Hi everyone, I'm not sure if this is normal as these are my first litter but both of the kits each have one eye fully open and the other eye firmly closed still. Is this normal? Does one eye usually open before the other? They will be two weeks old tomorrow. Also, their mum is being very bossy - she won't let them out of the inside compartment of the hutch, anytime one tries to make a break for it she lunges at them and they fall back into the nest!! Is it safe to still have fur in the nest when their eyes are open? It's such fine fur, it even gets in my nose and eyes!
Eyes in 13 day old kits
- Thread starter flipp
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dayna
Well-known member
That is very very weird. Mine always open their eyes around day 8 or 9. What kind of buns are these? I wonder if there is an irritant?
My Hollands tend to not open their eyes until days 12-14. My Netherlands are more like Dayna's and open their eyes at 8 or 9 days. A lot of times one eye opens before the other, but the closed eye usually opens within a day or so. Not sure what to tell you about mom being bossy other than I think she likes her space! LOL She doesn't want the little ones pestering her to nurse. She wants to come to them at her convenience. 
ckcs
Well-known member
Mine tend to open them at 10-14 days. Sometimes mine will have one eye open first. The other has opened over the next day or two. I agree about her keeping the kits back so they don't bug her. My does don't have any place to go to keep the kits off them and after 2 weeks I pull the nestbox.
Thanks everyone. I used some warm tea to help the eyes, they seemed a little crusty in a couple of tiny places and the warmth of the tea helped them open them. They have kept them open all afternoon and the eyes are nice and clean and bright now. Having two eyes open certainly made them more active and they started exploring and climbing around the inside compartment of the hutch where their nest is! They have ventured past mum a couple of times and one grabbed an extra feed for a minute until mum had enough! They are happy enough in their nest still, I moved the fur down deeper and covered it in fresh hay so it doesn't irritate their freshly opened eyes so much. One little kit seems to like to burrow tunnels in and out under the nest! They are so cute! Thanks again everyone.
I put a shelf in my rabbit cage so the mom to get away from the babies- and was really surprised at how quickly the babies were able to jump/climb 12 inches up to get to where she was trying to relax. She got so she would squash herself as flat to the ground as possible so they couldn't get under her and try to nurse.
you can totally clean out the nestbox as well... just remove all fur. At two weeks they don't need it, and if you are in a warm climate you can simply pull the nestbox. I will often just turn the nestbox upside. Gives mom a place to sit and the babes a place to hide without making the nextbox dirty.
