Newly adopted Rabbit has surprise Litter

Question
QUESTION: Hello,

 About 4 weeks ago I adopted a large female Flemish Giant rabbit . She has been living indoors with  our family and has a bunny proof room and her own large kennel with litter box. I came home today to find her litter box fully of baby buns. She is inside her kennel right now,as we close the door when we leave for now. I have spoken with someone at our vets office and am awaiting a call back from our family vet. She mentioned that the kits would be warm,as the mother would have surely made a fur nest for them. Our bun never made a nest though . We will do whatever we need to do to keep her and the babies comfortable,however I cannot imagine they should be on the cool plastic litter box floor. I dont want to move anything and make her uncomfortable and am at a bit of a loss as to what should be done. We actually adopted the bunny not knowing she could possibly be pregnant and even have her scheduled to be neutered later this week. She went to our vet the day we adopted her  and nothing came up during her check up. I was told that she is 10 months old and nearly full grown. Any advise you might have will be greatly appreciated.

ANSWER: Hi Holly. I hope I have not been long in answering you. I just got home and I didn't look to see what time you sent this mail. Your bunnies need to be warmed as soon as you can. It does not hurt to pick them up, so don't worry about that. A heating pad would be great. If you don't have one, use a pop or milk bottle full of warm but not hot water. Put the little ones on a towel or such. Place the bottle next to them and cover them with a blanket. After that is done you will need to make a nest for them. Hay or straw is the best but if you don't have quick access to either use shredded newspaper. Place a lot of it in the box. Make a depression at the back of the box to use for the nest area itself. Now, this may seem a bit cruel at first but it will be OK. Pick your doe up and turn her over in your lap. Pull some of the fur out of her belly area and around her nipples. Usually the doe does this herself but since she didn't you need to. Pull enough to make a nice layer in the little depression in the box and place it in. Pat it down good. Now pull more. When you have a good handful, put the babies in the depression and place the fur on top of them. This will now keep them warm and at the time this hair pulling seems to remind most does that they left something undone. If you put your doe in front of the box she might just jump right in and start pulling more fur and finish covering the young herself. Once the babies are warm you need not worry for a while. Hopefully the doe will feed and take care of them. She will only visit the nest once or twice a day and usually when you are not looking. If the babies have full tummies you will not need to worry even if you don't see the doe go in the nest. I hope this helps for now. Let me know what happens.   Pat

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QUESTION: HI Pat,

Thanks so much for your speedy reply! We did get the buns situated with a heating pad and large box of hay. The doe is now in with them and seems to be frantically digging at the hay. I did not yet pull fur, as I am hoping she is just about to do that. Do you think I should interrupt her and pull some or just wait and see? The nesting box and room is warm now. She seems to trample them quite a bit as she goes in and out of the nest-is this normal? Thanks again so much for your help!

ANSWER: Hi Holly. You should take the babies away from her until the nest is finished. Try pulling a little fur from the does belly and put it into the nest. This should stimulate her into doing it for herself. First time moms often get things out of order and have trouble understanding what is going on. I'll stay close to the computer until we get this thing worked out.   Pat

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QUESTION: Pat,

 We just removed the babies and got them situated in a box of hay with a heating pad below. The Mama had a mouth full of hay and was in nest making mode with her babies scattered about. We just pulled fur from her belly and placed it into the nest. She was not too happy about it and has gone and laid beside her litter box. This is usually her place for "chillin". Hopefully she will get back to this nest building soon.

Also, I noticed that one of the babies has a small scratch on its back that it must have gotten from being stepped on. Its not belledly heavily, just looks like an open wound. What should I do,if anything,to treat the wound?

Thank you dear Pat!

Answer
Hi again. If you have a little antibiotic ointment you might put a bit on it. Make sure the ointment is antibiotic only and doesnt have any pain stuff in it. That should take care ofthe baby for now. If your doe doesn't go back to making a nest soon, try putting her in front of the box again and give her another chance. She may quit and not finish the nest. If she doesn't and you have enough fur to put a little under and over the little ones and the room is warm you might try putting them in the nest again and cover them with a little of the fur and leave them alone. Mama should come back to them later tomight and feed them. Watch their little tummies and you can tell if if she has done so. I will be here if you need me. Oh, how many babies did you get?    Pat