Brand new baby rabbits help!!!

Slippin Jimmy

Hi all,

Was watching a film on tv and it was over. Just heading to bed and I noticed something weird in chub chub's cage. She has literally just given birth to 7 babies. One of them was dead when I looked in the cage . We have put a hot bottle of water in the cage wrapped in a towel to keep them warm. Chub chub has pilled out a lot of fur and seems to be looking at them. What should I be doing now????? Do I need to feed them or anything??

Munster Gal

Here's a link:
http://rabbit.org/care/babies.html

Congratulations!!

Sigma Force

You don't need a water bottle in the cage the mum will keep the buns warm just keep them in a quiet spot and leave her too it don't interfere with the babies. Keep contact at a minimum until the babies are a little older and she's happy to let you pick them up.

Just make sure mum has plenty of hay, veggies and water. She should be able to look after them herself.

Where did you get her from?

Slippin Jimmy

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

You don't need a water bottle in the cage the mum will keep the buns warm just keep them in a quiet spot and leave her too it don't interfere with the babies. Keep contact at a minimum until the babies are a little older and she's happy to let you pick them up.

Just make sure mum has plenty of hay, veggies and water. She should be able to look after them herself.

Where did you get her from?

Got her from a pet shop a couple of weeks ago. I have taken the water bottle out. I checked the link already above, but thank you for the post. How do I know if shes feeding them or not. They're all grouped together on top of each other and chub chub is at the opposite end of the cage. She hasn't gone near them from what I have seen....

Sigma Force

That's pretty normal for her to do her own thing. If she's made them a nice little nest and the babies are hudddled together in it then I wouldn't worry.

If the babies end up all over the place then gather them up and keep them warm with the warm water bottle or a snuggle safe heat pad.

From what you've said sounds like she's looking after them. Just keep a close eye. The link you got gives lots of helpful info. it's a good realiable site.

If possible make a complaint to the pet shop, if they offer to take the babies say thanks but no thanks. The least they could do though is offer some free food and bedding when the buns get older. They should be held accountable.

animalcrazy

Duffff-Man wrote: »

Got her from a pet shop a couple of weeks ago. I have taken the water bottle out. I checked the link already above, but thank you for the post. How do I know if shes feeding them or not. They're all grouped together on top of each other and chub chub is at the opposite end of the cage. She hasn't gone near them from what I have seen....

She will totally ignore them unless she is feeding them, you might never see her feed them, they usually do it early in the morning or late at night when no one is around. Are the babies covered in fur and hay?

You know mammy has fed the babies when their bellies are big and squishy

Morganna

Congrats on your baby bunnies

IvySlayer

Congrats :pac:

And get some pictures up soon!

Slippin Jimmy

IvySlayer wrote: »

Congrats :pac:

And get some pictures up soon!

I'll put up some pics soon. I think she has started to fed them as my girlfriend said they aare getting bigger. I don't think so myself.

Slippin Jimmy

I found 2 dead babies in her cage this morning. She is not feeding them. They are small and their skin is hanging off . What should I do?

Toulouse

Eh ring your vet now!

Slippin Jimmy

Toulouse wrote: »

Eh ring your vet now!

Just reading back over that now, I didn't mean literally hanging off. I meant that it looks like it hasn't been fed and that it is very skinny, thus its skin looks very loose. I rang the vet and they suggested that I feed the babies lactol and do it 3-4 times a day. Can anyone offer any advice as I don't know what to do exactly? I have made the mix and none of them seem to be drinking it.

GALWAYINDOOR

you need to be 100 percent certain she is not feeding them as rabbits can give the impression of neglecting them the lactol is so much work but its worth the commitment

good luck with it:)

IvySlayer

It's not unusual for first time rabbit mothers to lose 2 or 3 babies. Another thing you can try is Kitten Milk Replacer and feed them using an eye drop.

Baby rabbits feed about once/twice a day. If you think they are being neglected, you must think about seperating them. Go to your local pet pharmacy and ask for advice. They could have some formula.

Maggie.23

When my rabbit had babies one bunny (the smallest) was not fed and died looking like the skinny bunnies you described. She did feed the others though. Maybe your rabbit is still feeding the others. As someone else said, it is very unlikely that you will ever see her feeding them.
Keep an eye that she is not removing any bunnies from the nest. My rabbit is black and she had a litter of black bunnies and one white bunny. She kept removing the white bunny from the nest, I presume because it was different but I'm not sure. Anyway, I kept putting it back in the nest and so it got fed and survived.
Best of luck with them.

Slippin Jimmy

Went out for a few mins earlier and when I came back she had killed all of them but one

Sigma Force

So sorry :-(

This happens sometimes with rabbits.

If you are worried about the last baby you could try hand rearing if you have all the stuff you need for it. If the baby is there in the morning perhaps take a trip to the vets for what you will need. A good rabbit vet should be able to advise.

Slippin Jimmy

The last one died last night . They say that rabbits sometimes don't care for their young with their first litter. Is there any truth to this?

Maggie.23

Sorry to hear your news. :-(

Sigma Force

The babies could of been a bit inbred as well, but first time mums can neglect their babies. The stress of being moved from one place to another could of been a factor as well. Pet shop should be complained to though at least be made aware that you are not happy. It wasn't fair that you had to go through the worry. Rabbits can be tricky. But now at least you can concentrate on your wee rabbit and spoil her rotten. She can be spayed when she hits 6 months of age and perhaps you could consider then getting her a little neutered male as a companion from a rescue or somewhere.

animalcrazy

Yes it is true that first time mothers are often a bit confused and stressed when caring for their first litter, sorry about the babies.

ChasingDreams

Sorry to hear about the litter.

animalcrazy

The litter has already passed away
Touching the babies does not lead to the mother disowning them, I have a litter right now we touched from day one, you need to check on them to make sure there are no dead babies in the nest because they could rot and poison the others.

When handling the babies I take Mammy out and give her a treat, I rub my hands off the mother and in her food and then check the nest. What causes the mother to kill or abandon the babies is if you are constantly pulling and dragging at her and the nest during the day and if you are constantly in the same room as her making noise. I only check the nest once a day to make sure everyone is getting fed

Many breeders handle the babies from day one