Kits coming out the nest🥺

[ShadowJudy56210]

Hey everyone! Hope all is well The kits are 11 days old and one of them already comes out the nest!!! He/she goes half in between the nest area and where the mom sleeps. Its cute but a little scary. I've never had baby rabbits and I'd hate to get N.B.E. (nest box eye). Then theres another one who comes out to the incubator light and BURIES themselves into the hay. I don't know how to stop that so any advice would be great. Here are some videos.

 

[MuddyFarms]

Hey everyone! Hope all is well The kits are 11 days old and one of them already comes out the nest!!! He/she goes half in between the nest area and where the mom sleeps. Its cute but a little scary. I've never had baby rabbits and I'd hate to get N.B.E. (nest box eye). Then theres another one who comes out to the incubator light and BURIES themselves into the hay. I don't know how to stop that so any advice would be great. Here are some videos.

That's so fun when they start exploring like that! Are all of their eyes open?

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

Awww that's very cute

 

[ShadowJudy56210]

That's so fun when they start exploring like that! Are all of their eyes open?

2 of them has their eyes mostly open but one of them still has its eyes shut. I'm actually very concerned about that one because the kit keeps burying itself in straight up hay! It's not even in the nest tomorrow jm thinking of moving them to the bigger cage and the buck to the smaller one. You think it's a good idea?

(And so I can make the nest a big bigger so they can move around more and put fresh bedding. )

 

[MuddyFarms]

2 of them has their eyes mostly open but one of them still has its eyes shut. I'm actually very concerned about that one because the kit keeps burying itself in straight up hay! It's not even in the nest tomorrow jm thinking of moving them to the bigger cage and the buck to the smaller one. You think it's a good idea?

(And so I can make the nest a big bigger so they can move around more and put fresh bedding. )

Their eyes should be ready to be fully open by now. They probably have a little crusty stuff holding them closed still, so you may want to help them out by cleaning that off. You can get a cotton ball or cotton round wet with some slightly warmed water (just so it isn't cold), then carefully moisten the crusty stuff on their eyes. You want to let the water soften the crusty stuff so the kits can open their eyes on their own. Once it is softened, you can gently help by wiping the gunk away. After that, there shouldn't be any issues with their eyes.

These kits and their mom are inside, right? If that is the case, it probably isn't too concerning that those two kits are hanging out away from the nest. They have a good amount of fur now, and with their eyes open they just love exploring. Especially since they can get back into the nest area easily, they should be fine. They are also very good at finding their way back to their nests as well.

I suppose you could move them if you want to (I haven't ever moved a doe with kits, though). It looks like the bigger cage has two floors (I looked at the pics on your other post)? I am wondering if the nest should be on the bottom floor of the cage, so the kits can explore that area and get back into their nest alright. If the nest was on the top floor, I would be concerned that they might end up exploring down to the bottom floor before they can climb back up. What are you thinking about where the nest should go?

Oh, I just noticed the wire grate on the bigger cage- I can't quite tell what the spacing is, but could the kits squeeze out of them?

I wonder if you could make the new nest in a box or container of some sort when you move the kits. Just make sure you include some of the fur from the original nest to help it smell the same to the kits and doe.

 

[ShadowJudy56210]

Awww that's very cute

Thank you

Their eyes should be ready to be fully open by now. They probably have a little crusty stuff holding them closed still, so you may want to help them out by cleaning that off. You can get a cotton ball or cotton round wet with some slightly warmed water (just so it isn't cold), then carefully moisten the crusty stuff on their eyes. You want to let the water soften the crusty stuff so the kits can open their eyes on their own. Once it is softened, you can gently help by wiping the gunk away. After that, there shouldn't be any issues with their eyes.

These kits and their mom are inside, right? If that is the case, it probably isn't too concerning that those two kits are hanging out away from the nest. They have a good amount of fur now, and with their eyes open they just love exploring. Especially since they can get back into the nest area easily, they should be fine. They are also very good at finding their way back to their nests as well.

I suppose you could move them if you want to (I haven't ever moved a doe with kits, though). It looks like the bigger cage has two floors (I looked at the pics on your other post)? I am wondering if the nest should be on the bottom floor of the cage, so the kits can explore that area and get back into their nest alright. If the nest was on the top floor, I would be concerned that they might end up exploring down to the bottom floor before they can climb back up. What are you thinking about where the nest should go?

Oh, I just noticed the wire grate on the bigger cage- I can't quite tell what the spacing is, but could the kits squeeze out of them?

I wonder if you could make the new nest in a box or container of some sort when you move the kits. Just make sure you include some of the fur from the original nest to help it smell the same to the kits and doe.

Yes I'll be putting them at the bottom and taking the ramp out so they can have access to that corner as well lol. I dont think they can because the cage has a high wood part (I'll send a photo), I'm just going to have to buy more chew toys so Judy doesnt eat the cage I was only thinking of moving them so they can have more space to roam and judy can relax further from the nest instead of coming out of the cage and being bothered by the cats (they wont hurt her but they follow her and sniff her. She hates it).

I dont see any gunk on it though, maybe it's a late bloomer? I read on the internet that sometimes it takes up to 13 days for their eyes to open so maybe?

(The first one is where the cage is. And the second one is the one of the sides of the cages. The wood is off the ground a good 2 inches in the front/back and on both sides 3 or 4 inches.)

 

[MuddyFarms]

Thank you

Yes I'll be putting them at the bottom and taking the ramp out so they can have access to that corner as well lol. I dont think they can because the cage has a high wood part (I'll send a photo), I'm just going to have to buy more chew toys so Judy doesnt eat the cage I was only thinking of moving them so they can have more space to roam and judy can relax further from the nest instead of coming out of the cage and being bothered by the cats (they wont hurt her but they follow her and sniff her. She hates it).

I dont see any gunk on it though, maybe it's a late bloomer? I read on the internet that sometimes it takes up to 13 days for their eyes to open so maybe?

(The first one is where the cage is. And the second one is the one of the sides of the cages. The wood is off the ground a good 2 inches in the front/back and on both sides 3 or 4 inches.)

Okay. I was just thinking they might climb in between the cage grate area to get out and explore. Kits are amazingly capable of getting out of things and they like to climb. It might just depend on how big they are when they start really wanting to get out and see the world!

 

[Cosima]

I don’t think you should move till the kits are stay out of the nesting boxes almost all the time.