Uuuhm... that was unexpected.

[Rain_Flower]

I have newborn baby bunnies as of about one hour ago.

I never knew and I feel kinda like an idiot.

I'm reading up on care right now, but if you have any suggestions that would be greatly appreciated.

Please and thank you

 

[GailC]

Make sure mom has a nest box with straw or hay in it and try not to touch the babies, if you have to topuch them make sure to touch them all. Rabbits are notorious for eating there babies if disturbed.
When they are 6 weeks or so, they will need there own cage. Do you have mom and dad together? if so they need to be seperate now.

 

[Rain_Flower]

Yeah they are and I'm trying to find something to put him in, this was just so unexpected that I can't find anything.... I'll have to make something up for now.

 

[Rain_Flower]

I found a big rubbermaid tub, and I put him in that for now.

I counted, and there's five babies, two black, two mixed, and one white.

 

[kingfarvito]

a little butter some garlic and a pan :drool: :drool:

 

[Rain_Flower]

Nobody can help me? Sad.

 

[OldHag]

Just let mommy do the work! Get her some nesting materials.. a blanket if nothing else. She will do the rest.
If she wont, or tries to eat them. Your in for feedings every 2 hours and wiping their wee bums after each feeding to help them go to the bathroom

 

[Rain_Flower]

Well she seems to be doing okay, she's moving them around alot and is trying to hide them from me. She keeps puting her food dish over them... but they all seem fine. I'm a little worried about the runt though, he seems to get left out every once in awhile so I'm keeping an eye on him.

 

[halfwaynowhere]

oh, don't panic if it seems like mommy is ignoring her babies. Momma rabbits feed their young for about 15 minutes, twice a day, and then pretty much leave them alone the rest of the time... its so she doesn't get her scent on them, and attract predators to them. Rabbit milk is pretty strong stuff, lasting that long. Just let her do her job. You can check the babies to make sure they are warm, and have round tummies, but keep handling to a minimum. if they are cold and thin, then you'll have to step in and bottlefeed, which isn't always an easy task with rabbits, as we don't have a formula that works quite like rabbit milk, so they have to be fed every two hours. But generally, that won't be a problem. And look into getting daddy neutered. they can remain potent for about two weeks after the surgery, so if you want to do it while the babies are still little, then once they are weaned, you can re-introduce the parents, and not have to worry about future oopsies. Think about having momma spayed, too, because she will constantly be in heat around a male. I have an intact female, and neutered male, and my girl is constantly pulling out hair to make nests for babies that will never be, its not a good thing.
Anyways, good luck with the babies, and of course, we'll all want to see pics when they start to grow up a bit!

 

[Rain_Flower]

And here is a crappy cell phone pic of the babies. And I got the colors wrong, there's two mixed, and three black. One of the black ones is the runt.

You can kinda see the runt, he's on the bottom right.

 

[arachyd]

I've never known a rabbit to eat its young but they can get upset and neglect them, kill them or kick them out of the nest. Give her enough hay that she can use it to cover the babies if she wants to. Rabbits tend to slam dishes around a bit and if she puts her dish on the babies they could get injured. There are 2 reasons for removing the male. He will not be careful of the babies and in his normal bunny ways he is very likely to accidentally stomp on them. He won't attack them and having him in there won't upset the mother but why risk the babies getting hurt? The other reason is that the female can become pregnant again immediately. In fact it is possible she is already pregnant so you might want to be prepared for it just in case. Make sure the momma has plenty of food, hay and water at all times.

 

[Rain_Flower]

Daddy was put in a seperate cage the same day they babies were born, so I'm not too worried about that. He does seem kinda lonely though.

And this morning I checked on the babies and the runt was out of the nest, and looked like it hadn't gotten fed. So I went to the store to get KMR to hand feed him, but when I got back there was already nothing I could do

I made her a new nest box and put the other babies in it, and they are all doing better now, the babies and momma. So, hopefully everything goes well.

 

[OldHag]

aww sorry about the wee one not making it.. such a sad thing.
Good luck to mom and babies!! Enjoy we wee hoppers

 

[Atalanta]

Congratulations, I guess. Previous posters gave some great advice, and let me just add this: PLEASE have the parents spayed and neutered (and any babies you may keep when the time comes). Bunnies do that and they will keep doing it and can produce litters faster than most people imagine. Also, female bunnies have an 80% chance of dying of uterine cancer if not spayed.

I hope all goes well, and I'm sure they are darling!