good news!..but what now?

Question
thanks for your reply lee! the links were really helpful! that night i went to her hutch, and while my fiance distracted misty with some tasty carrots and lettuce i peeked into the nest and there was about 6 tiny babies in there.they were all warm and moving so i knew she had been looking after them, infact, they were so well snuggled up in the nest she had built them i had trouble counting them all! im so proud of her!!
anyway, i went out to check on them a min ago(theyre nearly a week old now) and they're are just so lovley!theyre statring to grow fur and are getting stronger by the day!i just wondered when we should expect them to open their eyes and when they will start exploring the hutch on their own? when they start to try mistys food, should we provide them with anything especially, or will mistys mixed diet of fresh fruit and veg, pellets and hay be ok? also, at how many weeks do they need to be seperated? were keeping a male (if there is one.lol) and have already found good loving homes for 2 of them. thanks very much!!!

Answer
Hi Radha,

I'm glad that my prior info was helpful to you. Glad mom and babies are doing well too.

By the end of the second week they should have their eyes open.  They will probably start moving around near the third week.  They will wean probably sometime between the 4th and 6th weeks, maybe longer, but it depends on mom.  They will get bigger and they will probably need a larger space to live together peacefully.

I would say between the 8th and 10th week you should sex the rabbits and separate the boys and girls.  

Diet.  You can keep giving mom what she needs, the little guys will start trying out solids at 3-4 weeks.  You may want to up the pellets (not greens or fruit) for the babies.  They should not have greens or fruit because their gi tracts are not mature enough to handle it at this young age.  That may be a reason to give the greens and fruits to mom separately, to make sure the young ones don't get any.

Check out the House Rabbit Society (www.rabbit.org) for hundred of articles on all aspects of rabbit care.  They have a lot on new and young rabbits, sexing them, etc.

Lee