Rabbit had babies underground

Question
QUESTION: Hi. Our rabbit, unbeknownst to us had babies. 4 that I know of. She had dug a tunnel and i have noticed everyday she goes into the tunnel a few times for a few minutes then comes out and fills the hole back in..at least the top. The hole goes back a good 2 feet. I had no idea she was even pregnant. She has been doing this for a few weeks now, but when I saw the babies today they were about 5-7 inches, maybe smaller, had fur, and their eyes were closed. The babies came right to the top of the hole then back down after eating. I think the only reason why they had come to the top is because I had locked up the female rabbit for a day in her cage and didn't let her out because i wasn't home, and maybe the babies were starving.
Anyway..how can I be sure how old they are? And will they get themselves out of the burrow? I can't reach in far enough to get them. Will the mother continue to nurse them for as long as the babies feed and will she eventually stop filling in the hole so they can/will come out.
Anything you can help with would be VERY appreciated.

ANSWER: This is an interesting situation, Rabbit mothers only feed their young about 1-2 times a day for a couple of minutes then spend the rest of the day away from the nest to keep predators away.  So as long as she has access to them in the morning and the evening (every day no matter what) the babies should be fine.

As for the age I would guess them to be about a week old.  At 2 weeks babies generally open their eyes and are a bit more mobile.  I do suggest however that as soon as you are able to remove all the babies out of the hole in the ground and get them into the cage with the mom to do so, they are so vulnerable to predators and bugs at this age that if possible (such as widening the whole to be able to reach them or taking the top off the tunnel to be able to get to them) you really should remove them out of the ground, this will also allow you to handle them and get them used to human touch etc, and will make finding homes for them much easier.

If you can't get them out of the whole, expect to start seeing them in about a week and a half, at this age they seem to want to not be in the nest so this would be a good time to take a day and try to catch all of them, I do suggest however destroying the nest afterwards, as this will attract other animals to come burrow in your yard and use that old den for themselves.

also check out these websites for more info about rabbit breeding
http://www.welshrabbitry.com/birth.html
http://www.islandgems.net/bunbreeding.html

Good Luck
Amy

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

QUESTION: Thank you so much for your time. I did see them again today..yes..i waited outside for the mother to undig the hole...anyways..there are 5..some of their eyes were open..so i'm guess more like 10 days old..and again as soon as they were done went back into the hole and mom filled it up. This afternoon i dug the hole myself and i can't reach any of the babies..they are just to far back, and they didn't even try to come out of the hole. I do have the rabbit fenced in with a 5' high wire fence and the cage is in the inside of that, so i don't worry too much about other animals using the hole. Unfortunetly i have more than 1 rabbit and they share a cage at night. They have always seemed to like the company at night, so i kept them together and i'm afraid to put the baby bunnies with the other bunny.
Anyways..i'll still do as you say, and use someone with a longer arm if i have too!
thanks again

Answer
I agree with you that putting in the babies in with another rabbit is probably not a good idea. You may think about trying to find an extra cage to keep the momma and babies, I do think they need to come out of the ground. You might try tearing the top off the tunnel (if it 2 foot deep take off about 6 inches at a time and remove the dirt as you dig it out)and you may be able to reach the babies fairly easy.  

It sounds like the pen is fairly safe against predators but fences don't keep out fleas or mites which is something that you need to make sure to check for when you finally get a hold of the babies.

I think your doing fine though and if you have to wait a week or so until they are a bit more mobile they will probably be okay as long as you can get them before they are to old

Good Luck
Amy