# Whoops! Just got accidentally pulled into rabbit raising...



## homelesszombieapocalypse@ (Oct 21, 2022)

I thought I had two female rabbits. But went out this morning and found a nest in the rabbit pen with 5 newborns in it. So one of my "females" turned out to be a male.  
My dilemma is that I know nothing about raising newborn bunnies. 
I have found some articles online....eg https://www.unusualpetvets.com.au/hand-raising-baby-rabbits/
One issue that seems important at the outset is that the Mom may not know how to be a good Mom and feed her babies. In which case I would need to do that. I need to figure out how to determine if the newborns need feeding....thus far, it seems the Mom isn't paying much attention to her babies.  I created a nest box for them, put her in it, but she just stepped on them, munched a bit of the hay in there, hopped out again.  What do I need to watch for or do? 

In this article I found, it's suggested to use Wombaroo Rabbit Milk.  Should I order some and get ready to feed the newborns?  

I'd be grateful for any tips!!


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## secuono (Oct 21, 2022)

Pull (read that as literally rip it out) fur from mom's underside, a lot of fur. To line the nest under the kits and to fully cover them.

Rabbits feed as little as once a day. Newly kindled moms may feed several times a day for a couple of minutes for a few days, slowly increasing how long they nurse and decrease how often they feed, until it is done only once or twice a day.

Unfed kits will be hollow bellied and after a couple of days, skin will stay tented when you check it for dehydration.

Nest should be tall enough that kits cannot easily climb or roll out and long n wide enough that mom can fit inside to feed them.

Are they in your house or outside?
If outside, nest should be in an area where wind won't blow on them, nor will rain/snow fall on them.

You only need to keep food and water filled.

Kits will start exploring around 2wks old. If outside, you may have to add a brick in front of nest so they can go back in at night qhen it's cold. At 3wks, you can tilt nest on its side or wait until they're 4wks old and remove nest entirely. 

At that point, again, all you need to do is keep food and water full. 

At 8wks old, you can start weaning and sexing the kits. Males should be removed by 12wks. Does can stay as long as mom accepts them. Can sell after 8+ weeks old. 

If you feed treats, I'd hold off on giving any to the kits until they're 5wks old. Then only give them tiny amounts. Rabbits love to bloat and die when you add new food.


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## homelesszombieapocalypse@ (Oct 21, 2022)

homelesszombieapocalypse@ said:


> I thought I had two female rabbits. But went out this morning and found a nest in the rabbit pen with 5 newborns in it. So one of my "females" turned out to be a male.
> My dilemma is that I know nothing about raising newborn bunnies.
> I have found some articles online....eg https://www.unusualpetvets.com.au/hand-raising-baby-rabbits/
> One issue that seems important at the outset is that the Mom may not know how to be a good Mom and feed her babies. In which case I would need to do that. I need to figure out how to determine if the newborns need feeding....thus far, it seems the Mom isn't paying much attention to her babies.  I created a nest box for them, put her in it, but she just stepped on them, munched a bit of the hay in there, hopped out again.  What do I need to watch for or do?
> ...





secuono said:


> Pull (read that as literally rip it out) fur from mom's underside, a lot of fur. To line the nest under the kits and to fully cover them.
> 
> Rabbits feed as little as once a day. Newly kindled moms may feed several times a day for a couple of minutes for a few days, slowly increasing how long they nurse and decrease how often they feed, until it is done only once or twice a day.
> 
> ...


Thanks!
When the Mom rabbit gave birth, she already pulled out a lot of her own fur so that is available for the nest. 
The rabbits normally live in a pen outside, but at times I've found rats have made their way into the pen to eat the rabbit food, so I created in indoor pen using pet fencing, and brought Mom and babies indoor into it, to prevent the babies from being killed by rats who might get in.  
I made a nest out of a plastic dishwashing basin and put some hay in it, then set the fur down, babies on the fur, then more fur over the top of them to keep them warm.  Should I cover them with the fur or not?
Is it common for new Mom rabbits to ignore the kits and the nest? Mom seems to be ignoring the nest.  When I put her in it she jumps out.  She doesn't seem to show much interest in it.  I moved the nest closer to where she was sitting


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## Mini Horses (Oct 21, 2022)

Feel kit bellies to see if full or hollow tummies.  Rabbits are private and fast at feeding.  They won't stay with kits like a cat or dog.


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## secuono (Oct 21, 2022)

She will not go near the nest except to feed. That is normal and how she protects them from predators. 
Yes, put fur on top. They will then scratch the fur around as needed. Fluff for cold and mush it down when warm.


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## homelesszombieapocalypse@ (Oct 21, 2022)

Thanks! These are all things I would not have guessed about...so based on what you're saying it would be difficult for me to know if she was feeding them or not except by examining them physically, because it sounds like I am likely not to see her feeding them.


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## Mini Horses (Oct 22, 2022)

You got it 🙂


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## secuono (Oct 22, 2022)

homelesszombieapocalypse@ said:


> Thanks! These are all things I would not have guessed about...so based on what you're saying it would be difficult for me to know if she was feeding them or not except by examining them physically, because it sounds like I am likely not to see her feeding them.


Correct. 
Unless you have a little wifi camera to record her, you'll never know without taking a peek at the kits.


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## Grizzlyhackle (Oct 23, 2022)

Bodies feel warm, wiggle when you touch them, bellies don't feel empty, then you are good to go. Every answer you got above is spot on. 
Quit moving the nest, she doesn't want to be near it until she has to be. It's a prey thing.
Check once or twice a day, do a head count, see if everybody's alive.


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## Tiny Tails Rabbitry 101 (Oct 26, 2022)

You can tell if she is feeding them by flipping the babies over and if they look fat and have white tummies then she has fed them. If you need any help with raising them please message me and I will help you! If you send me a private message I can give you my email (I check it every day). I currently have a litter of 5 4 week old lionheads.


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## homelesszombieapocalypse@ (Oct 26, 2022)

Thanks!!!
I'm not sure what is meant by white bellies...those which are pink skinned have pink bellies, the black skinned one a black belly....??

There is one of them that I'm more concerned about, as it is smaller than the others. Maybe this is normal, I don't know.

In the enclosed photo, this is the white colored one that is just above or next to the black skinned one. It might be hard to see, but it's smaller than the others and the skin has a "corrugated" texture where it's folded and seems more loose than the others. Out of concern that this one wasn't getting enough milk I did hand feed her yesterday and today...using Wombaroo Rabbit Milk Replacement and a syringe. She didn't seem too eager to drink...she did drink some but it was slow going, basically just one drop at a time offered up to her to see if she would lap it up or not...yesterday she drank more but today seemed less interested. I hope this means she's been well fed and doesn't need much more. 

Another concern was that the Mama, who first pulled out her fur to build her nest, has now been eating some of her own fur that she built her nest with! She seems a bit confused that this is a nest not a food box. She will nibble some of the hay from the nest and eat some of her fur that's in it. So I made some little nest items with thin strips of paper towel in case more insulation is needed and put some of those in....


What an adventure! The babies are so precious....


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## Tiny Tails Rabbitry 101 (Oct 26, 2022)

homelesszombieapocalypse@ said:


> Thanks!!!
> I'm not sure what is meant by white bellies...those which are pink skinned have pink bellies, the black skinned one a black belly....??
> 
> There is one of them that I'm more concerned about, as it is smaller than the others. Maybe this is normal, I don't know.
> ...


My bunny nibbled her fur too! It ended up fine though. Good job adding extra stuff! In the pic I can see some nice fat bellies meaning they are well fed. I do see the skinny one. I had one also. He/she looks a little scarier though. I would continue to feed it. make sure the milk is warm not cold or room temp. You do not want to microwave it though. If you need to warm it then make a 'Double boiler' of warm water and the milk, just don't cook it. With the colors of the bellies that is with day old-about 3 days. it no longer works with the fur. Just want to make sure you do not have the dad with the babies and mom still. You do not want mama to get rebred. Rabbits can become pregnant a day after giving birth. So far you are doing a great job! Keep it up!


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## homelesszombieapocalypse@ (Oct 26, 2022)

Thank you!  Okay I will keep feeding the small one.  I prepare the milk with hot water added to the rabbit milk powder, then wait until it is warm not hot.  
Yes, I removed the Papa bunny already as I did not know how long it could be until she could be fertile again, Oh my goodness, just one day!  He will stay separate from her until I have him neutered and then he will probably have to stay separate about 30 days after his operation, that's what I had to do last time I ended up with an accidental male bunny.


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## homelesszombieapocalypse@ (Oct 26, 2022)

Yayy! I just fed the small one again, a few more drops of milk, then just after I put her back in the nest, for the first time I saw Mama go into the nest and stand over her kits, and feed her babes! Lovely!  🥰


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## Tiny Tails Rabbitry 101 (Oct 26, 2022)

homelesszombieapocalypse@ said:


> Yayy! I just fed the small one again, a few more drops of milk, then just after I put her back in the nest, for the first time I saw Mama go into the nest and stand over her kits, and feed her babes! Lovely!  🥰


So Lucky!!! People NEVER see their rabbits feed their babies!


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## LilTxFarmer (Oct 27, 2022)

Hmmm, I've never pulled fur from any of my moma's. I've had some not pull hair until about 2 days after they've had their kits but I always have hay in their nest boxes. Also, I don't know about putting paper in for extra insulation. My rabbits would eat it up. You seem to be getting some good guidance from this forum, so hope things work out well for you!


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## homelesszombieapocalypse@ (Nov 19, 2022)

Things have gone well in raising the baby rabbits!  I made a video showing their growth from newborn to 4 weeks old.  






The 5 babies appear to all have a fluffy face associated with their father's lionhead features.  
4 of them are white, the mother's color, one is pure black. None have the ginger color of the father!
In the video I made, I show 4 instances of the mother feeding her babies.  I felt so grateful, I got to see her feed them about 7 times.  
I am contemplating keeping all the baby rabbits.  I rebuilt my backyard hutch so it's larger, and in two separate sections,  and can accommodate more rabbits. 
I decided that rather than have the poppa neutered so he can live with the momma again, I am going to have the boys live in one hutch and girls in the other.


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## farmerjan (Nov 21, 2022)

Thank you for the video.  For someone who only had a couple of pet rabbits as a young kid, it was really good.  The babies really get into a pushing match to get a good spot to nurse.  I cannot believe how fast they grow either... 
Love the "mascara eyes" on the doe.


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## homelesszombieapocalypse@ (Nov 22, 2022)

Yes, those mascara eyes on the Hotot Dwarf rabbits are very special.  That's the characteristic that had me enamored with this breed and why I got her.  Two of her offspring in this litter also have that characteristic...while apparently all 5 of these have something of the Lionhead Poppa's "mane", they have "fluffy" heads.


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## Grizzlyhackle (Nov 30, 2022)

homelesszombieapocalypse@ said:


> I decided that rather than have the poppa neutered so he can live with the momma again, I am going to have the boys live in one hutch and girls in the other.


You're going to need to watch this setup closely. 
You'll read it on here written quite a bit " they get along until they don't".
Kept a doe with mom, lack of space, full time job etc. Had to build a hutch quick. Mom kept abusing her, chase her off the food, chase her around the hutch. Really stressed her out and summer heat to boot.
Two bucks same litter were chasing each other. I didn't think it was a problem until one of them neutered the other. It was a really botched job and I had no choice  but to put him down.
A Sunday afternoon and he needed way more than a bandaid. Emergency vet doesn't do rabbits, it was really bad.

May not happen to you but I would look at having one or two xtra cages just in case.


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