false pregnancy but if you never saw the animals mate every time they did then there is no way of saying either or.

In the wild rabbits wont visit the nest as often once the babies are born to avoid bringing in predators. It is possible you haven't found them but it is also possible there is none at all. I checked my baby count on the first day my rabbit had them on monday and counted 4. Then just last night I pulled them out and sure enough there were 5 there. And mine are just in a small wooden box. You think I'd be able to find 5 babies lol

Keep watching the hole. I'm not 100% on wild mother behavior but I hope everything turns out okay. Once babies are 10-14 days old their eyes are starting to open and they will adventure out of the nest.

 

[LindseyG]

Thumperina wrote:

Still no sign of babies has ben discovered, I just checked the box she had for the last night. I wonder if she can have false pregnancy at this age. I need to learn how to pulpate her tummy.
I have read that doe needs to lift up her tail to allow buck to mate with her. He can mount her frequently without really mating, but the doe needs to say "OK", and this happens at about 6 months of her age. Do you think this makes sense? I had hoped this would be our case.
Can buck be neutered at any age? 5 month is not too young?

Rabbits only visit their nest once per day to feed the babies. You do not see this because it is only at night, they typically ignore the nest all other times of day/night.
Usually rabbit's are sexually mature and can get pregnant at 4 months old. My doe was lifting while I pet her at 15 weeks old.

Also bucks can be neutered when their testicles are descended and at least 2 lbs.

 

[Thumperina]

Thank you all!
I have a question about pellets, don't know if there is particular topic about them or should I ask here.

A lot of pellets say - for adult rabbits, others just say for rabbits. But I have never seen pellets for the young rabbits. What are the good pellets for young rabbits?

 

[Thumperina]

I wonder if the litter can die from the heat, if there is about 90F ouside (if we suggest that mama feeds them). Does anyone know?

 

[Nela]

Just a thought, perhaps a bit 'out there' but if you got a parasol to provide shade on the hutch, maybe that would help a bit. Of course, it's not perfect, but some shade is better than none.

As for them overheating, I don't think so. I think mama picked a good/bad spot there. Lol.It will be significantly cooler underground, especially under the cement. So even though it's a bad spot for you, she did what came naturally to her and found a good spot for her babies.

I was thinking... If she has had babies already, she will be lactating. Does the milk come in much earlier than that?I don't think it does.If not, that could be a good indication for you. If she isn't, then perhaps that would mean that she doesn't have them yet or that it's a pseudo-pregnancy. At that point, you could probably decide on where she should have the babies, if any, where it would be easier for you to keep an eye on them. How about her food, has she been eating more, does she look rounder, have you kept your hand on her belly to see if you can feel movement?

If she does have babies in that tunnel, she will not go in often as to not attract attention. She'll probably go something like twice a day to feed them and that's it.

Personally, I would prefer to make her have them somewhere where I can assist her and keep an eye on the babies. When they will grow, they will start leaving the nest and they are still tiny and I wouldn't want them hopping about on their own then, as they would be an very easy prey.

 

[Thumperina]

Thank you!
Actually, her attention is not at that hole anymore. The last day of her activity there was MOnday but nothing since that. We got a new fence, so that they now have access to the back (shade in the morning but very bad sun in the afternoon), side (shaded till 5pm) and front (shaded most of the time and really shaded in the second part of the day). I also offered her a box with hay in a different spot (its under the hutch, I surrounded the hutch by boxes around all the sides with narrow way out), and she seems to like it. She has moved from under the deck to under the hutch which makes me a little relieved. I am checking the box every day but nothing so far. She even doesnot pull out her hair to put into the box. Right now I saw her sitting inside of that box.
The boy...he is sitting by her. He spends a night on his own in the hutch that drives him crazy. Today, when I got him out of the hutch, he was shaking like in a big stress. I know I am advised to separate them, but I don't know how to do it. They are so attached! Its like suddenly having twin kids to live in separate houses.
I think we should wait to neuter him till 6 month old. Is this a good idea or bad?

 

[LindseyG]

In my opinion she has already had them in the hole. Rabbits tend to completely ignore their nest/babies especially when people are watching. Also she could already be pregnant again if she has had contact like that with the male. They can get pregnant less than a day after giving birth. Can you feel her mammary glands and see if they are swollen. If they are that is a sure sign that she is nursing babies.

 

[Thumperina]

Does anyone know in what position they feed the babies? Do they lie or stand? I want to make sure there is enough space under the hutch.

 

[Thumperina]

LindseyG wrote:

Can you feel her mammary glands and see if they are swollen.

I will try. Do they looklike nipples?

Iwas askedif she looked rounded. No, she is not. Not a lot of change inthe mood, too.

 

[LindseyG]

if you feel under her belly it they will just feel swollen and full of milk. They stand over the babies to nurse them.

 

[Thumperina]

Looks like me girl rabbit is just playing pregnancy/babies. I today examined her, nothing found in her belly, nothing in the nipples. She is not pulling out her hair, she adores the nest box I gave her and she was seen today with the hay in her mouth again. Well, maybe she is preparing...

 

[Thumperina]

Hello,
Would anybody please tell me if rabbit can get pregnant again before she gives birth? or, like humans, they can't?

My daughter got a book in a library "Why do rabbits hop". The book says that rabbits can have babies up to 3 times a year. Does anyone know what this based on? Thanks.

 

[Thumperina]

My doe keeps nesting from time to time.
Here is the schedule of her nestings (when she is seen making an underground tunnel, taking there hay in her mouth and pulling out her hair):
May 14th
June 1st
June 21st.

No signs of bunnies appeared after first 2 nestings. She was busy nesting for only a day each time, then she forgot about tunnels and never came back. As we can see, there is appr. 20 days between "nestings"
On the second time, I secretly checked the tunnel a few days after she lost her interest to it. I find there a huge bunch of hay and her fur, but no bunnies.
Do nestings look like just hormones (false pregnancy?), or is there a chance she is eating her litter? Remember, 20 days between nestings and nothing else.
She is between 5 and 6 month old, maybe 6 now.

 

[wendymac]

It doesn't sound like she got pregnant. Now is the time to separate the buck from the doe. There is no medical reason why they should have a litter before being spayed/neutered. And the chances of mammary cancer are lower if they're spayed without having babies (at least with dogs and cats, so I would assume it's the same for all animals).

The reason he's shaking is because he knows he's about to be put with a doe, and he's going to try breeding her. LOL

I wouldn't breed brother to sister. Unless they are both exemplary for their breed, and you know ALL the genetic problems in their line, you're taking a big chance.