Newborn bunnies

[babybun]

Ahh I’m so sorry, I wasn’t quite sure where to post this. :c
I was told by multiple people that both of my bunnies were male, so my mom decided that since they’re of the same gender there’s no reason to get them fixed, even though I wanted to. It turns out that one was a girl and one was a boy! My mom woke me up early a few days ago to show me that supposedly my larger bun, Little Bear, had ripped out much of Nala’s fur in a fight, and she wanted my permission to throw him outside, which I obviously said no to. Nala was sitting in the corner across from Little Bear, and I thought she looked terrified, so took her out of the cage and closed it with Little Bear inside. Soon after Nala started having these convulsions that terrified me. I thought she was dying! I moved her onto a soft blanket, went to get my mom to tell her to call a vet, and when I came back, a large black thing was underneath her! Since we were told she was male, I thought it was a tumor. Untilllll I looked a little closer and saw some little bunny limbs. She ended up giving birth to three adorable baby buns, one of which sadly didn’t make it.
It’s a few days later now, and Nala has been nursing the babies regularly and made a little nest in the corner of a new cage we got for her. I’ve never been in a situation like this before, I’m just so unsure what I should be doing. Is there anyway I can help her? Do I leave her and her babies alone?

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By bunnyjpg on 2/20/2017 8:20 AM

Ahh I’m so sorry, I wasn’t quite sure where to post this. :c
I was told by multiple people that both of my bunnies were male, so my mom decided that since they’re of the same gender there’s no reason to get them fixed, even though I wanted to. It turns out that one was a girl and one was a boy! My mom woke me up early a few days ago to show me that supposedly my larger bun, Little Bear, had ripped out much of Nala’s fur in a fight, and she wanted my permission to throw him outside, which I obviously said no to. Nala was sitting in the corner across from Little Bear, and I thought she looked terrified, so took her out of the cage and closed it with Little Bear inside. Soon after Nala started having these convulsions that terrified me. I thought she was dying! I moved her onto a soft blanket, went to get my mom to tell her to call a vet, and when I came back, a large black thing was underneath her! Since we were told she was male, I thought it was a tumor. Untilllll I looked a little closer and saw some little bunny limbs. She ended up giving birth to three adorable baby buns, one of which sadly didn’t make it.
It’s a few days later now, and Nala has been nursing the babies regularly and made a little nest in the corner of a new cage we got for her. I’ve never been in a situation like this before, I’m just so unsure what I should be doing. Is there anyway I can help her? Do I leave her and her babies alone?

I hope you don’t mean literally 

I think as long as mum bun is nursing them, you shouldn’t need to interfere too much but I’ll wait for someone else to comment on the matter. For the record though (for the future) even same sex pairs must be neutered or spayed or they can’t bond and live together. 

[babybun]

Unfortunately, she did mean literally. My mom genuinely dislikes my bunnies. She gets upset with me and tells me I’m being wasteful just for telling her that they’ll need more pellets, bedding, or hay soon.

Alright, thank you so much for all of your help, I really appreciate it. I know that it’s extremely important for you to get your bunnies fixed, but my mom refused to allow that to happen. Even when I scraped together the money to get them both fixed, she wouldn’t let me take them to a rabbit-savy vet. I’m a minor, I can’t drive yet and I haven’t been hired for a full-time job yet, so her restrictions make it a tad difficult for me to care for them the way they truly deserve.

[jerseygirl]

Hi bunnyjpg’

That’s such a shame your Mom is not being supportive about getting the rabbits desexed. Even when you’ve raised the funds yourself. Keep trying though!

The babies and Mumma should be okay, just check in on them daily. The mum will groom their bottom to stimulated them to poop and pee. If you;re not seeing any of that in the nest, you might have to wash their bottoms a little with a warm, wet cloth to stimulate them.

Do make sure the male has not been back with the Mumma because he can impregnate her right away, literally right after she has given birth.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Yikes, talking about nasty surprises. With young bunnies it can be hard to tell whether they’re male or female. This is why we always advise new bunny owners to take rabbits to the vet to get sexed, and eventually fixed. It doesn’t matter whether they’re male or female, intact rabbits have a higher chance to develop health and/or behaviour issues. Bonding is out of the question unless both rabbits are fixed: their high hormone levels will lead to fights.

Intact males will spray urine, be more agressive and will continously try to hump everything in sight, even if in a cage with a spayed female. This will of course lead to fighting: they’re caged in together with a sexual maniac that won’t take the hint.
Intact females can become highly territorial, bossy and can display false nesting behaviours. The biggest risk for intact females however is cancer, they have a high chance of developing cancer in their feminine parts.

Please set them apart and contact the vet ASAP, because female rabbits can get pregnant again immediately after birth. They don’t have menstrual cycles like humans do, instead they’re reflex ovulators. This means that the female releases eggs whenever a male mates with her.

I definitely hope that your mother didn’t mean “releasing him into the wild” when she said that about putting him outside. Domestic rabbits will NOT survive when dumped. Wild rabbits have strong survival instincts, a group of friends and family who warns them of dangers like predators, and a burrow to hide in and stay warm together. A dumped domestic rabbit has none of these, and will die soon out of starvation, predator attacks or just the stress of being completely friendless and homeless. Dumping domestic rabbits in the wild is unspeakably cruel.

[jerseygirl]

Here is some useful informations about Baby Bunnies and their Mom from the House Rabbit Society.

[babybun]

Thank you so much for your help! It really is appreciated.
I really do wish she would be a little more supportive in me trying to get them what they need, but I guess there isn’t all too much I can do since she doesn’t seem very keen on changing her mind.
I’ve been checking on everyone every few hours. I’ve been trying to avoid handling the babies since Nala isn’t a huge fan of that from what I can tell. I can see that they have full tummies every morning, and I’ve seen Nala grooming them a lot, but I haven’t seen anything that would indicate them going to the bathroom. Then again, I really haven’t been looking at the nest all too much because I don’t want to disturb anything.
I have kept Little Bear away from Nala so they won’t have any babies. I do feel a little bad for him because he seems so sad being away from her.

[sarahthegemini]

Wow, erm your Mum sounds terribly unsupportive. Why did she allow you to have rabbits if she thinks providing for them is ‘wasteful’ :-/

[babybun]

She assumes that I “overfeed” them, so she tells me I’m wasteful.
I’m not too sure at times honestly. I think because she has her cats and her bearded dragon and my step dad has his fish, she just didn’t want me to feel left out. Don’t worry though, aside from the neutering, I’ve been able to get around everything else. I give my dad money, and he lets me order lots of food, treats, hay, bedding, and toys for them every few months.

[tobyluv]

Even though you feel sorry for Little Bear, you can’t let him be with Nala for even a few seconds. That’s all it would take for another litter to be born in a few weeks. Rabbits can even manage to mate through cage bars, so you can’t have their pens right next to each other. I hope that your parents will relent and let you get your rabbits spayed and neutered. If they do, and you start out by only having the male neutered, be aware that they can still impregnate a female for a month or more after their surgery, so you still couldn’t put him with Nala. He shouldn’t be with the babies anyway, and they should be with their mother for 8 weeks.

I really hope that your mother comes to change her mind about your rabbits.

[babybun]

I understand. I know that we really can’t have any more baby bunnies. I don’t let him near her or the babies. The cages are relatively close together so they don’t get lonely, but definitely not close enough for them to interact between the bars.
I do too, and I won’t give up trying until my mom finally gives in. I read that after having your bunnies fixed, they should be in separate cages for around 6 to 8 weeks, so I’ll do just that.
Thank you so much for all of your help.

[Author]

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