need advice baby bunnys

[charlene90]

hi I’m looking for some advice so 5 weeks ago I got 2 rabbits that was supposed to be males and a few days after getting them one of them had 4 babies so I figured out what one was the male rabbit and separated them so they could of still been together for up to at least a day after having the babies before I noticed. So out of the 4 babies only 2 survived and the mum rabbit has done a excellet job but now they are 29 days old and today she has started building a nest and pulling her fur out again so more than likely I think she may have some more babies in the next few days. about a hour ago she started attacking her 29 day old bunnys and lifting them up with her mouth and throwing them and has pulled some fur from them. I have took the bunnys out the cage from the mum what will I do next and why was she attacking her babies.

[Limit]

Only had two experiences with baby buns but none were my own rabbits. If she’s building a nest and you believe she’s pregnant again she was most likely trying to get rid of her first litter to be able to cope with the new litter. I’d be concerned that she’s pregnant straight away, this can be stressful to have to go straight into it again.

Hope all goes well, I suggest reading up on caring for a mum and babies. This can be useful and will help with when to separate, when to give them pelleted food etc.

I wouldn’t put the babies back at all and I think you may be able to try and see what gender the babies are now for when you need to separate them to reduce any chance of more litters.

Good luck

[vanessa]

Yeesh… I’d agree with Limit. Don’t put the babies back. Do not do not do not. Have you seen them eating on their own? I’d be giving them 15% protein pellets and hay. No veggies or fruit. Here is an article on milk feeding – it looks like if you do formula, you’ll be feeding 1 Tbsp twice a day. http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html
If they are already eating pellets, they might be ok. I’ve had 36 kits in my bunny history, but none in a situation that yours are in. They were always fed by mom. Once, after I had separated the babies, mum was hanging around closest to where she could see them and I thought she wanted them back so I put them back, and she attacked them. Flat out bunny brawl. Don’t put them back.
How are they eating though? I’d spend some time watching them around food, and look at that formula feeding article and see if it is something you can do. Hopefully you can still supplement their milk for the next few weeks.

[Azerane]

Regarding her month old litter, while I would definitely keep them separate, I would still try to give them a milk feed from mum once a day. Put mum on your lap and bring each kit up to her from underneath to allow it to suckle. That way the diet change isn’t quite so drastic and stressful on their systems. However with this you will need to be sure that she is still feeding her new litter of kits and if it seems that she isn’t, I would either stop holding the older kits up to her, or hold the new kits up to her as well at a different time of day.

The Rabbits Online forum has a number of rabbit breeders on it that have a lot of experience and good advice if you need to seek further help. Being a pet rabbit forum that doesn’t allow the discussion of intentional breeding, our knowledge is generally not as good in that department.

[Lyssbaby2010]

They’ll fight you at first when you try to bottle feed them. They shouldn’t been weaned yet so I’d suggest taking over for momma. I’ve been raising a baby cottontail since he was 2-3 days old. I feed him KMR and crush up some pellets to put in the formula. He’s about the same age as your little guys. I also add vitamins every other bottle so he gets nutrients. Hope this helps. He eats about 30 ml a day but is a finicky eater so I break that down into a few feedings a day. He also has unlimited hay which he munches.

[Lyssbaby2010]

They suggest two feedings but I do more because he seems full after a few ml. Also weigh them to make sure they’re gaining adequate weight.

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