Nestbox or bring inside?

[dragonladyleanne]

So, some of you know I quit breeding during the summer, due to several months of having rats attack newborn or newly hopped out of nest kits. I finally resolved to use 2 large indoor cages as "nursery" units for my smaller does, since there appeared to be very little I could do to completely rat-proof the rabbitry outdoors without suffocating the rabbits or spending vast amounts of money I don't have. My quandary is that the cages, while adequate (per Florida ag rules) for most of my rabbits regarding floor size for nursing does, are not quite adequate for my NZW doe. She was covered Sept. 1st, and I am crap at palpating, so I won't know if she's pregnant until they pop out, so it is decision time. Give her a nestbox that I think can keep her kits safe, in her current outdoor cage(30" x 30" x 24" = 6.25SF), and hope they are born in it, and stay put when she's out of it? Or guarantee their safety by bringing her indoors, albeit to a slightly cramped apartment(17.5" x 40" x 20.5" = 4.86SF)? She's a first time mom, too, if that makes any difference.

 

[skysthelimit]

can you just pull the nest and bring it in if she has them in it?

 

[dragonladyleanne]

can you just pull the nest and bring it in if she has them in it?

Not really, as the doors necessitate turning it sideways to get it in and out . . . though I could possibly just leave the nestbox out there, and bring in the babies each night in a temporary box. Yes, I think I will just have to risk doing that, she really is too large a rabbit to bring indoors. I am hoping her size, combined with the hutch and enclosure improvements made, plus the time elapsed since the last rat feast on baby bunnies, will suffice. I may even let her boyfriend have the run of the enclosure (he can't get to her cage, as it is 3 feet off the ground), though that did not deter the rats last time - but I used a much smaller buck then, and I think that one just hid when they came foraging. Jaeger is twice his size. Time to earn his name, perhaps!

 

[skysthelimit]

Hmm.

I cut all my doors to fit the nest boxes, but I swapped a doe today and found a cage with a door too small for the new boxes, so I had to cut it again.

I've done the temporary boxes too, which is why I use those Sterlite totes with lids.

 

[dragonladyleanne]

Yeah, as it happens, the litterbox I converted to a nestbox back in the Spring was not as large as I remembered (I was thinking 20 inches was the short side, but it was the long side), so it fit well enough through the door with only a squeeze to the sides. I left her sniffing its contents (half a flake of hay), so it remains to be seen whether she makes a nest in it, if she's even pregnant. I should know within a week! Also have one indoors who may be preggers as well. It's almost better if neither of them are, as I need to completely disassemble my original hutches to remake them in a way which is more rat proof but also easier to clean. I added to them while occupied, which led to a weird "basket o'poopy hay" feature underneath - rat proof, but worrisome cleanliness wise. Though the poop is still under the wire floor, it just LOOKS bad. *fingers crossed*