Ok, So I need help With prego bunny - First timer *HELP post 25**

[Goat_Walker]

So My mutt buck got in with my Mutt doe and Now Im pretty sre she is prego thanks to fellow BYCers on here.

My question - What do i do now?

Ive had baby Hamsters, Pups, Ducklings, fish, but not bunnies.

So what do I do for my Doe? What do I look for? Im getting her a wooden nesting box for her soon.

Any and all advice is appriciated!

 

[ack123]

There is not really much you need to do. Give her her normal feed ration(whatever she will clean up in a day). Make sure she has her own cage to herself that she can't escape from. Get her a nice nesting box to have them in. You will also need straw bedding for her to make the nest it. put the nest box in the cage at about 25-28 days. You will also want to make sure the cage is in a place where there are no drafts. Like inside the house, or a shed, because can very easily get cold and freeze. Even if they are covered in fur. There is also a good chance she may lose them if this is her first litter. Don't be disappointed if she does. Its natural for some does to do that. Glad you are asking plenty of questions about it, instead of just letting her go.

 

[Teach97]

when is yours due? I am putting the box in for my doe today! Should have babies this weekend

 

[Goat_Walker]

My buck got her on Tuesday, So I just have to wait i guess. She is a house bunny, as are the other four, i just had them out in corrals in the back yard the other day since it was so nice out

 

[Anny]

First thing you should do, which I'm sure you allready did is take the male out of the females cage. Not so much because he will hurt the babies but because Mama bunny can become pregnant again within just a few hours after she gives birth! This is BAD! And very stressful on the rabbits body.

A rabbits gestation is only 28 - 31 days. Not very long at all.

Feed mama unlimited pellets, leafy green vegetables and grass hay, and be sure she always has lots of clean, fresh water.

Provide the mama a nice quiet spot where she will not be bothered ( the wooden box should be great for that) make sure the rabbit is not near any dogs or anything that might stress her as well.

Rabbits appear to make kind of poor moms, but that's just what they do. The babies will probly only nurse about 1-2 times a day and the mom may ignore them the rest of the time (this is normal!) This does not mean that she has abandoned them. She is merely following her instinct to stay away from the nest to avoid drawing the attention of predators.


The babies will begin to nibble at solid food as soon as two weeks of age. However, they must not be weaned for moms for a FULL EIGHT WEEKS AFTER BIRTH!

Depending on breed, rabbits reach sexual maturity at the age of 3-5 months (males) or 5-8 months (females). So make sure to separate the babies when you wean them to avoid another litter.

You could also consider having the male rabbit neutered in the future if you want. this will help him live a longer life and avoid any other "oops litter"

 

[tinytreats]

Im acctually a Breeder, Here are some tips -

Make sure you have a nestbox in her cage roughly 25 days after she was bred,
Give her Lots of hay in the nest box. If you see fur in there after 28-30 days (from the day she was bred) Its ok, she's making a nest so her babies stay warm. If she doesn't pull fur within a day of her giving birth you can pull some off her belly. She may grunt at you when you go to check on the babies . Don't Worry she's just protecting them. she Should feed them every 12 hours or so if not then you need a foster mom for them , try to contact a Breeder in your area. If one of the babies feels Extremely Skinny you can give it a small ammount of Pineapple juice (Fresh) No more than 12 mm , and some Yogurt (plain) . She only had 6 teets (unless she is a large breed) so if she has more kits than that you may need to find a foster mom for some of them. you cannot separate the babies from the momma until there at Least 6-8 weeks old. at 1-2 weeks old they will open there eyes, and at 3 weeks you can tell if there male or female -

Flip the baby over , Pull the bottom open gently and Push down gently . If you see a Slit it is a Girl (But check multiple times, we have had bucks that looked a whole lot like does in the past ) if it is just a Dot it is a buck.

Hope this helps

 

[Goat_Walker]

Just to clarify -

All my rabbits are in seperat cages. Its just that I took them all out in the backyard since it was a nice day out, each in their own corrals so they could nibble on the greens and such. Its just that I guess my one buck was really determined and Hopped over the corral into hers. I have three bucks and two does in the house, and all but two are rescues.


She is in my sisters room ( the other four are in my room anyway, my sister likes the least amout of stuff in her room as possible ) , and we are keeping the gate up, because even though she is used to playing with the dogs and climbing all over them I dont want her temperment to become territorial towards them.

Can I still feed her carrots and such? She is a large rabbit, about 6 - 8 lbs id say.

She gets a Bowl full of pellets, fresh water, lettuce and carrots every day anyway, thats what all the rabbits in the house get. What else can I feed her besides that? We have apples, grapes, raw carrots, and lettuce stored in teh fridge all the time anyway. We also have assorted nuts like almonds and stuff but im not sure if those would be good for her.

 

[ack123]

don't self feed the doe. it will only make her overweight and you take chances of her having problems having the babies. It will cause some fat buildup in her reproductive system and you don't want that. It can also cause her to retain her litter. You don't want that either because you could end up with a nice vet bill from it to enduce labor. Just give her what she normally cleans up in a day, plus good hay. veggies are not nutritionally necessary, so she won't need them. plus they can cause some pretty severe health issues if she is not used to eating them.

 

[ack123]

Quote:
All she will need is the pellets and hay. Nothing else. Limit her pellet intake to what she will clean up in day. Which should be about a cup for a 6-8 eight pound rabbit. Otherwise as I stated above, you take chances of having problems. she will not need anything else. Keep the dogs away from her when she has her babies. Having predators around her may stress her into eating them.

 

[ack123]

Quote:
Rabbits open their eyes at ten days. Not one to two weeks. Most also have eight tits and can nurse a litter of up to eight babies(or more depending on the doe). circle if its a buck, a slit of its a doe.