advice for new mother!

Question
Hi there, I have just received advice from one of the experts but cannot request a follow up due to her becoming delisted.  My concern is for a new mother of 8 months old! She has had two surprise litters very close to one another and has red urine.  I will take her to a vet to be checked out, also to be spayed later on and been advised by the other expert to put frozen water bottles into the cage to cool it down during the hot summer months.  Also, I was advised to put a nesting box in where there is a young litter, due to her giving birth unexpectedly in the bed part of the hutch.  Where would I put this nesting box and how would I be able to put the young inside as the vet has said not to touch the young?  

Also, I need to encourage my rabbit to drink more water, how would I do this?

Thanks, George  

Answer
Hi,

I am not sure what kind of cage layout you have, but you will need to put the nest box in the area where the mom doesn't normally rest.  Rabbit moms spend almost all of the day away from their nests, so she needs space away from her nestbox.  Better to put this in a spot where she doesn't normally rest and relax.  

You can handle the young to pick them up and put them in the nest box (or in case they fall out to put them back in).  Rabbits won't kill them if they smell humans on their young.  So for the short time you need to move them or put them back in the nest, that should not be a problem.

Water - you could put some unsweetened (NO ADDED SUGAR!) fruit juice such as cherry or raspberry into the water (just a small amount) and see if that works.  You could also swap it out more frequently and make sure it is cooler to be more enticing.  

Lee