What to do after a rabbit gives birth?

Answer 1

You can usually tell a rabbit is about to give birth because she will start pulling her hair out to make a nest. You should have provided her with a nesting box. Something that gives her enough room to lay on her side and nurse the babies. Soft hay is preferable bedding and there is usually a slight edge at the entrance where the doe can hop in but will keep the babies inside until they are big enough to start hopping. (You don't want the little blind ones crawling off somewhere.) Give mom access to plenty of water and food and a place where she can get out of the nesting box for breaks. When the babies start opening their eyes and hopping around, let them have access to dry food and water and they will start to eat some and continue to nurse until gradually mom will decide to wean them.

Answer 2:You need to make sure that all the kits are alive. Tap the nestbox, they will think their mother is coming in and will start to squirm. The ones that do not move will probably be dead, pick them up just to be sure. If they are dead you will want to dispose of the body. Also take away all the bloody fur and straw. Within 10 days they will begin to open their eyes. You will need to make sure that they all open and aren't stuck together. You can get a wet rag and try to spread them apart. By two weeks old they will be fully furred. By 6 weeks it will be time to wean them (take them away from their mother.) See the related link below for more info.

Answer 2

Step 1. Separate the parent rabbits so that the male can see/hear/interact with his mate, but not mate with her.

• Keep the male nearby and able to nuzzle his mate through a physical barrier, if possible. Rabbits form very strong bonds with their mates, and separation can not only create unwanted stress and sadness for the rabbits, but also make it difficult to reintroduce the parents once they are spayed/neutered. Be sure the mother and father are able to interact, though they must not be allowed to mate again. Rabbits are "induced ovulators": the very act of mating induces ovulation, and makes pregnancy almost assured.
• You're separating the father from the mother not because he might harm the babies (many rabbit fathers are very gentle and loving with baby rabbits), but because he can impregnate the mother again within hours after the birth. Because rabbit gestation is only 28 - 31 days, this means she'll give birth again before her first litter is weaned. It doesn't take much math to figure out that this is not good for the mother's health, nor that of either of her litters!

Step 2. Provide the mother and her babies with a quiet, sheltered place where they will not be disturbed. A seldom-used bathroom with a darkened corner for the nest box is ideal. If mama has pulled her fur, it's because she is planning to use it to line the nest. If she hasn't made the nest yet, you can do it for her, and then place the babies in the nest. If mama has already made a nest, then leave it intact, and simply move it to the nest box. A covered litter-box (the type used for cats) makes a good nest box. It should be lined with a towel on the bottom (but make sure the towel has no loose strings or holes, since babies can get tangled and strangled!) topped with a layer of soft hay or straw. The babies in their nest should be placed on top of the hay. Make sure mama sees where her babies are, and then let her choose what to do. The box should be high enough so that the babies can't crawl out, but low enough to allow mama to easily hop in to nurse and hop out when she wants to get away. The mother may only feed her babies twice a day then "ignore" them but this is perfectly natural. She is just following her natural instinct of separating herself from her young to protect them from predators. If the babies are warm and wiggly, and their bellies are round, you should not interfere. Bottle feeding almost invariably does more harm than good! If the babies seem cold, shrunken, lethargic, and are more bluish than a healthy, pink color, mama might not be feeding them. Only then should you consider what to do about feeding an orphaned litter.

Step 3. Check the national House Rabbit Society web site's veterinarian referral listings, find a rabbit-experienced vet near you, and set up an appointment to have papa neutered ASAP.The sooner he's neutered, the sooner he'll be healed and ready to rejoin his family.Be sure to keep papa separated from mama until there's no further danger of pregnancy: viable sperm can live in his internal reproductive tubes for three weeks (some vets believe it may be even longer!).

Step 4. Make sure mama has a varied bounty of unlimited food and water.Feed mama unlimited pellets, leafy green vegetables and grass hay, and be sure she always has a plentiful supply of clean, fresh water. The babies will begin to nibble at solid food as early as two weeks of age. However, they must not be weaned for a full eight weeks after birth. As rabbits begin to wean (between the ages of four to five weeks), they begin to ingest bacteria that will eventually become part of their normal gut "flora." At the same time, the pH of the intestine is changing, and the babies are ingesting many potentially harmful bacteria. The mother's milk is designed to provide the babies with antibodies to kill pathogens (disease-causing agents) they ingest, and its pH changes as the babies get older. It is perfectly balanced to allow safe weaning. Babies who are weaned younger than 8 weeks suffer a very high risk of enteritis (inflammation of the intestinal lining, resulting in fatal diarrhea), especially when stressed (as by the separation from family and introduction into a new home!). Don't subject the babies to an early death simply because they are "cute" at four weeks, and more appealing to potential adopters. A serious adopter will not mind waiting until the baby is fully weaned and ready to start life away from mama.

Step 5. Give mama a few weeks to recover from nursing once the babies are weaned, and then have her spayed by a competent rabbit vet. Bring the father along for the ride, since the shared stress of hospitalization will help seal their bond and make it easier to reintroduce them at home. Spayed/neutered rabbits live longer, healthier lives, and can live together in snuggling bliss without the risk of unwanted litters or the constant stress of sexual frustration if only one is neutered or spayed. Unspayed, unbred female rabbits have a very high risk of uterine/ovarian cancers, so even though papa is neutered, it is best to have mama spayed, too. Just give her plenty of time to recover after the babies are weaned. Depending on breed, rabbits reach sexual maturity at the age of 3-5 months (males) or 5-8 months (females). Even before this time, however, some will begin to exert their more dominant personalities, and will fight with their litter-mates. When fighting starts, it's time to spay/neuter. Males can be neutered as soon as the testicles descend (usually at the age of 3-4 months). Females can be spayed as young as five months of age.

Answer 3

If its wild you should not touch it if you already have then feed it cats milk from a seringe with the needle taken out.I have found baby bunnies in my yard and we did a test to see if the mother ws feeding them and she wasnt so we fed them cats milk then gave them to animal rescue.But if its a pet you should let the mother take care of them and if she neglets one of them tell your vet or try to siringe feed it.

HOPE THIS HELPS! :)

Answer 4

Well you can touch them definitely rabbits are already used to our smell. After you wean them at 8 weeks reduce the your does food of she could get mastitis. Mastitis is where their milk is caked up. Keep your lines within the same lines or you risk lots of problems with kits. If your rabbit gets a runt AKA a peanut it is half the size of your average kit in dwarfs there is also have a max factor it is where the kit is completely messed up and a hippo baby all of these will have a sad life rarely does a peanut live it will not feed you can feed it alone but eventually he will die. Hares and jackrabbits are not a lagomorph they are a genus hares less than one year old are called leverets they have there babies and they come with eyes open filled with fur. Lagomorpha is a family of rabbit like animals and rabbits Hares and rabbits cannot breed.

Answer 5

make sure there in a safe place like in a big cage inside.

Also provide her with enough food and water so she can feed her kits.

Answer 6

Let the mother care for it, leave the new family in a room where they will not be disturbed, and check your local library for more books on taking care of a new family of bunnies.

Answer 7

First separate the male from the kits (he will eat them) then leave the mother and kits alone, if she feels threatened she will not feed them and the kits will die.