URGENT HELP RABBIT HAD BUNNIES

[bunnyjames]

Hi, I need urgent help i came upon this site and thought someone might be able to help. I have a male dwarf bunny which has been my baby for the past 3yrs., recently like 4 months ago his partner a spayed female who i had for 7 yrs passed away, they were really close. Anyways about 2 weeks ago i dedcided to go to buy a bunny, but later decided to go to animal shelter and just adopt an older bunny, i got a 4 month old dwarf bunny who had JUST been dropped off, i was told it was a male, they gave me a certificate to go back on the 1st of next month to get him neutered for free. I said it was fine and really had no concern since my male dwarf is neutered. Well it turns out its a female since just this past friday she gave birth, i have a really nice big yard and let my bunnies free all day and bring them in to the house at night. i noticed the new bunny had been burrowing but i just saw it as normal rabbit behavior and didnt pay much attention, she dug a pretty long tunnel. Well that friday i noticed she had uncovered the entrance to the whole and was in such a hurry carrying hay in her mouth into the tunnel!!! i didnt know what she was doing! she later started yanking off her fur and putting it inside!! she later went in and didnt come back out till half hour later and her bottom had blood!! She had bunnies!!! i looked up this behavior in the internet and went back to the shelter and that was the conclusion. I need help since im completely cluless, i havent seen the babies since she had them inside the tunnel, and after she gave birth she completely packed up the tunnel back with dirt. WHAT DO I DO!!! i’ve noticed she goes in to the tunnel in the morning for like 15min. and then comes back out and covers the tunnel back up. she doesnt go back in all day till next morning. What do I do?! do i try digging them out? or do i leave the nest alone, shes really over protective of that little area she tried to bite my hand when i tried to uncover the entrance of the tunnel which by the way is pretty difficult to find since she is pretty good at covering it back up and spreading the dirt so you cant tell. PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!!! Oh and her nipples are really swollen which i was told was a sign that she was lactating.

[jerseygirl]

When she goes to them for 15min that’s when they feed. That’s pretty normal. It’s actually good for a young mother. Could you bring them indoor in a shoe box with some of the nesting material. A quiet place where she can go to them? Make sure she is getting alfalfa pellets or at least alfafa hay. Have you notified the shelter? Because they should help you out with this!

Here’s some info from House Rabbit Society on babies. http://www.rabbit.org/care/babies.html

edit: I’m really not sure if moving them is wise or not (depending on her) but I just think they’d be safer indoors.

[Monkeybun]

Definitely safer indoors, for ALL the bunnies. Too many predators out there

[bunnyjames]

Well the only predators would be stray cats, plus like i mentioned they are inside the tunnel she dug and she filled in the tunnel back with dirt and digs it out in the morning when she goes in and then covers it back up once she’s out. the tunel is pretty long i sticked my arm in there before she actually had the babies and i wasnt able to touch the end of the tunel its pretty deep. I cant even find the entrance of the tunnel myself. It takes her a good 10min to fill in the tunnel to her liking and spread the dirt up in top so that you can’t find the entrance. Im actually scared of digging because im scared ill hurt the babies since im not really sure where in the tunnel they are. Everything is bunny proof in my yard, and my yard is pretty secluded, it would be hard for any other animal to get in. Plus im really scared the mommy will be confused not to find her babies where she has left them. I don’t know im new to this, I really dont know what would be best.

[Deleted User]

Have you been bringing the mother rabbit inside for the night? She must have access to her kits at all times, so I recommend bringing them all indoors. You will need to dig them out.
I would also make arrangements with the shelter to help you find homes for the kits.

[Deleted User]

A stray cat is definitely a danger to a rabbit kit, not while inside the tunnel but once they emerge. You want to handle the kits early on so you will have it easier with them later.

[bunnyjames]

Yes, I do bring the mommy in at night, i tried leaving her outside the 1st night, but she spent half of the night scratching on the door, so i brought her in. Will she still want to feed her babies even if i take them out? i would have to wait for her to dig out the tunnel in the morning cuz i cant find the entrance myself, she is really good at packing up that tunned with dirt. can the babies even breathe in their? i mean she packs up the tunnel with dirt, in other words she burries them.

[Monkeybun]

If you keep mama and babies indoors, she’ll feed them, don’t worry. Make a nest box for her for the babies, one that they can’t wiggle out of. Make it nice and soft, with towels or fleece or nice soft hay.

[Deleted User]

the kits are fine in the tunnel as far as getting air in concerned. It is likely that the tunnel system is quite extensive with several exits. A rabbit can dig an entire breeding den underground in a matter of a few hours if the soil is right.
Tomorrow morning, when she goes to feed them, mark the spot and dig them out.

[Ham Sangwich]

Ok, wait, wait, wait. A rabbit rescue adopted a rabbit out mis-sexed? As a volunteer at a rabbit shelter someone there really dropped the ball. You need to call them immediately and have them help you out here.

Also, at our shelter we don’t recommend the bunnies go outside unsupervised. It’s awesome that yours get to be outside and i’m sure they have a great time, but aside from stray cats there are also big dangers from birds of prey. It’s not unusual for people to leave rabbits outside and come back and find no trace of them. Birds can just swoop down, pick them up and they’re gone. It’s sad. 🙁 It’s great you let them outside, but we recommend you watch them while outside at the very least. They don’t need to be outside all day, a half hour of outside run time is great fun for a rabbit as long as their parents are there watching! Oh, also prolonged outside time for buns generally raises the risks for diseases, mites, and other expensive things to treat!

As for the buns and the momma, just bring them all inside, set-up a litterbox (if you don’t have a plastic one you could take a large cardboard box, cut one side off, line it with newspaper and hay and Mom bunny will make a nice little nest in there for all her young. After this call the rabbit rescue and see what they can do.

Sorry, one other thing, male rabbits run the risk of testicular cancer, especially over the age of 5. If your male is healthy enough I’d advise you ask the rabbit rescue if they could bring your rabbit to be neutered while your female is being spayed. They may be able to offer you a discounted rate (and even if not, it’s usually not more than $125 for a male).

[jerseygirl]

Ham Sangwich, this member posted her existing male bun is already fixed. So the shelter has adopted out not only a mis-sexed rabbit but a pregnant one! I totallly agree though, the shelter should be helping you out in this. Was it a rabbit specific shellter you got her from?

[Sarita]

I would definitely bring momma and babie inside where it’s safe. It sounds like it’s a municipal animal shelter which would probably be why the rabbit was missexed. At four months old a rabbit rescue would be able to tell the sex and the rabbit would be altered before being sent to a new home.

[Ham Sangwich]

Posted By jerseygirl on 08/10/2010 08:08 AM
Ham Sangwich, this member posted her existing male bun is already fixed. So the shelter has adopted out not only a mis-sexed rabbit but a pregnant one! I totallly agree though, the shelter should be helping you out in this. Was it a rabbit specific shellter you got her from?

Oh yes, i see that now. I must have missed that. My eyes have a tough time with blocks of text. 

[Andi]

What a situation
Definetly call the Shelter, they need to step in and help you with this, including finding homes for these babies afterwards.
I can’t say I’m surprised a Shelter let a pregnant rabbit get adopted thinking it was male. Most regular shelters (non rabbit specific) are not trained on rabbits and do the best they can with what little information they have Hopefully this situation will bring to light that proper education for every speices coming into the shelter is important. I also find it strange they let an animal that was “Just Dropped off” get adopted out straight away. If the animal was Vet’d I am sure they would have said it was female, and maybe even diagnose she’s pregnant.

[Sarita]

Most animals at shelters where I live are not vetted at all. They don’t have vets on staff. Heck some animal shelters in my area are part of the police department and they try the best they can. I’m talking about city and municipal shelters, not SPCA’s or Humane Societies.

I know the big Dallas shelter has vets but they don’t have experience with rabbits (although they’d like to). One of the few in my area that does employ a vet on staff.

[bunnyjames]

Yes, it was a city shelter, they have dogs, cats, rabbits, and couple other animals. The rabbit i got had just been dropped off the day before and was told their “ vet assistant volunteer” had already tooken a look at it. I wasl also informed it was not neutered since the Vet mobile only gets there on the 1st of every month but was given a certificate to go back and get him neuter for free.But right now im just concerned for the health of the babies and the momma since she is so young!!!! she is a dwarf and the officer at the shelter did try to make me feel better by saying that smaller breed of rabbits mature at an earlier age then larger breed of rabbits. I tired today in the morning once she dug out the tunnel to remove her so that i cold take out the babies but she put up a big fight and even screamed when i tried to pick her up she after went straight for my hand and bit me and quickly went into then tunnel. I feel so bad since she must think im trying to hurt her babies. I’ve never heard a rabbit scream until today. Do i still insist and try to get them out? she is happy once again with me since once she came out and covered her tunnel back up i gave her a piece of banana she even licked where she bit me. im not even sure if the babies are alive, im assuming they are since she goes in every morning. Also i dont know if this is normal but every morning before she goes in she pulls out a bunch of fur from her belly and legs and keeps it in her mouth and then goes in. Is this normal should she still be pulling out fur?  

[Sarita]

Oh dear! She is a protective momma. Is it possible to catch her away from the nest where she may not be as protective? I think I might try that and then try to look for the babies if you can mark with something the tunnel.

It is still normal for her to pull fur for the nest – babies need to keep warm to digest their food.

[Monkeybun]

Definitely still get them. Just mark where she digs, and get her inside. Then dig them out.

It is normal for her to pull out fur, its how they line the nest. So she just replaces what gets flattened down pretty much.

[bunnyjames]

Oh yeah and if i do manage to take them out tomorrow morning should i bring in all the nesting material she has in the tunnel, you know all the hay and fur she has in there.

[Sarita]

Welll, you might bring some if it’s possible – if not, you may want to get something like carefresh for the nesting area and keep them in a warm (not hot) place until they start to move about and open their eyes. Mom will make sure they stay warm too.

[bunnyjames]

Alright, THANK YOU guys so much!!!! you guys have shed a bit of light on me. I will try to dig them out tomorrow morning, hopefully they are still alive! i just hope the mommy wont reject them for this, some lady at a pet store had told me not to touch them since the mom will not like it and will reject them, but all this info has been great and I went ahead and did some more extensive research. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!

[Sarita]

Here’s some good info, if you have not come across this in your research:

http://www.rabbit.org/care/babies.html

[BinkyBunny]

She knows you and your scent so she most likely would not reject them. A rejection behavior will more likely happen if a strange scent is on them. But if you are really worried about it, you could get some gloves, pet her thoroughly with the gloves and then get the babies.

Do you have a nesting box ready? A cardboard box or just something that she will feel they are safe and secure in.

[Ham Sangwich]

 People working at pet stores rarely know what they are talking about, especially with exotics like rabbits. We’ve had lots of babies born in our shelter (why is it that every female comes in pregnant?) and many people have handled them and the Momma never seems to care as far as scent goes. 

Have you looked to see if you have a rabbit specific rescue in your area? You can try petfinder zip code search or google. If so you could call them and see if they can walk you through everything. They may even be willing to stop by and help you get them out of the hole and into the house. 

[Deleted User]

Moz, did you manage to get them out?

[bunnyjames]

yes i made a nesting box out of a cardboard box and left the top of the box on since im guessing she might want to have privacy with her babies and i put some straw in there. BUT today in the morning i waited for her to dig out the tunnel and she did and she once again took off fur, and once she came back out i grabbed her and put her in her cage and gave her a small piece of banana (she loves it, she forgets she’s angry once she starts munching on the banana) i put my arm in there and the tunnel is in the shape of an “L” so in other words it starts off straight and then theres a right to it. i couldnt get my arm deep enough to even touch any of the nesting material she has in there!!!! Im not quite sure what im going to do at this point, i dont know if i should just destroy her tunnel completely to see if i find them, but the only problem is i dont know how far that tunel goes. ( I have a backyard the size of half a football field =( I know for a fact there isn’t another way to enter or exit. At this point im not even sure of they are still alive? shouldnt they be moving by now? I was thinking of asking my gardener today to just completely break ground. I would have to take off all the rose bushes, vegetation and herbs i have there, which are mainly for my rabbits. Any opinions??

[Sarita]

Well, I think since you feel like she just had the babies 3 days ago and you cannot get to them you need to let her go back down and tend to them and just watch because it is usually a few weeks before they open their eyes and start moving.

You are in an awkward situation since you haven’t seen them and you cannot get to them.

[bunnyjames]

Actually the babies already have 6 days today, she had them this past friday like around 2:30 in the afternoon. i was looking at pictures in the internet of 1 week baby rabbits and they look pretty big to me and seem to be growing fur already.

[Monkeybun]

I personally would just start digging.

With the nesting box, make sure its easy for mama to get in and out, she won’t want to be with the babies all the time.

[jerseygirl]

She is behaving like a very good Mama, I’m impressed by her. Sometimes the really young rabbit mothers are not so good.
Do you have a video camera? I’m wondering if you could put a flashlight in the burrow at the bend then hold a camera in as far as possible and take a short film.  Maybe in a night time setting? It could be your eyes for you.

From memory, nests are not usually too extensive. The mothers need to be able to access and exit quickly. Also, the kits need to be able to navigate their way out on their own and they do this at a very young age.  Keep us updated.

[Moonlight_Wolf]

Maybe to dig them out you could put your arm in or a pole or something and lift up so that the top comes off. It would be safer to do it this way because that way the part you are pulling apart does not have the babies in it and so therefore the tunnel cannot collapse on the babies.

Good luck to you!

[Bunnies_Be_Crazy]

I think bringing in some of the nesting in, would be most comforting for the babies and the mum. I think it might make to transition less stressful.

[MissKris&Koji]

I agree the bend may be helpful, Can you figure out where in the ground the end is that you’re touching? If so I would dig that spot up, right at the corner/bend. Then try to reach in and locate the babies after the turn.

[bunnyjames]

Thanks for the ideas!! they are all great, my only problem is she decided to do her tunel in the most awkward position!! it doesnt give much room to do much since its a spot that has vegetation, rose bushes, and herbs but that’s not all, because i can simply pull all that out, my problem is that the entrance is against a wall and the tunel seems to go under a row of bricks, i cant dig from above because of the bricks!!! BUT i”ve been buging the animal shelter like no tomorrow and they agreed to send an officer on monday to see if they can take them out!! I just have one more question for you guys, is there still a possibility the babies are still alive?!! the momma has been going in every morning without a miss, but only in the morning! and its for about 3-4 min. then comes out.

[Deleted User]

The L-shape is common tunnel shape. I say your rabbit did a great job.
–I would leave them then but watch for the day that they emrge and catch them then. Make sure you protect the tunnel from rain, though, as rain can drown a litter of kits in the nesting tunnel.

[bunnyjames]

Once again thanks guys, All your advice has been really helpful, if I do manage to get those babies out, i’ll post some pictures of them. Thanks once again!!! Oh and Petzy if the officer from the animal shelter cant manage to get them out i will have no other choice then to just wait to see if they come out on their own. hopefully they can find their way out.

[lashkay]

Could you perhaps make a long tunnel out of cardboard less in diameter than the mother rabbit’s tunnel – roll a piece of cardboard around and secure it – then shove it into the tunnel up to where the tunnel turns, or bit by bit til you get there. Then dig up to the cardboard tunnel to keep the tunnel from caving in. Then, turn it at the junction and shove it slowly bit by bit, carefully digging til you reach the bunnies that way? Best wishes!

[Deleted User]

I am starting to think these kits are pretty snug and safe where they are even though outdoors. Is mama bun still covering them up thoroughly?

[Deleted User]

How old do you think these kits are? By about 2 weeks old they start to want to come out of the den. You can catch them then if you can’t get them now.

[bunnyjames]

Yes Petzy, she is still covering them up thoroughly. This is her routine, at 5:30am she is shaking her cage furiously (she is asking to be let out) i open her cage she walks with me to the door i open the door to the backyard and she sits in the porch for about 1min-2min grooming herself and yanking off fur, she then looks in all directions to see if anybody is watching her, once she see’s the cost is clear she runs to where the tunnel is starts digging to get to the entrance takes her bout 1min or 2 to uncover the entrance and then looks back one more time before going in. She stays in the tunnel for about 3-4min. comes out and covers the entrance of the tunnel very well and spreads the left over dirt in top so you cant tell there is anything there. I myself cant undig the tunnel so that’s why i worry the bunnies wont be able to get out. Oh and they are 8 days today. they were born august 6th. at around 2:30pm. But i feel better now that the officer from the animal shelter is gonna come on monday, but he gives no guarantees of being able to get them out, he said bunnies build pretty extensive tunnels.

[bunnyjames]

This is where she has her tunnel as you can see you cant even tell she has a tunnel, on the top of the pic. you can see some bricks thats where the right turn is, right under the bricks.  you can also see her little paw print trail. you can also see the scattered hay that was left when she was in a hurry building her nest. ill try and take a pic. of how it looks once she uncovers the entrance. Can the babies really breathe in there?!!!

 

[jerseygirl]

Wow! It’s there slightly upward of the centre of the photo? That she continues to visit the nest most likely means all is well. It’s typical them as a prey species to only visit briefly for feeding. I had read one time they stay for 15min and most that time the kits spend jostling for a teat. Then they feed briefly toward the end of that time. If she’s only in there 3-4 mins now I’m hoping that means they’ve become more efficient at attaching and feeding. If they’re 8days old they should be opening their eyes soon and moving about more. Fingers crosssed!

[BinkyBunny]

If the officer can’t get them out, you could just make sure that nothing else can dig them out (cats, raccoons, whatever) and create some sort of pen (with chicken wire ???) around it when you and their momma are not there.  Also, that way if the babies do emerge unexpectedly, they will be safer.

[bunnyjames]

 

Okay so this is how the entrance looks once she has uncovered it the tunnel goes straight till it hits the bricks then make a right

 

This is her covering it back up this will end up looking like the first pic. I posted last night. She throws the dirt back with her front paws and pushes the left over with her mouth to smooth out the ground.

This is her digging you can see all the dirt she has taken out right behind her

Today she didnt pull out fur!

[LizzieKnittyBun]

Oh gosh! I must be amazing watching her do that… instinct is such a powerful, incredible thing that it would cause a house bun to know how to do all of that without anyone teaching her!

[Deleted User]

I agree with Binky Bunny about enclosing the entrance with a finer gauge type fencing to help catch the kits when they come out.
The question about oxygen has puzzled me too, but I suppose the tunnel is not airtight. Trampling the entrance and packing down soil can make it airtight though and this is a practice used in rabbit control unfortunately.

[Beka27]

I responded in your other thread before I found this one. I hope you can get those babies out. If not, I do like BB’s idea of making a wire pen around the entrance to keep them contained if they start wandering out.

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