Thank you RT + URGENT!

First I would really like to thank you for "it is not dead until is warm and dead". Found 5 cold babies, no nest, no nothing and then I put them in the owen. In half an hour, 4 are alive and 1 is a "maybe".

Now, I don`t know what to do. We dlon`t have a dryer so i have them in the owen, but on what degrees should I have them so they are not too hot? One is alive but is kinda grasping for air and sqeaking, but is there something wrong with him or is is just pain - you know when you put freezing hands under warm water, it hurts like hell.

I can`t have them in the owen for days, so I would put them around radiator. How close, that they don`t get too hot? Can I put them in sheep wool, because I don`t have rabbit fur in hand? I am hoping that doe will make a nest, but if she is not I will have logistic problem, because I won`t be at home in the next few days, so I won`t be able taking care of them during the day. And, hopefully she will have milk, on the other hand we don`t have powder milk so I will use fresh goat milk.

Any other thing that you reccomend? I will have more questions further more, since I really don`t have experiences with this.

Hi,

once they are warm and moving you don't need to have them in the oven, I guess somewhere around 20-25 degrees C and a fluffy nest would be very comfy. Mybe you can shredder some cloth or knitting wool to make a nest in hay, preheat it with a hair dryer or electric heater to a comfortable temperatur, put the kits in and cover them.
Until I had rigged the heating I kept putting flat, hot stones under the nest box.

But when all is running smoothly and the doe caring (you can tell by the way the nest looks like, you wont see her doing it) the kits will be fine without heating.

What kind of nestbox do you use?

I just put something that heats with appr. 5W under my nestbox for a few days, can be anything, a 5W car light bulb (rear lights) connected to a 12V Battery, power supply or car battery charger would do the job. My box has a roof and a about 2cm solid floor bottom about 3cm above the hutch floor (see here) so it doesn't get too hot in there.
Maybe it was more for my convienience, don't think it was necessary, but it sure didn't hurt this time of the year, especially if the nest isn't perfect.

Last week I had to transfer a nest from a tunnel in the garden into the hutch, doe was somewhat confused, but after stuffing her 2 times into the nestbox with the kits in it she accepted it and took care of the nest, even pulled more fur (I save fur from old nests and false pregnancys). Since I didn't notice that the doe kindled in the garden it was up to 24h until they got fed the first time.

Goat milk should be fine, don't feed too much, but first I would give the doe a try too, put the nestbox in her hutch and show her the kits as soon as possible, and repeat that every hour 3 or 4 times - when she starts to pull fur I would just keep checking the nest twice a day.

If you want to make that formula which uses condensed goat milk, egg yolk and corn syrup - I could spare 2 cans (couldn't find any here and imported some from the US) of goat milk and send it to you, but that would take 2 or 3 days, I guess.

Thank you. I brushed my dog so they are now warm and asleep. When I check on them they don`t wiggle and sqeak so I let them rest instead of try to feed them. It is first time for the doe and she is clueless, she had them scattered around the hutch so now I have them in my bathrom and hoping that the doe would have some milk. If not, I will try with my second doe who has 6 weeks old litter and is still nursing. better this than goats milk, right?

I don`t dare to put this "nest" (i don`t use nestboxes, in this case I hope I would), especially because of dog (=predator) fur and because she really doesn`t know what she is doing. Maybe she will make somekind a nest and we will go from there, but for a few days I will just carry does into the bathroom If the mother will have milk I can even have her in the bathroom but untill she proves herself I can`t let her "take care" of them, becaususe it is cold outside, today was below freezing.

That sounds like a plan.

I would leave the doe with the kits in the bathroom for 2, 3 days (exept while you foster them to the other doe), in my opinion their presence can trigger the right behaviour. Not too long, for they are growing their winter coat right now, or let her out for some hours every day.

When she figures out what to do I would built a well insulated nestbox and put them all outside.

Ah, here it took til noon that the frost melted, although it's a bright and sunny day, but I'm living in a valley.

EDIT: How are you going to foster to the other doe? Holding her on your lap with the kits on a towel underneath? If so, take care she can't hurt the kits with her claws when struggling to get away, that happend to me when I tried that , but mine arn't used to beeing handled and hate it.

Preitler":313hwbi7 said:

If so, take care she can't hurt the kits with her claws when struggling to get away, that happend to me when I tried that , but mine arn't used to beeing handled and hate it.

Click to expand...

All of mine are like that, except foster mom. Sounds like we share a system in (not) handling our bunnies

So, even with their mother I need to be very careful. Well I was, and firstly she clawed me everywhere she could and then she calmed down and let me try with the feeding. Problem is that the babies are still not looking hungry. One did drink so it looks like she has milk, but the other 3 just curled upon her and sleep on. In the evening I will try again.

How soon is the first feeding with newborns? Right after birth? Or in the evening if they were born in the morning?

I still hope that this night she will make a proper nest, maybe kindle again (I don`t know if that is it, they were a day early) and everything is going to be ok. In one way I am very hopefull and on the other know, that their chances are very slim. I bugs me because we never had "first time mom syndrom" and I really don`t like this situation. It is practically the first week in ages that I really don`t have time to handle this, fortunatelly they eat only two times per day.

Nika, if she doesn't make a nest, you could certainly use sheep's wool to make one for her. Any scent from a herbivore should not alarm the doe.

You can improvise a nest box with a plastic bin or even a sturdy cardboard box. Just be sure to wire it to the cage wall so it won't tip. Wooden boxes are usually heavy enough to be stable.

Does do not always feed their young promptly after birth. Sometimes it is because their milk hasn't come in yet. Feeding a formula to newborn kits is very tricky, so if you can get the doe feeding them their chances of survival are much better. She is more likely to do that if the nestbox is in her cage.

Does only feed their kits once or twice a day, so you may never see it happen. Judge by how the kits' bellies look. Take a look at this thread: fed-vs-unfed-kit-pictures-t3052.html

It is difficult to give appropriate advice without knowing your location. So many decisions to do with rabbits are influenced by climate. Please add your state, province or country to your profile.

Hi Nika,

did you have any luck? It sure was a tough situation :x

Your right, I don't handle my rabbits much, most hate it (my buck is the exception). Some demand beeing petted, and sure get it, but there isn't much reason to lift a rabbit. No issues with teeth or claws, and the one doe with weepy eyes didn't respond to any treatment anyway.

They are doing really well, thank you for asking. But momma is totally refusing them, so I hold her twice a day for feeding. She is not very cooperative but we manage somehow. Babies are 12 days old, fat, but one of them still has his eyes shut (he is also the smallest so I don`t know whether is nest box eye or he is just slow in development - no eyelids yet). I intend to wait a day or two and give him oportunity to open them himself since the eyes looks healthy and with no puss, but then I will try to open them myself - prior that I have to educate myself how to do that, since I never had that problem.

I don˙t know how to proceed, put them with their mum, wean my 7 weekers and put baby kits with foster mum since she still has milk, have them inside, put them out.. I just go day by day: heat them in the oven - checked, mum has milk - checked, feeding is going ok - checked. We will see <br /><br /> -- Mon Nov 23, 2015 3:43 am -- <br /><br /> We managed to open his eyes without any issues on day 14 and I believe he would open them himself in a few days, I just didn`t want to risk it because it was very late. Of course, it is the one that I would think about keeping, as usual right?

I still have them in the house but in a coldest room possible and with the window a little open, because I want them to get used to cold weather so I can put them out next week. I was planning to do that this weekend but we got snow and freezing temperatures, so it must wait. They are eating hay but refuse everything else, since they don`t have any adults around who will show them how to do stuff, so I started feeding them from the mum just once a day instead of twice.