rabbit eating babys

Question
my rabbit has just had a litter and is eating them why

Answer
Hi Zoe,

separate her from the remaining babies quickly.

Could be a number of things.  Maybe its a first litter.  Perhaps the space she and the babies are in is too small.  These are usually the two reasons most people come back to.

You can raise them by hand by feeding them.  The House Rabbit Society has great articles on what to do:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/orphan.html

http://www.rabbit.org/care/orphan.html

http://www.rabbit.org/care/babies.html

You'll basically need another cage, just for the babies to put a nestbox in.  Old cloth cotton tshirts should be put in the bottom, and make a 'well' in the middle with your two fists. (like punching rising dough).  Place the babies in there, together and cover partially with a tshirt.

You'll need to get kitten milk replacement.  The directions for mixing are fine, just use regular cream from the grocery instead of water.  Rabbit milk is much richer than others.  Feed with a plastic dropper twice a day.  1st week they may take 5 ml (same as 5 cc) in the AM, and 5 ml at night.  2nd week 10 ml AM, 10 ml PM.  Third week 15 ml AM, 15 ml PM.  Fourth week about the same, fifth 10 ml AM, 10 ml PM, sixth 7 ml AM 7ml PM.  Seventh week 5 ml AM, 5 ml PM.  done by week 8.

At week 5 you can start giving them hay, timothy hay and alfalfa hay.  You can also give them timothy/alfalfa hay pellets in a crock (Oxbow pellets are the best, but whatver you get, just get pellets only, no extra junk in them - just pellets).  Give them small piles at first.  It will take some time for them to get their gut bacteria able to handle it.  Over the next month they will start eating more of it as the milk tapers off.  So the small piles can gradually get bigger by week 8 as it will be the thing they eat the most of.  

At week 10 you need to sex the rabbits and separate boys from girls.

Write back anytime.  Lee