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My two "male" rabbits

post #1 of 16
2/2/11 at 1:09pm
Thread Starter 
Had babies last night! Apparently, someone is not as "male" as we thought! Poor momma is such a wild bunny anyway, I am not sure she is going to be able to take care of the babies. I hope to be able to save them, but I just really don't know what I am doing!

I have an appointment to get my male neutered now since obviously I can't NOT get him neutered! I don't want irresponsibly bred baby bunnies every 8 weeks!

If you don't mind, I could sure use some baby bunny survival prayers and vibes! I will post pictures 1. If they live and 2. After they have hair! Right now they look like little baby RATS! - hairless rats!
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post #2 of 16
2/2/11 at 1:38pm
I hope you have separated the father male from the female.
He may try to mate with her immediately after she has given birth or harm the offspring.

Here is a link that can help you sex the offspring once they get a little older.
http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/sexing.shtml

You want to separate the male babies from the females at 8 - 12 weeks of age. They can start eating some solid food at around 2 weeks but they are still predominantly on milk.

Don't worry about the mom being "too wild" to take care of her young.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html

"If mama rabbit seems to be "ignoring" her litter, check their condition before you interfere. If the babies' tummies are round and full-looking (you sometimes can see a whitish patch where the milk-filled stomach shows through the thin skin of the belly), they are warm, their skin is a healthy, dark pink, and not overly wrinkled, and they are sleeping calmly in the nest, then mama is feeding them. If the babies are very wrinkled, cold, bluish in color, have shrunken bellies, and perhaps are even crawling around looking for mama (instead of nest-sleeping, as a well-fed baby should), then you may have to intervene."

Sometimes mothers will reject their young for various reasons and that's where you will step in if she does.

Here is another article on bottle feeding rabbit babies if you need to.
http://www.rabbitgeek.com/articles/a...lefeeding.html

Your vet should have more information for any questions you have in particular.

Good luck and congratulations on the babies (even if they were unexpected.)
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post #3 of 16
2/2/11 at 1:39pm
Rabbits look like they're not taking care of their babies, but usually they do just fine. They only nurse once or twice a day, and the mama rabbits don't stay in the nest when not nursing (so as not to attract predators), so that's why it looks like the mama doesn't care. If the babies are quiet, plump, and contented, it means they're fine. Don't interfere or handle the babies too much; it'll just stress the mama bunny more. Make sure they stay warm and dry and are in a draft-free area. If she is given enough hay, she'll build a nice nest for them herself. Chilling is one of the most common causes of death for baby bunnies.

If they're skinny, squalling, and moving around a lot, it could mean that she's not caring for them properly. Unfortunately, it's very hard to bottle-raise bunnies, contacting a wildlife rehabber or a rabbit rescue for advice would be your best bet.

Separate the male rabbit from the mama and litter, and don't let him near the mama rabbit until a month or so after he's neutered. She can get pregnant again right away! They breed like rabbits, ya know! LOL.

Make sure to post lots of pics as the babies grow!
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post #4 of 16
2/2/11 at 2:03pm
I hope everything goes well with the babies! I can't wait to see their pictures, I've never seen a new born bunny before. That must be really cool!

I think you might have to take the father away from them. I read a long time ago when I had my bunny Patches, that the father might kill and even eat their babies. I don't know how true that is. Patches was neutered, and he was the only bunny I ever had.
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post #5 of 16
2/2/11 at 3:00pm
Oh how cute, this happened to me and I got worried about mummy bunny not looking after them but they really don't nurse that often. I love iccle baby bunnies, I have pics of mine from newborn up until now with the one I kept. Sending you huge vibes that they are all ok.xx
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post #6 of 16
2/3/11 at 8:36am
Thread Starter 
UPDATE: The babies died last night. I am so sad. Momma tried to sit on them to keep them warm, but they were already dead. We have decided to let her have one more litter - in a more controlled environment. We are going to put her in the rabbit house with the male and let them mate. When she gives birth, it is HIM that I will cage and I will leave her in the house with her babies. I think if I hadn't moved them and caged her, she would have figured it all out...but the situation where she gave birth was not good - there were chickens sharing the rabbit house. The chickens would have harmed the babies. We are going to move the chickens out this weekend, redo the floor in hay, and leave momma and daddy to do their thing.

I was also thinking that I might bring 2-3 of the next litter inside and bottle feed them. That way, if she is just a rotten mom, at least the kids will get to raise a couple of babies and have that experience (we homeschool).
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post #7 of 16
2/3/11 at 10:39am
Will you be keeping all the babies? If not, I wouldn't recommend breeding, especially if the babies won't be purebred. The rabbit overpopulation problem is BAD. Ask your local shelter how many rabbits they get in (probably more than you think), and how many get out alive (not many). Ask how many rabbits are dumped in the wild to die. Ask how many rabbits are put in a hutch in the backyard and forgotten about, totally neglected. What steps will you take to ensure that YOUR rabbits' offspring, and their offspring, and so on, don't end up in shelters or dumped outside or neglected? Finding decent pet homes for all the babies is nearly impossible. So unless you're willing to sell the bunnies as snake chow (and know that even if you do place them in pet homes, many will still end up as snake chow eventually), you may not be able to place them all.
http://www.rabbit.org/adoption/overpopulation.html
http://www.rabbit.org/adoption/why-not-to-breed.html

Also, bottle-raised bunnies (if they survive) frequently have terrible digestive problems. There's a certain bacteria in their mother's milk that helps them develop the proper digestive enzymes. I wouldn't recommend doing it by choice.

Also, are your rabbits siblings? Inbreeding is not a good thing. You may end up with physically or mentally disabled bunnies.

Just a few things to think about.
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post #8 of 16
2/3/11 at 11:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
Will you be keeping all the babies? If not, I wouldn't recommend breeding, especially if the babies won't be purebred. The rabbit overpopulation problem is BAD. Ask your local shelter how many rabbits they get in (probably more than you think), and how many get out alive (not many). Ask how many rabbits are dumped in the wild to die. Ask how many rabbits are put in a hutch in the backyard and forgotten about, totally neglected. What steps will you take to ensure that YOUR rabbits' offspring, and their offspring, and so on, don't end up in shelters or dumped outside or neglected? Finding decent pet homes for all the babies is nearly impossible. So unless you're willing to sell the bunnies as snake chow (and know that even if you do place them in pet homes, many will still end up as snake chow eventually), you may not be able to place them all.
http://www.rabbit.org/adoption/overpopulation.html
http://www.rabbit.org/adoption/why-not-to-breed.html

Also, bottle-raised bunnies (if they survive) frequently have terrible digestive problems. There's a certain bacteria in their mother's milk that helps them develop the proper digestive enzymes. I wouldn't recommend doing it by choice.

Also, are your rabbits siblings? Inbreeding is not a good thing. You may end up with physically or mentally disabled bunnies.

Just a few things to think about.


I don't suggest the breeding at all either.

Your idea of dividing up the litter "in case she is a rotten mom" does not sound very good either. It will stress her out if you take out some of her babies without due cause. You may intervene only if she is not feeding them.

Please think this through a little bit more.

It is a good idea to divide the housing for the chickens and rabbits. I've never heard of them sharing a hutch or indoor space before.
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post #9 of 16
2/3/11 at 12:58pm
I'm so sorry to hear that the babies died!!! I agree...you should think a lot about breeding them, unless you know you'll have takers for the litter or you plan on keeping them all it might not be the best idea.
I've got to say though, I giggled a little bit when I read your first post....finding out that they weren't the same sex. That happened to me with hamsters when I was a kid. My mom got up one morning and thought at first there were maggots in the cage. It was quite a mess!
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post #10 of 16
2/3/11 at 1:17pm
I was very excited to think we were going to see baby rabbits; then my heart fell when I read your update. I'm so sorry they all died. for all of the sweeties. I don't know anything about bunnies so I can't offer any advice. My heart goes out to you for your loss though. cheryl
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post #11 of 16
2/3/11 at 1:33pm
Oh no hun I am so sorry, I would only recommend breedin if you have homes already lined up, Rosie had 7 last time and to be honest it was a struggle to find homes for them, I kept one of them. Also please give mum rabbit chance to rest and recover if you are going to go ahead with it. I love bunnies and all mine are family, I have grandma, then her daughter and her baby and daddy, oh and the resident guinea pig suzie. I was totally shocked when she had 7 and they are so cute but honestly not many people want bunnies so look for homes before you breed unless you are going to keep them. Good luck, I really enjoyed havin my babies and I did cry when they did go.xx
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post #12 of 16
2/3/11 at 3:21pm
Thread Starter 
I will keep them all and the males will be seperated from the females. We have a 60 acre farm and LOTS of animals. Our chickens (only about 5) and rabbits have always shared their space and they are actually good friends. They even lay down together at times. It came about that we had a few injured chickens who were being pecked by the other chickens. As we had no other "infirmary" at the time, we put the chickens in with the bunnies because the bunnies won't peck them. Like I said...we have never had a problem and the bunnies get on with the hens great! Of course, the hens spend most of their time perched up high and the rabbits have run of the hay filled floor and their hiding nests The rabbit house is about 200sq ft - so it is not a small cage or anything. It is heated and cooled as well because one of my rabbits is an English Angora and it can not tolerate extreme heat in the summer.

I may re-think the bottle feeding if you think it will upset her...but it will upset my kids a lot to see another litter of dead rabbit babies too.

We are, however, going to move the chickens out of the rabbit house now. The chickens are the reason we had to move the babies in the first place. See...we thought we had 2 male bunnies so it never occurred to me that a litter of baby bunnies would be placed among a group of chickens. Knowing I have a male and a female rabbit changes things a bit.
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post #13 of 16
2/3/11 at 3:31pm
Thread Starter 
Just to answer your specific questions...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
Will you be keeping all the babies?
yes

Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
Also, bottle-raised bunnies (if they survive) frequently have terrible digestive problems. There's a certain bacteria in their mother's milk that helps them develop the proper digestive enzymes. I wouldn't recommend doing it by choice.
Good to know, thanks! I will rethink that then.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
Also, are your rabbits siblings? Inbreeding is not a good thing. You may end up with physically or mentally disabled bunnies.
No. They are not even the same breed. Boonie is an English Angora, Obie (the girl) is a HUGE French Lop. Babies will be a cute little mixed breed and will be kept here as pets. We spent lots of time in the rabbit house and try to provide the best for them short of them living inside our home. They are sweeties! The one thing we will have to be most careful about is sexing them. The babies will be caged until they can be properly sexed and seperated and then my dh is going to build a divider in the rabbit house to seperate male from female rabbits.
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post #14 of 16
2/3/11 at 3:43pm
I'm so sorry that the first litter died. I hope you will have more success with this next litter! It's great that you are keeping them all.
Once we had a possum living with a chicken in a coop, and they got along just fine.
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post #15 of 16
2/3/11 at 9:41pm
Thread Starter 
It is funny what can live with chickens. My hens are the most docile and sweet girls (Buff Orpingtons, Black Australorps, Silver Laced Wyandottes, Black Sexlinks, and one random rare breed from the hatchery. LOL). The Bunnies like having them for company. However, if a momma bunny is going to be having babies, she can't do that around chickens. The chickens will peck them to death. Chickens peck anything that is pink/red just by instinct. And it will stress the momma out constantly having to chase the chickens away from her babies.

I found a few great websites about bunnies and babies - we are going to try one more time and if this litter doesn't live, Boonie will be neutered and he and Obie can just be "friends." LOL
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post #16 of 16
2/3/11 at 11:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueRexBear View Post
No. They are not even the same breed. Boonie is an English Angora, Obie (the girl) is a HUGE French Lop. Babies will be a cute little mixed breed
Isn't that even more reason not to breed them? I know rabbits are fairly cheap to acquire (even pedigree bunnies) but they shouldn't be bred to create a mixed breed. No different to any other kind of breeding.
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