Rescue bunny and babies

[LittleBatt]

Hello, I made a post on here a while back about adopting a bunny, and her babies, from a friend of my roommates who could no longer care for them. I’m sorry it took so long to get back on here, but things have been pretty hectic. About 2 weeks before I took Ripley (The momma bunny) From her old home, she had a litter of six. Beth managed to find homes for her previous two babies, and I decided it would be in everyones best interest if I just took mom and her new litter. The other two babies are doing well, by the way, in their new homes. 

Ripley arrived to me scared, in a much too small cage with her six 2-week old babies. I set her up in a large playpen area, and she and her babies thrived. She’s always super excited to see me the second I walk in the door, reaching for me through the bars of her playpen, and we take frequent visits to the park, where she’s able to run through the grass, and play in nice, wide, open spaces. Once I move into my new apartment (Within the next 2 weeks) I planned on converting her into being a house bunny.

Her six babies grew up in a happy, loving environment, with lots of attention and affection, and they all recently went to their new homes (Two weeks ago) Minus one, Winnona, who we planned on keeping, and Newt, a little guy who’s going to his new home next week.

This morning I woke up to a surprise. I went to let Ripley and Winnona out to run and play, and when she hopped out of her kitty box, I was surprised to see a bunch of wriggly little pink things beneath her.

She’s okay with me handling the babies, she has been since the start, so I counted, and gave everyone a once over. There are 7 babies.

I just feel so heart broken right now. My poor Ripley.. 3 litters, all back to back, and she’s barely over a year. I was planning on getting her fixed next month, but now I’ll have to wait until these little guys don’t need her any more. I’ve already begun lining up homes, I had a few friends who got to me too late and weren’t able to adopt the first time, so I’ve been talking to them now, and they’re excited to take a new baby when they’re ready, so I’m hoping rehoming them won’t be too hard.

I’m just frustrated and sad right now. She’s been through so much, and I never imagined she’d have to go through this again. I’m keeping a close eye on her, and the babies, who all range in size and color, but all of her last litter survived, so I’m hoping these little ones will too. She must be so tired, my poor baby.. should I be looking out for any health hazards? I’m going to set up an appointment for her to get fixed ASAP, I’ve heard that rabbits can get cancer from having so many babies so young. Is that true?

[Roberta]

Oh Dear…. Poor little mite, I am glad she has you now… Sadly it may be her own offspring responsible for the new litter and more concerning as they can fall pregnant immediately another one may already be on the way… Gestation time is between 28 and 32 days so it is unlikely she was already pregnant when she came to you if you have had her for more than 4 weeks…
You will need to get the young man out of the cage and keep him away from Ripley….. Unfortunately an emergency spay is not going to be and option if there are babies to still be fed… Atleast I don’t think it’s possible to do so, I may be wrong…
Cancer tends to be more common in undesexed bunnies although excessive litters aren’t likely to cause it other problems can arise from being over bred…. Talk to your vet and see how soon you can bring her in, also make sure young Newt is in Winnona as you may end up with even more babies… It is uncommon for girl buns to be fertile before 16 weeks but not unheard of, boys can have functioning boy bits from 12 weeks…

[Roberta]

Oh… Also double check that Winnona is a Winnona and not a Wendle…. That’s how I ended up with two oops litters, I thought Pepper and Piglet were both boys.

[LittleBatt]

Newt is separated from Winnona, I DID have her in a cage with mom, but she’s alone right now, and mom is in a maternity cage with the little ones. Sadly, two of them didn’t make it.. my heart is so broken for those two sweet little ones, I’m keeping a close eye on the rest to make sure nothing’s wrong with them. I don’t think these babies impregnated mom, they’re 9 weeks currently, and I’ve had Ripley for a little over a month now, so I think this was the fault of her previous owner..

Thank you so much for the help and replies, I’m going to be calling my vet in the next few days to see what she thinks is best. Would it still be alright if Ripley and Winnona have play times together once a day? I don’t want them to lose their bond.

[Roberta]

Ripley and Winnona should be fine for play times but keep an eye on them… You should have a bit more time before Winnona starts to become hormonal but just be wary of any aggression from either of them as Ripley will be very hormonal at the moment.

[Roberta]

Unfortunately that Ripley has had 3 litters close together could be that she is not very healthy at the moment and her little body could not provide enough for the bunlets to develop properly… It is heartbreaking but there was probably nothing you could have done to prevent it…. The best thing is to get every bunny spayed or neutered as soon as possible and make sure they all have unlimited food for the time being escpecially Ripley… Incl lots of calcium bearing veg for her milk production….

[Author]

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