New Born Baby rabbits! HELP!!!?

Question

This morning I had the shock of my life! My two rabbits (both boys, according to the pet shop i bought them from) have produced a litter of 5 baby bunnies. Obviously as I thought they were males this was completely unexpected. So, I could do with a much advice as possible. For example, i've heard that they shouldnt be disturbed as the mother (travis) may kill them, is this true? also, I'm not sure how old they are, I havent checked the sleeping compartment for about 1 week as they dont normally use it so I dont know exactly how many days the babies have been in there, so how old are they when they open their eyes and how long are they (cm/inches) when they are born? Any tips on how to keep mum and babies healthy would be greatly appreciated. I will be phoning the vet tomorrow, but some advice until them would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Sorry I'm no help what so ever to you but congratulation anyway. I'm having a giggle at your expense.
Hope you get on ok with your new arrivals.

Answer 2

I can see you've gotten a lot of people saying the mother will kill and eat the babies if you touch them. Not true. I always check through the nest at least once a day, to make sure all the kittens (rabbit babies) are still alive, clean out wet debris, etc. My does (female rabbits) didn't eat their young, probably because I left them alone for the rest of the day. It can happen, so leave the mother in privacy as much as possible, but it's really not likely. What's more likely is the babies freezing from damp nest material, lying on top of a corpse, or being eaten by insects attracted by a corpse. Keep the nest corpse-free.
Newborn rabbits have no hair. For the first few days they just have a slick coat of close-lying fur, which slowly gets longer an puffier. Their eyes open at about twelve days. They can be weaned at as young as four weeks, but six weeks is better for their health. The size of the babies varies by breed, but if I recall, they're usually a bit smaller than the mother's tail when they're first born.
Unfortunately, since does are at peak fertility right after the litter is born, the mother is already pregnant. She'll give birth again thirty days after breeding.
You'll need to take the buck out of the cage. To figure out which one is the buck, take out the rabbits and flip them over. The testicles should be clearly visible, on either side in front of the base of the tail, attached to its stomach. If the testicles haven't descended yet, hold the rabbits tail back in two fingers and spread down the skin of the urethra with your thumb. This should expose the penis.
Also, if one of your rabbits has a double chin and the other does not, the one with the double chin is almost certainly the doe.
As for the babies and the mother, five is a good litter size: not too much competition for food, and enough brothers and sisters that the whole litter can keep warm. They'll start exploring the cage on their own once their eyes open. If you find any wandering around before then, put them back and put some sort of low wall in front of the nest, so they can't get out before they're ready. Young rabbits get hypothermia quickly.
Since your doe is probably pregnant, and she's nursing a litter, she could use some extra supplements, like oats or calf manna, a milk-based cattle supplement. You might be able to get a baggie of it at a feed store or health food store. Don't feed her more than a tablespoon per day of goodies. Also, feed her all the pellets she wants until the litters are weaned.
Once the second litter is about due, you'll need to wean the first. They'll be in danger of diarrhea from the diet change, but they won't be getting any more milk anyway once the new litter is born. It's best to take the doe to a vet or a rabbit breeder a few days beforehand to check for pregnancy, so you don't move the first litter out for a false alarm.
Unfortunately, if all goes well, you'll have twelve or so young rabbits on your hands. They can be hard to get rid of, but maybe that pet store that was so sharp with telling male from female will take them. Let the cycle continue.

Answer 3

Ok for the first week you shouldnt make any attempt to check the babies as the mother will be very protective of her litter. After the first week you can check the litter to make sure that they are all doing ok, any ones that were still born the mother would of eaten anyway. Before touching the babies rub ur hands in the bedding so that if you do pick up any of the babies ur scent wont be on them, your probably find the mother will come in to check what is going on, just make sure that you always move slowly stroke her and let her know your not doing anything wrong and she should be fine. As for when there eyes open it should be approx two weeks or so, when they are eight weeks old they are old enough and will be eating the same food as there mother so they can be weaned from her. make sure you dont leave it too much after that as they can be ready to mate. If you havent moved the male rabbit from the feamle then you must do so. Hope this helps

Answer 4

personally after hand rearing rabbits i think it's important that you do not disturb the doe or her babies. try not to touch the babies for, at least 5days. If you do take a peek, best time is when the mother is out of the nest so you dont destress her. Make sure no light shines on the babies because, at this time, their eyes are highly sensitive. The doe knows by instinct how to raise her babies, and if she is interfered with and someone tries to handle her babies she may disown or even kill them.
they are roughly a week old when they open there eyes dont panic if some are later
your babies may take three weeks before they will voluntarily come out from their bed compartment, into the daylight.

at this time they should be fully furred, with ears and eyes open, and attempting to eat a little solid food. They will nibble at tender greens and hay, and take some whole meal bread and milk. they will get most of there nourishment from there mum until they are at least 6-8weeks old

if your worried that the mum has killed her babies or they have died make sure your hands are clean when you handle them as the mother will smell the scent other wise everything should be fine but the vet will prob tell you most of this hope all goes well!...

Answer 5

Congratulations! Whatever you do, don't disturb them, not even to clean them at the mo as the beggars will opt to cannibalise the babies (horrid, but true I'm afraid). Make sure Mum has lots of food and fresh water and that the drink doesn't freeze. Extra bedding is very necessary at this time of year..... just shove it in and leave Mum to it quickly. Also, if you can remove Dad it would be a help in case Mum gets edgy about him being there and harms the little uns, though again, obviously, don't do it if it means causing a rumpus.

When born they are not more than a couple of inches or so depending on the breed. They will open their eyes by about 8 days old but will be dependant on Mum for quite a while after.

Good luck and enjoy them!

Answer 6

I had the same surprise at the begining of January after adobting a rabbit that at been playing with another female!!!!!
I have always believed in leaving well alone and was told the same as yourself leave them alone for the first week
I would try and take the other rabbit out and give mum a rest.
Babies are born bald and they dont get their fur until about one week old (someone can correct me if im wrong) and there wee eyes don't open untill about ten to fourteen days old.
I don't do anything apart from making sure the mum has plenty to eat and drink and that the babies are warm and dry if they had plenty of bedding they will be fine.
The mum should have been pulling her coat out to make a bed for them maybe you can judge when they born from this, you sometimes see the fur lying around.
I was also believe potatoe peelings make good milk for her young don't know if its true but my babies six of them are all thriving
Good Luck

Answer 7

leave them all alone (including the mother). try not to even check on them but if you must do it when the mothers away from them. the only thing you need to do is feed the mother plenty of food and some plain oatmeal so she can produce milk. also give her lots of water too.
dont touch them at all until theyre about 3 weeks old..thats probly when they start getting fur.
7-8 wks is when you can really play with them..taking them out, letting em run around, love on them..
im thinking theyre a week old when they open their eyes...but im not good with numbers/estimates sry.
if you check on them and notice they have round bellies and are not skinny..then she would be feeding them good so theyd be fine. if bellies are hollow then worse comes to worse, you can (without touching them w/your hands) feed them special milk (i believe goats milk) through an eyedropper but ONLY do this as an absolute last resort. the best thing to do if they have hollow bellies is hold the mother up to the babies keeping her steady...which would be making her feed them. although the babies i have who are 7-8 weeks old and require minimal nursing..we hold the mum up to them all the time when theyre hungry and it seems to fill their tummies. if you do this you might need to help them find the nipples. when they dont have open eyes, this would be hard to do but all you would have to do is make sure youre keeping the nipples level with the babies.

again dont forget the oatmeal for the mum..although it might not be absolutely essential i highly recommend it. it gives the mum better milk and gives the babies a higher chance of survival. a handful every day would probly be enough (although the amount would depend on the size of your rabbit)

good luck! and dont be discouraged if some of the babies die..sometimes that will happen and would not be your fault.

Answer 8

just leave them be I'm sure that they are only young still and that the mother will like to be in the quiet. i would get the male out of there asap (you don't want more babies) just feed her, her normal food and do everything normally. when the babies emerge from the sleeping compartment that's when you can move them or pick them up, but it usually takes about 2 weeks b4 the babies and mum are comfy with them being held by you. when they are 6 weeks old you can take them to your local pet shop if you don't wish to keep them. just keep an eye out and make sure their hutch remains clean, water remains clear, mum and bubs remain happy, and the food remain plentiful. Travis will be tired and empty so she will be eating allot of food. might i suggest Trixy or tayla as a new name for her. or you can keep Travis don't worry i have a male cat name Sarah nothing to be ashamed of! ill bet there cuties!

Answer 9

The litter arrives. On the day the litter arrives, and you go to check on your doe you may first only see and nest, but you will want to look closly you will see that the fur seems to me puffed up and seems to be moving a bit, This is usually a good indication that the litter has arrived. you will want to check on the litter ( to check for any dead or hurt babies). Before you check on the litter you will want to distract the mother rabbit this can usually be done with a piece of apple or another one of her favorite treats. Once the mother rabbit is distracted you can check on the litter. First gently place your hand on top on the nest it should feel warm and you should feel movement. next you will want to check for any dead babies and take a count to see how many babies there are, which can sometimes be a little difficult since the babies are usually pilled on top of each other. newborn bunnies have no fur and there eyes are shut.

Fostering Sometimes you will have a doe who either has an overly large litter or will refuse to care for her litter. In this case you can foster some of the babies.(give one does babies to another mother with a smaller litter). It is always a good idea to breed 2 does on the same day incase you will need to foster any babies. The rabbits should be given to a rabbit with a litter of about the same age. Most Does nurse there litter at night so the babies should be moved to the other mother in the morning that way by feeding time they all smell the same to the Doe.

Diet for the doe and litter Once the litter is born the mother rabbit will need more food and water, at this time you can give her a constant suppy of pellets. and it might also be a good idea to give her some green this will give her body another suppy of water and protein. The doe should be given a little less food right after Kindling so she does not produce milk to fast,which can cause caked breast. Once the litter is out of there nest box (which is usually about 3 weeks) Food should be available at all times along with water. the pelleted feed should have about 17% protein.

The litter .from the time the Litter is born until they are about 2 and a half weeks old, you will want to check on them daily to be sure they are being feed properly and that all the babies are alive and that none of them have fallen out of the nest box. when the babies are about 10 days old there eyes will begin to open it is important to keep a close eye on the babies to make sure that there are no watery eyes and that there eyes are not stuck shut ( which can be a sign of an eye infection). Once the Litter is 3 weeks they will be out of the nest box and eating regular food along with milk. The nest box should be left in the hutch until the litter is 3 weeks after that there is really no need for it. In cold weather it might be a good idea to leave it a little longer, unless it is extremly dirty.


Weaning

When the Kits are about are about 6-8 weeks old they are ready to be weaned. Weaning is the process of removing the young from the mother so they are no longer receiving her milk. Weaning is done at 6-8 weeks becuase by then the little is eating solid food and drinking water, and are getting to big for the milk. It is best to only separate some of the babies at one time so the doe can gradually adapt to the amount of milk she will need to produce, example if you have 6 in a little and 3 of them are smaller you might want to move the larger babies of the litter and leave the smaller ones to continue getting milk. The litter can also be separated by sex by 8 weeks young bucks may begin to act like adults and will become territoral, so you might want to separate the bucks first.


also take the male out of the cage. he may huirt the babies. never trust the pet shops. they suck! trust a breeder

Answer 10

calm down. one way to tell how old they are is check on them daily, they open their eyes after a few weeks. size always varies so that won't help. just leave them alone, make sure the mother is eating a few veggies a day and some hay(NOT ALFALFA! alfalfa is bad for rabbits period!)grass hay would probably be the best kind to give her. don't touch the babies, it doesn't matter if the mother's gone at the time:she will smell you on the baby(s) and (as gross as it sounds) eat it(them). try to keep the father as far away as possible-a different cage in a different place: he will kill the babies and mate with the mother again. he will keep doing this until you separate them! p.s. if you have anymore questions e-mail me and if i can't answer i'll give you my friend's e-mail:she breeds her rabbits.

Answer 11

don't disturb them because the mother will kill them I have two rabbits that I hope are both male because that is what I was told and they are one to two inches sometimes a little longer. 3 weeks to 6 weeks before they open their eyes. just keep feeding them and make sure that the mother is getting plenty of vitamins and congrats on your new bundles of joy and I hope I helped out the best I could.