Letter about baby bunnies

Question
I have baby rabbits now that are 10 days old and they havent hopped out of the hut yet and their mothers fur hasnt been removed off them either. Is this normal or should I put the mother and babies in a smaller cage to keep and eye on them? I would like to see if they're all still alive. I counted four of them about 5 days ago when I happened to catch her breast feeding them and havent seen that since although when I said bun bun one peaked his head up and looked at me but not for the past 3 days. If you could get back to me that would be awesome. From Jackie

Answer
Jackie... I currently have 69 young rabbits under 1 week old spread amongst 14 litters in my rabbitry...so I am the person to help you.  First, don't be afraid to touch them. If they are 10 days old, they may easily be in the nestbox  for a few more days.  Now, Take the nestbox out of the cage and push back the fur and look them over! Their eyes should Open TODAY! Once the eyes are open, they will start to peek their heads up. If the eyes are not open, recheck them tomorrow. If they aren't open by tomorrow, email me..They will need to open by day 12!

As for the doe, she should only nurse them once a day...If you are concerned about her being disturbed by your smell, wipe a small dab of some Vicks VapoRub on her nose before you return the babies (in their box) to her cage. The smell of the Vicks will stay on her nose much longer than your smell will stay on the babies. Thus, she won't be able to smell you!

Do not worry..In the beginning (30+ years ago)I did this with the Vicks, but I haven't used this method in 20 years  and don't think I have lost any babies due to a doe killing them.  If there are any dead babies in the box (perhaps), remove them. The problem is that any dead baby will get very cold and it will draw heat from the other babies, causing them to get chilled, and then they can die also.   I will bet all is fine, and that you'll be pleased with what you see...but after you check them today, put them back and give them a couple days and they will be hopping all over the place very soon.  Best wishes, and let me know how this goes...and Do NOT worry! The baby rabbits are not made of glass..Just don't take a long time gushing over them right now..In a few days they will be fully furred out and you can start letting them eat solid food in about 4 days from now.   Regards, Steve