mother and baby house rabbits

Question
QUESTION: hi there.

I have 2 two week old dwarf kits who are very active. They are leaving the
nestbox and zooming aroung the room. From my perception it appears as
though they are pestering the mother rabbit for food and when they try to
feed she kicks and takes off. I'm not seeing her feed them now because they
dont stay put and am worried mama may be fed up or upset. I replaced the
hutch they were in, for safety reasons, and while mama is still very sweet to
me she has been indifferent to the babies since the hutch change. Should i
be worried? I believe that 2 weeks is too young to be weaned? I have placed
hay and water with the babies for when they do wean. What do you think?

I should mention that this was an accidental breeding. I belong to a rescue
rabbit group and am often temporarily housing rescue rabbits. I only get the
females usually, (someone else houses the males) but somewhere along the
line someone mis-sexed a rabbit! Oops!


ANSWER: Hello,

Around two weeks the young as you have noticed are starting to get out of the nestbox and begin annoying mom. This is normal, so I would not worry. Mothers only nurse once daily usually, and babies always think they need to eat. It is normal for the mother to not let them nurse constantly.

2 weeks is way too early for them to be weaned. They would not survive in all likelihood. Weaning should take place between 6-8 weeks. I wean closer to 8 weeks personally.  

I would not be worried. The young should be eating pellets by now but will still rely on mom for milk for some time. I know you mentioned water and hay, but not pellets. Hay alone is not enough to sustain rabbits. In fact, consider it a supplement to pellets.  Make sure there is a large enough crock that the mother and two babies can eat out of. At this point, they should be free fed until they reach adult age.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions!

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

QUESTION: Firstly, thank you for your speedy reply!

I hear of some people feeding rabbits diets of fresh veggies, hay and no
pellets. I'm trying to reduce the pellet intake of the mother as she has mushy
poop. Do you know what the alternate diet would be?

Also, when do dwarfs become adults? Thanks!


ANSWER: Hello,

Reducing the pellet intake will not help with the diarrhea. Pellets provide a well balanced diet. They are formulated with the precise amounts of nutrients your rabbit needs. Think of it like dog or cat feed. You would not only feed meat to your dog or tuna to your cat.

Small breeds are generally considered adults after 6 months of age. Larger breeds are considered adults after 8 months of age.





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

QUESTION: Thank you Kelly!  Just one more thing. The babies have stopped sleeping in
the nest box. They now prefer to sleep under the bed. Does this mean i
should remove the nestbox?

I'm a little bugged by this because i built a new hutch and it appears they are
uninterested in it. Boo! I'm finding it hard having a free house rabbit doe fully
litter trained and her babies, who i was attempting to hutch train. I thought if i
built a half door, thinking mom would be able to get in, but the babies would
stay put.. But alas, at two week they figured out how to jump the 7" door! I
wonder what else i can do to encourage them to use the hutch. This was one
of the reasons i was concerned they werent being fed. They have opted for a
location change.  

Answer
Hello,

You may consider keeping them all in the hutch until weaning age. If you want to remove the doe for exercise, just do that. Then at weaning age you can remove the doe from the kits and give her a cage of her own. The kits should be used to their new hutch by that time and you can just keep them in there until they need to be separated. I usually separate them at weaning time, but you can wait a week or two usually without fighting.

As far as the nestbox, I remove it as soon as they prefer sleeping outside the nestbox with mom.  If they are no longer interested in it, you might as well remove it.