Accidental Litter… Help!

[TiannaRae]

So I got my bunny, Paisley, about 5 days ago and just yesterday discovered she had given birth! She has made a nest with some fleeces as well as a lot of her fur (which I had just chalked up to a false pregnancy… I was wrong) in a hut/box that actually seems to work well for this purpose. Not sure exactly how many babies there are, the nest is pretty substantial. Mom seems to be doing really well. I called the vet for advice as soon as I heard, as well as read as many threads on accidental litters as possible. I think now I know partially what I’m doing but I have a few questions. First of all, can they have parsley while nursing? Second, should I be giving her unlimited pellets? The vet said to give her more pellets than usual, and to feed her more veggies. Also, do I have to clean out the nest every once in a while to make sure it’s dry etc? How would I do that? I have so many questions… any advice is welcome.

[jerseygirl]

Wow, you have your hands full after only having had your rabbit for a short time!
It’s great she built a good nest. Do count the babies at some point so you can check each day that they are all in the nest. Some might wriggle out or even stay latched to a teat and accidently go out when the mum hops out. It’s okay to handle domestic baby rabbits.

To answer your qu’s Im just copy/pasting an excerpt from some good resource pages. Click on the link if you’d like to read them in full.

First of all, can they have parsley while nursing? Second, should I be giving her unlimited pellets?

Im not sure what the concern is around parsley. Had you heard it should be avoided for nursing Mums? Im not aware of anything like that. It can be a strong diurectic so make sure she has plenty water available, but if she is used to a bit of parsley, it wouldn’t hurt for her to continue to have it.

Feed mama unlimited pellets, leafy green vegetables and grass hay, and be sure she always has a plentiful supply of clean, fresh water. http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/surpriselitter.html

Preferably alfalfa based pellets as they are higher protein, which she needs to produce the milk.

Also, do I have to clean out the nest every once in a while to make sure it’s dry etc?

The straw/hay should be removed and replaced every three or four days as it may become soaked in urine. This is done by taking the babies out of the box, removing and later replacing most of the clean fur, and changing the rest of the bedding and lining the box with clean bedding.
http://rabbit.org/domestic-baby-bunnies-and-their-mom/

If it is a large litter, it could become soiled quicker and might need to be refreshed sooner. You’ll get to know as they grow.
Some of the babies may need help stimulating the bladder at first. The mother normally does this by grooming the bottom, but caretakers can do this also, using a q-tip and some warm water. If you can, retain as much of the nest that is unsoiled as you can. Or rebuild using fur saved.

[TiannaRae]

Thank you for that link and your answers I had heard somewhere online that parsley wasn’t good for nursing rabbits, but only from one source so I wasn’t sure how accurate that was. I’m currently feeding her Timothy hay based pellets… should I do a gradual switch to alfalfa? Or does she need alfalfa based pellets asap? Also, the nest currently consists of some smaller fleece blankies and fur. Is that okay? When I take the babies out to tidy up the nest, where do I put them? Also, is mama bun going to be mad that I messed up her nest? She’s super friendly and already seems fairly comfortable around me, but I don’t want to stress her out too much.

[TiannaRae]

Also, quick update. Looks like there’s 6 babies. All appear to be healthy. Also, some of them are a bit of a dark black/brown colour. That’s just their future fur colour, correct? The mama is a chocolate brown colour.

[jerseygirl]

Posted By TiannaRae on 4/22/2018 10:38 AM

Thank you for that link and your answers I had heard somewhere online that parsley wasn’t good for nursing rabbits, but only from one source so I wasn’t sure how accurate that was. I’m currently feeding her Timothy hay based pellets… should I do a gradual switch to alfalfa? Or does she need alfalfa based pellets asap? Also, the nest currently consists of some smaller fleece blankies and fur. Is that okay? When I take the babies out to tidy up the nest, where do I put them? Also, is mama bun going to be mad that I messed up her nest? She’s super friendly and already seems fairly comfortable around me, but I don’t want to stress her out too much.

You could start to mix in an alfalfa pellet or just add alfalfa hay to her hay supply. The babies will be eating alfalfa pellets and hay before long also. 

You could put some more fleece in a shoebox and put the babies in there while you tend to the nest. The fleece in the nest is probably doing a good job of wicking away moisture. You could even use a puppy pad under the fleece if Paisley is not one to try eat anything like that. 

Is she spending much time near the nest?  Typically, rabbits only visit the nest for feeding, but when my Maple (RIP) had her baby bun, she was quite attentive. She didn’t fuss too much when I cleared out some stuff, but she was often close by, watching. Lol. It sounds as Paisley won’t be too bothered either. You can always do this while she is distracted with some yummy greens.

[jerseygirl]

Posted By TiannaRae on 4/22/2018 12:03 PM

Also, quick update. Looks like there’s 6 babies. All appear to be healthy. Also, some of them are a bit of a dark black/brown colour. That’s just their future fur colour, correct? The mama is a chocolate brown colour.

I would say so.  

[TiannaRae]

I tidied up the nest this morning and replaced the fleece and added back the fur etc. There are actually 7 babies and they seem to all be fairly healthy. Mama bun is quite attentive and spends a fair bit of time keeping an eye on the nest. When I was looking at the nest, she was gently head butting me for a little bit but then went to eat some food and then flopped, so I’m assuming she wasn’t upset. I also have started switching her pellets to alfalfa ones, and she’s been eating a lot of them. Paisley hasn’t been eating as much hay though… is that normal? She’s eating and drinking well, just not a lot of hay. Also, just switching the pellets to alfalfa is fine, right? Do I have to switch the hay too?

I also noticed that the babies are moving around a whole lot more. They’re still in the nest, but some have started moving a little bit farther from the rest and are exploring a few inches away. Is this alright? Should I be trying to keep them all close together?

[Azerane]

It is best if you cam keep the babies together. For now a cardboard box will do but a plastic tote or tub works well too. Pop a fleece or some bedding along with the nest and babies in it. The box should be big enough for mum to get in and turn around easily but not so big that the babies become easily separates. The raised sides will stop them escaping (for now). It’s also a good time to church your cage bar sizing. Many baby bunnies have escaped through holes in cage bars that look too small for them.

[ThorBunny]

Like so:

https://i.imgur.com/DB7oVxh.gifv

[TiannaRae]

Oh my goodness! I didn’t even think about that. I have a few extra grids (I have a c&c cage) that maybe I could layer onto the outside so that the size of the holes are smaller… do you think that’s work alright? Also, if I just put some bins and such against the cage, they won’t get stuck between, correct? I’m so stressed for when the babies are all hopping around ?

[TiannaRae]

Currently the mama made her nest in this “house” from ikea (that’s been turned upside down) https://m.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/art/80376551/ Is this too big? The fleece that’s in there kind of keeps all the babies pretty close together, and none have fallen out into the cage. They’re just getting more active and making their way around in about a 2.5 inch radius. Also, it’s a c&c cage so I’ll have to watch the holes in the grids and probably cover them up a little.

[ThorBunny]

I think you could line the bottom of any grids with cardboard, should stop them from crawling through. It might also provide a fun chew toy

[TiannaRae]

Okay, I’ll do that Thank you!

[Author]

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