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Original poster

Adopted 2 rabbits and both have had babies! Urgent advice needed

66 replies

twinkle36 · 20/05/2023 18:16

Just looking for some advice on the best thing to do with my rabbits.
Adopted 2 female 11 month old rabbits a couple of weeks ago. They are strongly bonded and live together. Both have been settling in brilliantly and I am spending lots of time with them. Went down to the hutch one morning after a couple of days of having them and to my surprise one of them had given birth to 7 kits.
I went to check on them yesterday morning and my other female has also given birth to 8 kits.
My concern is that they have both had their kits in the same area just opposite each other and also seemed to have swapped babies.
Now I'm absolutely beside myself that not all of them will be being fed. There is around 5 in one nest at the front and the rest are just opposite them at the back. I am getting a new house for the Mother bunny 1 and their kits when their old enough to move without adding too much stress but not sure when I can do this as their eyes aren't open yet.
Sorry for the long post I just want to make sure I am doing everything I possibly can for them

OP posts:
Pinkbonbon · 21/05/2023 13:58

They won't start reproducing at 9 weeks lmao.

Also, disagree that they are 'unlikely to survive'.
If they make it past birth and the first few days it's not common for them to die. Apart from sometimes if there's what you call a peanut. Which is a tiny baby that has genes that mean it just can't live long.

If one dies this young...mum usually eats it. Sorry xD

Tbh you can probably touch a little if you feel you have too (eg: removing bloody bedding - though mostly mums are good at this), just make sure mum is watching so she knows it's just you checking, not a predator. Let her smell you first so she knows it's just your smell on them. Talk to her throughout and back off if she's not calm.

I've never really been sure the whole 'they eat their babies' if you touch them thing holds water tbh. But I've had 4 litters over the years and just tried to leave be, just incase.

At least till the fur comes...then they're just too cute to resist haha.

baklavagoddess · 21/05/2023 14:04

My bunnies did this! I handled the babies daily, just to check they all had full tummies and looked healthy, mum trusted me, I would rub my hands on the bedding and her fur before touching them, I used to feed her a yummy treat so she was distracted, my bun only had 4 kits tho! Good luck op I'm sure they will all be fine

Wolfiefan · 21/05/2023 14:05

If you adopted them I would contact the rescue ASAP for advice.

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70isaLimitNotaTarget · 21/05/2023 14:39

Wolfiefan · 21/05/2023 14:05

If you adopted them I would contact the rescue ASAP for advice.

Most likely not from a proper rescue , they'd have spayed them. (and recommended a M/F pair)
Might be 'rescue' as in taken from someone who had a load of rabbits and unfortunately by the sounds of it let the buck/s and does roam together .

This might not be these bunnies first litters , they are quite big numbers .Sad

I will wager there's loads of rabbit owners who know someone or friend of a friend with rabbits and they are offered some (free or cheap) but they haven't been neutered or vaccinated . And they'll take them because they reckon "I can give them a better home " which often is the case if they read up on the complex care of rabbits .

Sadly this just leaves a vacuum which gets filled by another litter at the original owners .

You have no idea how hard I had to sit on my hands when I saw a Gumtree advert where someone had two guinea-pigs living on their balcony in a flimsy hutch (near me so I knew it was wild weather)
Or one man posting that his kids guinea-pigs "needed gone" and lived in a 4x2 cage (not hutch) with a big bag on top . 3 boars Sad

EmpressMoo · 21/05/2023 15:15

The small breeds can reach sexual maturity at 3-4 months, @Pinkbonbon. We had a surprise litter from a fostered bunny who was only 4 months. Even the vet didn't realise she was pregnant when she was in labour! Probably because we'd had her for a month and had bonded her with a neutered male so it seemed unlikely... She must have conceived the day we took her in.

Pinkbonbon · 21/05/2023 15:32

Oh absolutely wise to split them by 12 weeks as a 'just incase' if they are still together but no need at 9 weeks imo (not to say you might not want to anyway if they are driving eachother nuts of course).

Also, often places get the ages of the bunnies wrong anyway so it can be hard to know how old the rabbits are when you get them. Maybe they were older than initially thought.

At least op will be able to work things out exactly.

The problem with so many of the places is they struggle to sex them so they put boys and girls together accidentally.

EmpressMoo · 21/05/2023 15:58

True, Pinkbonbon, it isn't always easy to tell, we fostered a girl who turned out to be a boy 😂

Pinkbonbon · 21/05/2023 18:04

I think they should probably write 'we suspect its gender is...' anywhere they have bunnies tbh because they pretty much never are what they think xD

Even vets don't seem to have a clue. We had 6 females once and the vet told us they were all male.

Wolfiefan · 21/05/2023 18:22

@70isaLimitNotaTarget That is heartbreaking. We had bunnies growing up but they aren’t the easy/very low maintenance pets that some people think they are.

EmpressMoo · 21/05/2023 18:53

LOL Pinkbonbon.

Actually, the vets we use is a teaching animal hospital and they do have a third "unsure" tick box for unneutered rabbit sex because so many people get it wrong, as was explained by a lovely student who was taking a history for one of our foster bunnies who was going in to be neutered. The vet took one look from across the room and confirmed that she could clearly see he was most definitely a boy without any need for further examination😂

Rabbits are "exotics" though so many vets will have had little training in treating rabbits unless they have a specialist qualification.

FreezyWater · 21/05/2023 20:27

No idea about rabbits but here for bunny pictures!

oakleaffy · 21/05/2023 23:00

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 21/05/2023 14:39

Most likely not from a proper rescue , they'd have spayed them. (and recommended a M/F pair)
Might be 'rescue' as in taken from someone who had a load of rabbits and unfortunately by the sounds of it let the buck/s and does roam together .

This might not be these bunnies first litters , they are quite big numbers .Sad

I will wager there's loads of rabbit owners who know someone or friend of a friend with rabbits and they are offered some (free or cheap) but they haven't been neutered or vaccinated . And they'll take them because they reckon "I can give them a better home " which often is the case if they read up on the complex care of rabbits .

Sadly this just leaves a vacuum which gets filled by another litter at the original owners .

You have no idea how hard I had to sit on my hands when I saw a Gumtree advert where someone had two guinea-pigs living on their balcony in a flimsy hutch (near me so I knew it was wild weather)
Or one man posting that his kids guinea-pigs "needed gone" and lived in a 4x2 cage (not hutch) with a big bag on top . 3 boars Sad

Show quote history

Urgh..I totally get how you must feel.

That grammatically jarring '''Need gone'' is infinitely worse when about a living thing , living in an unsuitable environment.

I saw an animal ad in error {Was stupid enough to look at google images} and the poor tiny girl with furrowed brow pulled my heartstrings.

Rabbits and guinea pigs need a lot of care that too many people get fed up with.

People abandon domesticated rabbits on farmland and woodland, thinking it will live a happy life now the kids are bored of it, and bunny doesn't like to be hugged, and kicks the kids {&c}
But domestic bunnies haven't the capacity to live in the wild.

Yellowdays · 21/05/2023 23:35

Don't bother taking pictures for people. You may put the babies at risk and it isn't worth it. Just leave them be.

Pinkbonbon · 21/05/2023 23:44

They're odd looking hairless things when first born anyway. For week or so. I remember being a kid and showing the neighbour kid a litter my rabbit had had like 'aren't they adorable!' And she goes 'eww no, they look like mice'. Cow. Lol.

SD1978 · 22/05/2023 00:00

It's like every parking thread......pics please......GrinGrin

oakleaffy · 22/05/2023 00:05

Yellowdays · 21/05/2023 23:35

Don't bother taking pictures for people. You may put the babies at risk and it isn't worth it. Just leave them be.

Agreed..If people want to see what newborn hairless rabbits look like, Google them.

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