Surprise kits!!

[jennybinney]

Help! My bunny is only 4 months old and just surprised us with 10 kits. I have no idea what to do. I put them in a box into of some Timothy hay, but past that I'm lost!

View attachment 1442373205263.jpg

 

[JBun]

Did the mother pull any fur to line the nest with?

 

[MiniLopMad]

Has she pulled any fur for them?

If she is with the buck, separate them immediately.

Make a nest for the kits with hay and her fur and make sure they are all warm.

 

[jennybinney]

No she has not

 

[MiniLopMad]

You can try gently plucking a bit of fur from her belly.

First time mothers are not usually the best and don't always work out

 

[jennybinney]

Aww how sad

 

[jennybinney]

Help!! My baby bunny is only 4 months old and just surprised us with 10 bunnies. One has passed already and pretty sure another will by morning. I put them in a box with some Timothy hay but Idk what else to do. I didn't even know she could have babies this young! Planned on getting her nuteured next month

 

[Azerane]

Female rabbits can become pregnant from as early as 10-12 weeks of age. If you haven't already separated the doe and the buck I would suggest doing so as she can become pregnant again already.

I'm not familiar with the care of kits, but putting them in a nest box with some hay to keep warm (and some of mum's fur from her belly - you should be able to tug gently and have fur pull out, if not, don't forcefully pull her fur). You'll need to make sure she's feeding the kit, they get fed once or twice a day, morning/evening. The belly will be well rounded and quite white in appearance. If the kit looks as if it hasn't fed, you may need to assist by holding the mother and then holding the kit to a nipple so that it can feed.

 

[squidpop]

Usually the mother pulls fur from her own tummy to line the nest, but people say if they don't you should pull fur from their tummy to stimulate milk production and line the nest. Some of the babies look dead, If any of them are cold/nearly dead it would be good to separate from the lively ones as they can chill the others. If they are cold and still alive you can heat them up separately using a hot water bottle (link below to someone doing that). Baby bunnies stay warm by huddling together in a fur lined nest, (the mother does not ever sit next to them to keep them warm) so they won't stay warm if they aren't right next to each other. (Inversely, If weather is really hot they spread out in the nest to cool off, but only if it is really hot). You could also put a hot water bottle next to them in the nest but you are supposed to make it so its next to them/ or to the side so they can crawl towards it or away from it depending if they are hot or cold. They look more than a day old to me because they have fur. One looks even little bit fat like it got fed. [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dq-8_QyRRo[/ame]

 

[squidpop]

Also, I don't know how much you already know about rabbits but the mother doesn't sit in the nest with them like cats or dogs because in the wild they leave the burrow and hide away from the nest to lure away preditors. They only feed the babies one to two times a day, for 2-5 minutes and then run away again. So if you make the nest for them and put it back in the hutch with the mother rabbit and she doesn't jump right in dont worry, it might just mean she is waiting till its safe to feed them. Also, I'm not totally sure but I really think it looks like from that photo that some of them have been fed, so that's a good sign.

 

[majorv]

Are they inside or outside? At 4 months I'm not sure she will take care of them but hopefully she will. Definitely have them in a box with sides high enough the kits can't get out but she can hop in and out, and a little bigger than her. She needs to be able to get in and out, and turn around, without stepping on them. Try to use her fur as a layer under them (but over the hay) and a layer over them to keep them warm. She should feed them within 24 hours of birth.

 

[squidpop]

I wonder what happened to the babies? Would love an update