Hi! Our sibling bunnies turned out to be two does! The second one gave birth last night to a whole litter of kits.

Can I touch them to rearrange their nest a bit so they'll be warmer, or will that make the mother reject them because of my 'smell'. (no snide comments!)

Also, would an old sweater be ok to put under their nest for extra warmth? Right now they are in an old dog house with a dirt floor and some straw. The last bunny that was born froze to death because it wiggled down in the straw to where it was laying on the ground, and didn't have any little buddies to keep it warm, poor thing. I don't want that to happen again.

How about pine needles for bedding? We have plenty of those. What works best? Mind you, these rabbits aren't in a cage, they're in a run with half a plastic dog house sitting on a pile of straw for a home. Help!

Thanks,

Chuck in MD

-- chuck in MD (woah@mission4me.com), December 12, 2001

Answers

I don't think I would rearrange the babies or their nest. Can you put some straw against the outside of the plastic hutch and maybe a good pile of straw in front to make a small entrance for the doe, but keep out drafts? Did you notice if she pulled any fur to line the nest? I agree that the less you handle them especially the first week or so, the better their chances of survival.

-- Kate henderson (kate@sheepyvalley.com), December 12, 2001.

Another thought: my friend has chickens in a dog kennel for the winter and her husband shrink wrapped the entire outside of the kennel in plastc and its about 10 degrees warmer in there now than outside.( He's a trucker and thats what he used to wrap wooden pallets in for shipping ) Wouldn't pine needles be sharp? But put something on the bare ground outside the doghouse, be it straw or whatever .

-- Kate henderson (kate@sheepyvalley.com), December 12, 2001.

Please check out this web site. http://www.catskill.net/rbbtman/#15.

good luck:)

-- buffy (buffyannjones@hotmail.com), December 12, 2001.

Here is another good site. More medically based. http://www.aquavet.i12.com/Rabbit.htm

-- buffy (buffyannjones@hotmail.com), December 12, 2001.

It depends on how accustomed the mother is to you and also how she has reacted previously. One trick to use is to dab on the mother's nose vanilla extract and thus remove the chance of her smelling your scent. I have put cloth in a nest before but keep in mind that they could become excessively soiled and need to be removed. When I did use a cloth I used the vanilla trick to make sure there were no problems. Generally a good mother makes a good enough nest that nothing extra is needed, but occasionaly they need help especially if when they kindled it during a warmer time and then it drops to mush cooler temperature. ** If I were you I'd try using a nest box it makes it easier for the mother to build a nest and makes it garder for a baby to get outside of the nest and get cold. If you'd like an excellent book on rabbits try Bob Bennett's Book Raising Rabbits the Modern Way.

-- adam (adwats2@uky.edu), December 12, 2001.

Chuck, a trick I have found is that if you touch the bunnies then also touch the mother as well - all over the head and around the nose. Also the doe should have pulled some fur to help keep the kit warm. If she has not pulled enough fur you can help her out. Pull around her rear side and pull out some fur. (I can hear the comments now about animal abuse) This is the natural behavior of a rabbit and if this is her first litter she may need to be taught how to do this.

The best bedding I have found is straw with the does rabbit fur - that is what they would use naturally.

-- Tom S. (trdsshepard@yahoo.com), December 12, 2001.

We also raise a lot of rabbits. I agree on the idea of giving a nest box full of straw next time. It should be made of wood or wire (rabbit cage bottom wire), or something, not cardboard as rabbits tear that apart. If you want to put something under the nest this time, I would put both hands under and around as much of the nest as possible, with the babies in it - pick it all up and set aside while I arranged the material on the ground, then pick up the nest and put it back. One caution, rabbits like to chew and tear apart most anything, so they might(probably will) get hold of a corner of the material and pull it from under the nest. If you can put the whole nest into a container about the size of a dishpan, that would be better, but you would need something that won't tip over when the doe gets in and out. Probably the best and most reliable thing for right now is just straw - lots of straw. A bale here costs around $2 and although you won't need that much, that's a cheap price to pay for a whole litter of kits.

-- Dianne Wood (woodgoat@pacifier.com), December 12, 2001.

Nice face Chuck :) Little tense?

I stick my hands in the new litters all the time to make sure there are no dead babies to foul the nest, then again, the does know me. If yours come up to you and not run away, you probably would be okay.

What Dianne said about picking up the whole nest is good. I would suggest that you make a nesting box out of wood and place them in it, in the same spot inside the doghouse. This way, they can stay snug and warm. I've lost babies because they crawled to another spot away from the siblings and nesting hair. The hair is what keeps them warm.

Another thing you might do for this time is either put a piece of plywood or carpet under the nest. I wouldn't use a sweater or blanket because a baby could get lost in the folds. Good luck

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), December 12, 2001.

Chuck, Don't be afraid to handle the kits. I handle my kits all the time, checking for them growing well, making sure no dead ones. My does are used to this. I usually will give them a bit of banana, apple or some oats. The does are so busy eating their "treat" that they usually don't care if I check the kits. I would also make sure that you have a "box or something" to help keep the kits in the nest as they will squirm away. Straw works real well for bedding or really fine stemmed grass hay. Also go ahead and pluck some fur from the does if you need more, the process of giving birth releases hormones that allow the fur to be be plucked easily (nature knows what it is doing!) Also during times of the year when they pull more fur then is needed I collect and save it in a zip lock bag. (Even if it is fur from a molt, I pluck it out and save it for winter.) Good Luck with your bunnies. Denise

-- Denise K. (Rabbitmom2@webbworks.com), December 12, 2001.

Chuck I agree with Denise you do not have to wory about touching the babys. I would put them in a box and transfer any nesting material with them. Rabbits sometimes 1st timers don't pull hair, we keep a coffee can ful from other rabbits to put in in case of this. Rabbits are most often good foster mothers as well.

-- Don Amon (peacelane@certainty.net), December 13, 2001.

How are the bunny babies? I had two does who had babies last year on the winter's two coldest days here: January first and Januar 10th. They did great because we have hutches for the doe's which have built in wire nest boxes. We put hay in there and the mama's build nests of the hay and their hair. I too examine the babies to make sure they are o.k. Just rub your hand all over the mama's face so she has your smell on her too....

How do you do those photos?????

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), December 13, 2001.

I never had any doe object to my smell. I handled the baby rabbits, used to breed them at the same time so they would kindle close to the same time, then if one had 12 and one had six I would take the three big ones from the doe with 12 and put them under the bunnies of the doe with six then the doe would never refuse the strange bunnies as hers would pee on those other ones.

They do real well in cold weather if they pull hair. sometimes on a doe's first time to kindle she would have the babies out of the nest and/or forget to pull hair. I tried to check on the does that were about to kindle every half hour so, and sometimes I would find the babies out on the cage wire blue and opening and closing their mouths in a rhythmic fashion. I finally learned that if I would take them inside and immerse them in a bowl of warm water for 30 minutes or so with just their heads sticking out they would live and after that I lost very few that I found in a hypothermic coma.

Hope this helps.

-- Elaine Reynolds (2reynolds@zianet.com), December 13, 2001.

Yes you can touch the babies. She won't mind! Take the sweater out they will chew it up & it will hurt them! Put them in a nest box (preferably wood)filled with wood chips, hay or straw & some of her fur. Nest box mantience is Very important! When the babies are 10 days old clean the box completly removing all hair (they will eat it & become plugged up) & refill it with hay which will become their first meal. Good Luck!

-- Judi Amon (peacelane@certainty.net), December 13, 2001.

Oh yes, and make sure their eyes are open at 10 days. They can get infected if not.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), December 13, 2001.

Update on the bunnies! They are doing fine, and staying warm!

Thanks for all the help!

Chuck in md

-- chuck in md (woah@mission4me.com), December 15, 2001.