A lil surprise this morning!

[MimiMaryland]

I went downstairs this morning and found hair in my rabbits pet condo.  I knew what had happened since I had rabbits in high school.  However, I mistakenly thought my rabbits were too young to reproduce at 5 months.  Guess I was in denial. Polly had given birth to 5 kits.  I checked on the babies and they all are the same weight, and are thriving!

I immediately separated the parents and put Eddie in a single crate on top of the condo they live in to try and ease their separation. Eddie has an appointment to have a lil nip procedure Thursday.  

I cleaned the crate and the rabbits feeding basket inside the crate I use to contain their pooping everywhere.  This is also where Polly decided to give birth.  I cleaned it since it has poop in it too.  I found a small plastic basket and lined it with her hair, shredded newspaper and Timothy hay and placed it next to the feeding basket.  I did not make a nesting box because I thought this would do, please let me know if I am wrong and need a box instead?  The rabbits live inside and are in the family room next to a cracked window for a lil ventilation and fresh air.

The funny thing is besides the shock of finding baby rabbits in the crate, I was actually more concerned about telling my daughters (11 and 14 that their pets are parents now).  Oh well, talk about “The birds and the bees” or the rabbits talk. 

[MoveDiagonally]

We ask that members not post pictures of their accidental litters on the forums unless it relates to a health or behavior question. The reason for this is that it draws people to our site, via the search engines, to the subject of babies and many times breeding (even though it was accidental). Which we are not equipped to handle as a house rabbit community. Please do not take this as we don’t want to help you through this or offer advice about any issues you may have! We have some long time members that have gone through this very same thing.

I would also like to warn you about putting your male back with your female after he’s neutered. He will still have viable sperm for 30 days after the surgery and can re-impregnate her at any point during that time so it’s important that he have zero contact with her during that time (even through cages). He also might not “recognize his babies” and hurt them or an over protective mother could hurt him. By 12 weeks you will want separate the babies by gender from their mom and each other to avoid further breeding. This is still risky as gender because it’s sometimes hard to tell gender and your best bet is to have a vet do the determination. You can separate from mom/start re homing them at about 8 weeks.

All that said, the HRS has an article that you might find helpful:
http://www.rabbit.org/care/babies.html

Hopefully members with more experience in this area will offer you some tips and advice. Best of luck with all your rabbits and talking to your kids. I know that can’t be an easy conversation to have!

[MimiMaryland]

I understand. I must have missed those instructions when I read the Forum rules. Yes, I did read that I am not to put the rabbits together for that period of time after he has been neutered.

On a side note, while I can appreciate your advice, I felt a more positive opening response would have been better. People do not always know these things coming to a forum and I have to care for these rabbits and your negativity did not give me encouragement or support in this situation. I did not expect a lashing coming to the forum that is about rabbits and their owners.

[LBJ10]

I’m sorry you feel offended by what MD said. I don’t think she meant to sound harsh or anything. That is a huge problem with written words on a forum, it is difficult to interpret the tone of what is being said. Hopefully this won’t prevent you from staying. We all want to help you and your bunnies. Roberta is an example of a long time member who is experienced with oops (actually double oops) litters. I’m sure she can offer some good advice.

For your question, I don’t think moving them into a box would hurt anything. It might help them stay warmer since it looked like they were sort of out in the open (I saw the pic). Mama should be able to find them there. I would just be careful because she might feel protective if you’re messing with them while she’s in the cage.

[Sarita]

There is no need to be offended by MD’s response – she just copied and pasted the rules from the Forum Guidelines and Rules – that’s all.

We are definitely here to help you in anyway we can. Accidents do happen.

Mama will definitely make sure the babies are warm and the box is a good idea – baby bunnies need warmth to digest their milk.

[MoveDiagonally]

MimiMaryland – I feel like this might be a case of tone not transferring via text. I did not mean to come across overly negative towards you or your situation. I understand that people do not always know these things which is why I felt like I should mention them. Please understand that as a Forum Leader I have to remind members of rules but nothing I said was meant to be any kind lashing. As Sarita said, most of what I said was copy and pasted from the forum rules.

I really do wish you and your bunnies the best. Hopefully we can move past this miss communication

[MimiMaryland]

No problem, it’s been a day of adjustments for the whole household, but the babies and their mommy are doing well. 

[Beka27]

Yikes! I hope they continue to thrive… And hopefully she wasn’t impregnated again before you separated them. 🙁 I guess you’ll know in about a month.

You mention that you had rabbits in high school. Did you breed then? If so, I’m sure you’re well-equipped to deal with this surprise, but if you encounter any issues, we *may* be able to help, although baby bunnies really are not our specialty here.

[Deleted User]

Congratulations!!!!!!! So, does that make you a (2nd) mum or a grandma??? Ha ha ha…. Wishing you and your babies all the best.

[Roberta]

Hi Mimi, I have walked the miles in your shoes and have been in post litter denial..
Firstly you may not have separated them fast enough.. The little blighters can get pregnant again immediately, you would have to be very unlucky for it to happen in a short space of time but it can happen… I was also unaware of the 30 need for separation and got sabotaged by misinformation telling me it was ok to reunite after 7-10 days and as Piglet was desexed a week before the litter arrived I only separated them for an additional week or so. Needless to say Oops Litter II.
I think a covered box is best for the first few days at least if you are in a cold climate (bubs must be warm or they will be unable to feed/check tummies for roundness and fullness in the mornings) but it will need to be high enough that Mummy bun can stand over the kits as they do not feed them lying down.. I used an old box a set of martini glasses came in and it was perfect then there was the bunmahal for the second litter. (Both oops litters nearly drove me to alcohol and anxiety medication/Just totally unprepared)

Below is a pic of Piglet road testing the emergency kindle box for Pepper..

[MimiMaryland]

Beka,

Lol, no I’m from Tennessee originally and my parents had purchased the rabbits, I just took care of them,  not focussed enough at the time to remember everything about it though.  And yes, I am on pins and needles about a second package, hopefully I separated them in time.  

I do have a couple of questions that I could not find answers to on the web.   I assume the mommy should be left alone, but shouldn’t I allow her out of the crate for exercise in the house and so she’s not crated up all day, and if so how long should I wait before allowing her out if I should wait at all?  Also, can the kids play with her after a while?  She is a pet but my instinct says no, not right now since she’s also a mom now. But again, what is the waiting time here again before she can return to her routine of leaving the crate?

Any advise would be great, thanks.

[MimiMaryland]

Roberta, 

Yes, it is my fear that this has already happened, i slipped that lil niblet of information to my husband when he returned home from work.  Him being a man of humor that he is, asked our 11 year old did she talk to her pet Eddie. 

I checked on the babies this morning and they are doing well and are thriving, wiggling around and making their noise. They are in the lower level of the condo crate so I want to be sure mommy can get to the easily.  Here is a pic of their home.  Polly is awaiting her morning treats, Eddie is in a separate crate on top.

P.S. Your lil bunny is adorable!

  

[Roberta]

Mum is going to pretty much ignore them most of the time till they are mobile… She will only feed them once or twice a day, usually late night or early morning. I let Pepper out immediately so she could have some down time out of the crate.. Pepper wasn’t overly protective of the first litter but they were fed well and thrived so I knew she was doing her job. The second litter it was safe for Piglet to stay with her as he was well and truly past the 30 day mark and had been in with the other buns for several weeks… He loved them, he still does as I kept 3. I know some male buns don’t do well but Piglet was extraordinary and comforted Pepper when she was in labor, kept the babies entertained and when two of them fell from the nest one time I came home to find him flopped with a baby under his chin and another curled up against his tummy. I don’t know how long Piglet stayed there keeping them warm waiting for me to come home and put them back in the nest. Pepper was fine with the babies being handled by me but she might get a bit stressed if the kids get to close even though they mean well, so allow her some exercise but don’t encroach on her area too much… Pepper would still get up on the day bed with me for a cuddle but I don’t know if that was affection or a way to avoid the first litter which were 6 weeks old when the others arrived.

[Beka27]

Oh Roberta… I don’t think I ever heard that story about Piglet keeping the babies warm. That’s amazing…

Currently, Roberta is the member who probably has the most experience with this so I don’t really have too much to add. It is going to be very important that mama bun can come and go, get her exercise and get a break from the babies.

Is there a different location you can put daddy bun so he can come and go from his cage for exercise, or are you taking him to a different area to play?

[MimiMaryland]

Roberta,

Thank you so much for giving me the insight on what happened after your rabbit babies were born and that you did let mommy out right away for exercise.  This is the information I really needed to know to help me properly take care of them right now.  I just took Polly out and she is happily in the kitchen where there is tile floor.  

Beka,

I had read that the rabbit parents need to be near each other so this is why I placed him above them to ease the separation.  I just put Eddie in the power room, which is where I normally put them for long periods of time with a pet gate up since they still like to poop and pee in the house at will. Lol

Thank you both!

[Author]

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