Colony Update After One Month

[Anntann]

Catching can be a problem. If they get handled daily they will come to you and just sit there. but man that's a tough place to get to I can generally scoop them up when they're sitting in the feed crock, or on a shelf. Otherwise I have to corner them and act fast! :lol: The thing is...they only see you as FEET and ankles. So...the feet and ankles aren't a threat. It's those nasty HANDS! Those are the predators!

 

[LASGSD]

How do you catch your kits (because someday I would like a litter of my own, lol).

I'm no expert but my plan is to have a separate feeding area that is fenced off with a door. I will leave the door open all them time at first, letting the kits get used to going in there to feed. Once the kits are ready to be collected I will simply put their food down and then close the door once they are all in there. Their feeding area will be 5' x 5' (maybe smaller) so it should be easy enough to grab them in there.

 

[MaggieJ]

We really don't plan on catching them until we need to. Colony rabbits can be pretty wild, but I'm hoping that the fact that Alice and Jasper are friendly will help. The nest tunnels have hinged lids, so if we needed to grab one now we would herd them inside and then catch them in the smaller area of the nest tunnel. Most of these will likely go to freezer camp, and if so we only need to catch them once. I might work more with summer litters, but it is too cold right now to do more than see to their needs and maybe watch them play for a couple of minutes.