help!!!! my rabbit is about to give birth?

Question

on cold days i put my rabbits n small cages & put them n the shop. i went 2 school 1 day & i guess i didnt close the cage right on my does cage so she got out. some how my buck got out. now she is pregent & has 5 more days left 2 give birth(Jan 5 is the due date). i dont know what 2 do & she is only 8 months old/she is the same size as the buck. HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!

Answer 1

She will probably start to make a nest in her sleeping compartment. she will do this by pulling out tufts of her fur from her chst and belly. do not worry. this is normal. she will lay the fur in a deep bed. do not clean the sleeping area out. just leave her to it. she will not wee or poo in it while she has the nest anyway. just keeping feeding her and make sure she has plenty of water. try not to poke or handle her too much, just leave her to settle and start to feel like the nest is a safe place for her to have her babies.

After she has them, she will be in and out of the sleeping compartment / nest like a yo-yo. dont worry - she is feeding them, she just needs a break every now and again. you can peek at the babies, but only PEEK. they will be little pink suasages with closed eyes. you will note that they will pop up + down like popcorn when they here a noise. this is they way they latch on to her teats when she stands over them to feed. so becareful when you open the door as they sometimes pop out of the nest! do not look for too long though as the mother will not like it and by all means....DO NOT TOUCH THEM. if you do touch them, your scent will be on them and mother will take it as a threat and can sometimes eat her own babies if she feels they are threatened.

if you do HAVE to handle them (for example, if one falls out of the nest and you need to return it), put marigold rubber gloves so that your scent will not transfer to it, pick it up very gently, but becareful as it will wriggle.

once their eyes start to open and you can see hair starting to cover their bodies, you can start to slowly handle them. depending on how tame and how well the mother trusts you. i used a have a rabbit who let me handle the babies as soon as they were born without minding, but another who wouldnt let me touch them until they were crawling around. the mother will soon let you know if she is not happy. your scent will not be a worry anymore - only while they are pink is that a problem.

after a while, the mother will let you handle them without a fuss and you can start to tame them. when they can move around well, you can put the mum out in a run with them, but just keep an eye out for predators. if mum is worried about something outside, she will face the direction it is and thump her back leg. this is when you should either check it out or bring her and the babies back in. when you move the mum, always carry one baby with her. she will panic if she is one her own otherwise. you can then add the others to her once she is safe.

They will wean themselves and learn off their mother how to eat and drink.
when they are 8 weeks old they are ready to be rehomed.

good luck and let me know if you have any other worries.

(by the way, dont worry about the size of the buck or the age - this is irelavent in rabbits as it doesnt affect them too much. obviously you cant breed a dwarf mother with a giant lop buck as this will cause probs, but generally it doesnt matter. alos, as for her age, rabbits are able to reproduce sucessfully from the age of 3-6 months (depending on breed, larger breeds being older.) if she is old enough to mate, she will have no probs with her young.)

xx

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Your doe should be in a descent size rabbit cage. For most breeds 11 pounds and under a 32"x24"x18" tall cage will do. Make sure the rabbit is protected from any wind draft. Protection on 3 of the 4 walls of a cage will protect against a wind draft. Rabbits can take the cold but not a draft.

Put in a nest box 2 days before she is due to have babies (the 28th day). The nest box should be about 1-2 inches wider that the doe is wide and 1-2 inches longer than the doe is long when she is laying down. Use pegboard for the floor of the nestbox and put some straw under the nestbox and in the nest box. The nestbox should have an opening at the front with about a 5" tall board along the front for her to jump over. Put about 2"-3" deep worth of straw in the nestbox. You want the straw in the nestbox to be a couple inches below the front board so the babies don't jump out or to prevent the mother from accidentally kicking them out. Nail a top to cover the back 2/3's of the nest box. The nest box should be tall enough so the doe can get easily in and out about 10-12" normally will work.

Don't put the nest box in over 2 days before she is due to have the babies otherwise the mother may start pooping and peeing in the nestbox.

Throw an inch or so of straw under the nestbox too. This will help keep the warmth in the nestbox a little better.

If the mother fails to pull fur after she has had them. Pull fur out of her to cover the babies with. If she scatters them around the cage, put the live babies in the nestbox together and cover them with fur. As long as they are still moving, no matter how cold or how little they move, they still have a chance of living as long as they are put together and covered with fur.

Answer 4

calm down. it'll be okay. first of all, make sure the buck is in a separate cage. Give them a nestbox immediately. ( a shoebox with pine shavings at the bottom and hay will do. If they're in the house, they'll be fine, but if they're outside make sure there is plenty of hay available. Right before birth, the mother will pull out a major amount of fur. If she doesn't, you can pluck the neck and stomach area. It should come out gently. When she finally does have the babies, it's okay to handle them from the moment they're born. Nature will take it's course, so don't handle them too much, but if there are any dead babies take them out. Make sure they're dead though. the mother will visit the nest about 2 or 3 times a day, which is rarely seen. check on the babies everyday, to see if she is feeding them. If she is their belly will be plump. If they are very scronny, it's okay to feed them goat formula with an eye dropper. As I said before, let nature take it's course. In about 12 days, their eyes will open. If after 15 days their eyes are not open, gently try to open the eye. about a week after that they'll be bugging the mom like crazy, but oh well. start setting out pellets and water for them. NEVER GIVE BABIES ALFALFA HAY! It will give them diarrhea. The best hay is timothy. this goes for the nest too (and is available at Wal-mart) Be sure to socialize the babies. (besides the fact that they'll be too cute to resist) after 10 weeks, take the babies away from the mom and keep them together until 12 weeks. the boys must be separated but the girls stay together. to tell the sex, set it in your lap, turn it upside down, and squeeze right above the anal hole. if it's a slit, it's a female and etc. at 11 weeks, you can sell them. Well, I hope that helps you a bunch. but, there could be a chance it's a false pregnancy! there you go.

Answer 5

As it is pretty cold outside at the moment make sure you bring your mother rabbit and the babies indoors before she has them. they will need to be kept warm if this isnt possible keep them in a shed with lots of bedding. Make sure there is alot of bedding in the cage and the other will make a cosy nest with her fur for the babies. My rabbits have always been fine giving birth with no probs it always has happened during the night. Make sure when they are born you dont deterbe them or touch them cos if the mum smells u on them she may kill them after a week or two if u r gonna touch them make sure u rub ur hands in her bedding first so u smell of her. Good luck they will be soooo cute!

Answer 6

Eight months is plenty old enough and I wouldn't worry about the size of the buck either. You can also keep them outside like you normally do, as long as they're out of the elements.

Put in a nest box with something like straw and wood shavings on day 28. She should give birth on day 31.

Answer 7

You shouldn't keep rabbits outside. If you don't bring your bunnies in. They mom and the baby's will freeze to death. The mom might also kill them because of predators, the winter,and no food.Don't hold them a lot for the first couple of days. But check to see if they are warm,alive and huddled together. If there are any dead ones, YOU HAVE TO REMOVE THEM! The mother might kill the others if there is a dead one in the nest. Make sure you check with the mommy bunny before you touch them. Pet her first. Also pay a lot of attention to the mommy (hold her a lot). You don't want her to get jealous. DON'T touch them if she lunges at your hand. Rabbits will kill their babies if they feel threatened. Make sure the mommy has enough food and water and some treats. She needs the energy to feed them. And if she doesn't, she might eat the babies.Don't let daddy bunny near the babies until their eyes are opened. You can also play with them during this time!After the mom is done weaning the babies, get her fixed. The dad, too. It is cruel to leave your pets outside in the winter and summer or any time of the year. Would you leave a dog outside. No, you wouldn't. You can litter train rabbits. Rabbits can sleep in bed with you. What is the point of having a pet if it stays outside all the time. Bring your bunnies in. They are pets not wild animals! They get lonley outside. You can't give them enough love. Beg Your parents to Keep Your bunnies inside! They WILL DIE. THE BABIES WILL DIE FIRST! Do so before she has the babies. Otherwise she will be stressed from the change. She needs a couple of days to adjust.

Give her a nesting box, wooden or cardboard. She needs extra hay.

Email me if you have any additional questions!

Answer 8

Of course they do. In the wild rabbits don't have any help giving birth to their kittens so why would domesticated rabbits need ur help. Unless the one of the kittens is stuck then u should call the vet or sumthin.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

Whatever you do, keep the doe in the same place. She doesn't need stress right now. As she is young, she may not produce all live young. She may even eat some, or all of them. She will be needing up to 5 times her normal food ration if & when she begins to feed any babies. Before you attempt to handle any young, rub your hand with soiled sawdust/litter so as to get the doe's own smell on them.

Answer 11

Seek advice from your vet. There are a lot of risks involved in your doe giving birth. you need to be aware of them and ready for what might come. Nature can be cruel so you need to be advised by a vet so you can do all you can to make giving birth as calm and safe as possible for mum anf the babies.