baby rabbit safety

Question
my pet rabbit had a litter of bunnies this morning and surprised us!! i  had no idea of what to do but having just given birth myself, i had smpathy for her and instincts told me to remove her from the male. as we attempted to get the male,he scurried about and seem to trample the babies-one in particular had a previos scratch.i just found this baby dead and i am so heartbroken. i feel responsible for stirring up the cage.do you think this caused death and will this happen again?

Answer
Dear Kelly,

I am very sorry for the loss of the baby.  They are quite delicate when first born, so it's possible that the father bunny gave it a sufficient injury to cause this death.  I am sorry.

But it was very important for you to get the male away from the female, and I would get him neutered NOW, so that he can be back with his family in a few weeks.  Keep them in sight and touch of each other, but not able to physically contact each other.  The bad news:  Your female might well be pregnant again, as the male can impregnate her within minutes after her giving birth.

This means that the new litter will be born before the first babies are weaned (which should be at eight weeks), and you might have some extra work and care to give.  I hope these will help:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/surpriselitter.html

and

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html

Please don't beat yourself up about the baby bunny.  It was a terrible, tragic accident, but it was not your fault, and you certainly could not have foreseen this.  I hope all the others are doing well.

Good luck and good health to *both* new mamas.

Take care,

Dana