Caring for Mama and Her Babies
0-4 Weeks
From age 0 to 4 weeks mom provides all care, she feeds them only 1-2 times daily, usually at dawn and middle-of-the-night. She will be very cryptic as she doesn't want "predators" to know where her nest is located. It is best if she can be left to herself and private during these times so she doesn't stop feeding them early. Just avoid interacting with her first thing in the morning and in the late eve. If you see her nursing then have everyone leave the room. Otherwise she does the work! During this time, you need to handle each baby 1-2 times daily to check that their tummies are chubby and not concave (sucked inwards). A concave tummy means that baby missed a feeding and human intervention may be needed.
Provide LOTS of water and food for mom during this period - lactating is a lot of work and energy for mommy. When babies are first born, offer a water bowl and sipper tube for mom outside of the “den” / nest area (i.e. in play pen area) - hopefully she will start using the sipper bottle as we don't want clumsy babies to be near a bowl of water. Once the babies are up and moving around if she won't drink out of the bottle then a tall-sided heavy bowl will need to be placed up on top of bricks so only taller mommy can reach the water. The babies must not be fed any treats or veggies or fruits during this time, their intestines cannot handle it.
Once the babies’ eyes are open and they are able to leave the nest on their own then you can start sitting in the pen and handling them on the floor. They need to learn that hands are awesome and not scary so don't pick them high up off the floor. Put them in your lap, assume they will be clumsy.
4-8 Weeks
Between 4 weeks and 7-8 weeks old is when baby bunnies start eating dry food/hay and developing healthy bacteria in their intestines. You will need to have multiple big heavy deep bowls of food in the pen and at least two litter boxes stuffed with hay. This also teaches good litter habits as buns tend to poop/pee near where they eat. During this period is also when the babies are at risk of bacterial infections in the gut that can cause diarrhea, so any sign of runny or soft stool needs to be reported to your rabbit savvy vet immediately. This is the leading cause of death in babies under 8 weeks of age.
This is also the period when the most cleaning is needed as the whole litter will be making bunny berries rather than just mommy. Mom weans them between 5-8 weeks of age all on her own and you will see that they pester their mom for milk but she won't give them any, that's fine, so long as they are all eating hard food and look healthy and happy that is a-ok. The babies must not be fed any treats or veggies or fruits during this time, their intestines cannot handle it.
8+ Weeks
Once the babies are 7-8 weeks old their genders can be confirmed by a rabbit savvy vet. It’s important to take the buns to a vet who is familiar with baby buns because it’s easy to misgender them, and doing so can often cause accidental pregnancies down the line if the buns are kept together. Once their genders are confirmed, they should be divided and moved into separate areas/homes. If possible, try to keep the girls with their mother until they are 10-11 weeks old (as a great deal of benefit is gained from this). The boys can be neutered at 4 months old and the girls spayed 5 months old. Mama will be spayed about 4 months after giving birth. The babies must not be fed any treats or veggies or fruits during this time, their intestines cannot handle it. At age 6 months they can start to have greens and oxbow treats.
The babies are in a nest inside of the covered dog crate, so mom can come and go as she pleases.
Setup
The only special thing you need to set up is a “nesting / den” area for the babies. Since mother rabbits do not hang out with their babies until they are active and out of the nest, the nest needs to be in a separate area that mommy can avoid during the day (she has a natural fear of going near her nest too often or else a predator could see her!). The most common approach is to have a dog kennel inside of the pen with door permanently open (use a brick to ensure door stays open no matter what), cover the kennel with a dark blanket so not too much light gets in, line the interior of the cage walls with cardboard at least 2 feet tall (once a baby manages to hop we don’t want them able to squirm out too early) including the front wall where the door is located just cut it down to 1 foot tall at that location. Mommy will be able to hop in, just put a rolled up towel on the outer side of the door so she can have a little boost. The nest itself will be a litter box lined with fluffy litter (carefresh) and soft fleecy towels. If she has her babies outside of the nest (on the floor) then use a fleecy to pick each baby up and move into the nest box, bunch the babies together in a bundle, they will keep each other warm and mommy will pluck out her own fluff to cover them further. If 1 hour after birth the babies are not covered in her fluff then lightly cover the babies with a thin, single fleecy. Wait 24 hours before touching the babies again, at this time you’ll want to check each tummy to ensure they are not concave as described earlier (i.e. each tummy should be rounded like a full toothpaste tube or a cute little beer belly, belly should NOT be sucked in or totally flat).
Mommy’s litter box, pellets, toys etc should all be situated OUTSIDE of the dog kennel/nest area… so put those items in the normal pen area. It’s weird for humans, but remember that bunny moms don’t want to spend a lot of time with their babies until they are mobile – due to their instinctive fear of showing predators where her beloved babies are located.
Cleaning
Do not clean the cage portion of the habitat that contains the nest box AT ALL during the first 2 weeks of the babies’ lives. You can clean the "pen" area outside the kennel. Put any towels that have been soiled into the wash and wash with an unscented detergent plus 1/4 cup white vinegar in the wash water (don't worry it won't smell vinegary once wash is done). Any pee spots should be cleaned up with a dilute solution of white vinegar and water. Do not add essential oils to the vinegar water spritz for cleaning. It would be ideal if the pen is on an easily cleaned floor like linoleum, mama can be pretty good with the box but the babies will take time to learn! Some babies understand litter training right away while others are messy little duckies. Put the kibble bowls right in the litter box once the babies are mobile to encourage them to use the box.
Supplies
- litter boxes
- large, ceramic food dishes
- heavy water bowl
- large water bottle
- towels + blankets
- rabbit safe litter (carefresh, yesterdays news for cats)
- timothy hay (required), alfalfa hay (optional)
- young rabbit pellets