My rabbits babbies

Question
QUESTION: hello, i have recently rescued two little rabbit's from a neighbor who was letting her rabbits run wild in all our gardens, when i asked what she was going to do about them she said she was going to eat them so i took them off her hands, i know nothing about rabbits and now they have had 8 babies around Fri / sat today there are only 5 left. the vet told me not to touch them and to get the male castrated. They are both looking after the babies but mum seems to stay away a lot. can you give me some advise as I'm so worried i love animals and this breaks my heart.

ANSWER: Hi There

The mother rabbit will stay away during the day and most often will go feed at night. I would not let the male access the babies. He may kill them.

This website is the bunny, from conception to weaning.

http://www.debmark.com/rabbits/bunnies.htm

Did the vet determine how the other three babies died? what happened? If they were strewn from the nest then I would suspect that either the male was at them or they crawled out of the nest. Naked babies will die quickly from the cold if they don't stay huddled together. If the babies aren't in a nest where they can't get out of, I would put them in a cardboard box with a small lip in it so the Mother doesn't have to jump too high and risk injuring the babies. This will keep them together. Most domestic rabbits and even most wild rabbits will still tend to their young after being touched by humans. This is a common myth. But, to be safe, put on rubber gloves so your scent isn't on the babies and before touching them rub your hands in the grass or in their bedding / area. Then put hay at the bottom of the nest and pick it up and put it in the box. If there is fur then make sure the fur goes over the babies. If there isn't any fur that Mom had plucked then you can clip some from her or buy fake fur at the pet store. If you don't do this, then most the babies will die if left exposed crawling around. The Mother won't put them back in the nest, you will have to do this for her.

Hope this helps,
Alice

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello Alice
Thank you very much for getting back. Good news 6 babies are still going, i have separated dad from mum and lil one,s i had to rescue one lil one today, just put it back into the middle of the other ones and when i came home from work it was still living they are all extremely lively. Will dad be ok he looks very sad ?should i get him done ASAP and put him back with mum ? i had to remove him as he was trying it on with mum and she was very aggressive towards him.
Please can you advise me on what and when to feed lil babies and also what's best for mum.

Thank you so much i feel a lot better today.

Answer
Hi There

I am glad that the advice was helpful. I would get him fixed as soon as possible and then he will be on the mend. When the babies are about three weeks and full of life jumping around etc. then you can return him. he will be busy healing in the interim which will distract him somewhat. Supervise him when you return him to the other rabbits. most males will want to mount everything, but with him being fixed, this should curb this somewhat. Sometimes when rabbits get fixed they will go through 'menopause' for a few weeks while the hormones settle down and get out of their system. During this time they can be more aggressive then what they were prior to being fixed. This however is temporary and should settle down. if he is aggressive with the babies then I would separate them until the babies are gone. If that was your intention. Otherwise you will have a whole lot more bunnies to fix if you don't want any subsequent litters.

Females will be very aggressive when they do not want to mate. They have to be otherwise they just don't get a second of peace.

Mom will feed the babies and when they are ready they will begin nibbling on her food and grass etc. This usually happens around week three. They are usually very self-sufficient feeding from their Mother until she tells them enough is enough at which time, after they begin exploring their territory (second week) they will start experimenting with food.

Mum should have a varied diet. Pellets are ok, but fresh timothy hay and greens should be added to her diet.
Rabbit.org has a great resource for everything to feed and what not to feed as well as a lot of valuable information on rabbits in one place.

I'm so glad to hear that six of the babies are doing well.

Alice




Any questions and feel free to ask any time.