New Momma

[Opalcreek]

I have a Netherlands Dwarf who is a first time mother she started out covering her babies up after feeding for the first couple of days but now leaves them completely uncovered. It is very cold here right now 27 today 5 tonight and only 19 tomorrow. I have them in the garage but our garage is only being “heated” by a small space heater. It still gets cold enough to freeze the bottles. I have never had to deal with this problem before and I am not home 24/7 to constantly check on them. Is there anything I can do?

[LBJ10]

Hi OpalCreek! Welcome to BB! I’m afraid you won’t find too many people here who are familiar with baby bun care since we are a house bunny forum that advocates spaying/neutering. That being said, I will leave you post up in case someone does want to answer. In the meantime, you might want to check out Rabbits Online. They have a whole forum section dedicated to breeding.

I’m going to post the forum rules here, just so everyone remembers:

D. Discussions of Breeding and Rabbits as Livestock: Discussions involving intentional breeding (of any animal) and meat & fur rabbits are not allowed.

• Accidental Litters: We are not a site or forum that has the necessary experience to advise you in this matter. It would be better for your bunnies to use reliable resources for pregnant/nursing does and their babies. Here is a list of resources that you may find very helpful:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/surpriselitter.html
http://www.rabbit.org/care/babies.html
http://www.rabbit.org/care/newborn.html
http://www.mybunny.org/info/newborn.htm

-Rabbitsonline.net, caters to a broader range of experience, may also be of help.
-Be sure to seek vet care and advice.
-Do not use this forum to give or sell bunnies as well.
-Since we don’t allow prolonged discussions regarding this, the thread will be locked.
-We hope you will find the above resources useful. Please feel free to to ask about other aspects of caring for your bunny

Honestly, I think the best solution to your dilemma is to bring everyone inside where it’s warm. At least until it’s not so cold outside. It isn’t unusual for first time mothers to be confused.

[Mikey]

For best survival rate, theyll need to all be brought inside where it is warmer. Is she still feeding them? Are they starting to grow fur yet? Note that it is not uncommon for the first litter of bunnies to die for various different reasons. One big reason is that the mother stops caring for them. There is not much you can do to help, unless you are able to care for the babies 24/7 yourself

To help with the water freezing, youll need to buy a water bottle warmer. If shes dehydrated, she may not care for her babies properly

[jerseygirl]

The babies can start to move quite early on so it may be they are dislodging the nest material also. Sometimes they’ll even wriggle their way out of the nest completely or take a ride still attached to Mums teat.

I agree, they will need to come indoors. If water is freezing in the garage, it is too cold for them.

Is the mum being feed plenty of good protein food like a alfalfa based pellet? She may start to neglect the babies some if she is not getting adequete diet as producing milk will be taxing on her body.

[Author]

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