okay i logged online last night and was at your site all night reading about rabbits and breeding...my 9 yr old son has male and female rabbit...we put them together a while back...didn't seem to achieve any results that day...today i come home and there are baby rabbits on carport floor...mother is very tame..house broke...but lives in pen in garage...so hopefully my putting babies back in with her will be okay since she's used to my scent....i read to build 19x10x10 nesting box..did that and put babies in there....what now???????? that's my big question..mother seems totally disinterested in babies...BUT she hasn't stomped them to death or eaten them yet either....suggestions?tips?helpful info...plse plse plse...thank you so much

CLUELESS in Mississippi Rookie

-- S Thompson (sst@tecinfo.com), May 06, 2002

Answers

I know nothing about rabbits except what I have read here. I'd put the young in with her since that's their best bet for getting food. Move the pen indoors if possible and keep an eye on what's going on. I souldn't move the babies out until they begin to weaken from not eating or the mom is trying to hurt them. Again, I don't know much on the subject but this seems a logical course of action.

-- Erika (misserika129@hotmail.com), May 06, 2002.

Try a tiny bit of vanilla flavoring on the doe's nose and a bit on each kit, she may accept them with the scent. If not your only option for saving them is to feed them yourself. There are tiny bottles and formula available from your vet (or should be), or try your feed store. She may be ignoring them because of the scents on them, or she may be a bad mom. I wish you luck with them.

-- Deborah (bearwaoman@Yahoo.com), May 06, 2002.

Did the mother pull hair? if not then she doesn't have a clue about what she is supposed to do. If she is a pet maybe you could show her. You might try pulling some hair from her underside. just little bits at a time and putting it on the babies. It will put her scent on them and keep them warm. They will die quickly if not kept warm. You could put a hot pad on low under their box if mom doesn't take care of them. you will have to bottle feed them.You can get tiger milk at walmart. It is for feeding animals.I'm sorry but I don't know the proper mix. Maybe someone else does. If She is real tame maybe she will let you put the babies to her. Good luck!

-- corky wolf (corkywolf@hotmail.com), May 06, 2002.

awwwwwwwww thank you all so much...it's been 6 hrs since i put the babies back in with the mother...in that new nesting box i made EVER so fast. She is about half naked underneath...and I almost faint every time she licks a baby...but thus far all is well and she hasn't eaten them or stomped them..have no clue if she's fed them..I've brought the entire cage in and have them in a room alone with door shut..other than when the proud grandpa (my 9 yr old son) brings another crew of buddies to "CHECK EM OUT!"...and yes she is very tame and since this is her first set of babies she's not doing half bad..now TOMORROW I may get up and post to you guys the babes are GONE...but i sure hope not...thank you again

-- S Thompson (sst@tecinfo.com), May 06, 2002.

They usually only feed twice a day, early morning and late night so you may not see her feeding them. If she is naked and cleaning them, I bet all is well. I keep saying this and know not everyone agrees, but I give a couple of kibbles of hairball formular cat food for extra protein and they look for it and I no longer have any eaten babies.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), May 06, 2002.

Here is the addy of a Rabbit site just for the fuzzy ones. They can help you with this. http://www.beaglesunlimited.com/rabbitraising_conceptiontoweaning.htm Good luck with them, LQ

-- Little Quacker in OR (carouselxing@juno.com), May 06, 2002.

Yes, PLEASE don't worry about it if you don't see her nursing the kits. They only nurst twice a day, and only for a short time then! It won't hurt a thing for you to handle the babies daily to make sure they are doing well. If they are warm and wiggly and have nice full bellies, then you have nothing whatsoever to worry about.

-- Cheryl in KS (klingonbunny@planetkc.com), May 06, 2002.

Yeah, and I taught my son that if they are jumping like feeding fishies when you touch them they are FINE. (They really will put you in mind of jumping fish looking for food when you touch them).

-- Gailann Schrader (gtschrader@aol.com), May 07, 2002.

update...we had one baby die (sad, very sad) but the other three seem to be doing really well...Momma Rabbit is still pulling fur and yes the babies wiggly but I haven't touched them since putting them in nesting box...and by postings it appears it's okay we do that...the mother is of course used to Michael and I and our scent...Michael will be absolutely delighted when he returns from school that he can hold one of his babies...you all are wonderful and thanks for the advise and helping calm us...thanks again

-- S Thompson (sst@tecinfo.com), May 08, 2002.

Hi, I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to check the forum until today. I raise rabbits, mostly Angoras for the fur.

Mamas usually only feed twice per day. If the little ones seem to have little round tummies they are eating fine. I wouldn't handle them too much the first week. Wait until they start getting their baby fur and then handle them a little every day so they will be tame. But do check the nest every day to make certain no more day. If they do, take them out away from the others. best wishes. Suzy in Bama

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), May 08, 2002.