Often times people are concerned that the mother rabbit "is not feeding the babies," sometimes because she is never seen with them. This is normal behavior for a domestic (or wild) rabbit and that mother rabbits do not "lay" with their offspring in the same manner as dogs and cats.
Domestic rabbits retain some of the genetic imprints of their wild European ancestors, who are animals preyed upon by others in nature. Mother rabbits instinctually sense that staying with their offspring would call a predator's attention to the nest. Adult rabbits have a scent, while babies do not yest have a strong scent.
Most mother rabbits will not hop into the nest (or box) to check on their infants during the day, although she is usually watching from a safe distance. This is normal behavior.
Rabbits feed their offspring only once or twice per day and will only do so when they feel safe, usually just before dawn and/or just after dusk. If humans and children are continually gathered around the cage, the mother may become too stressed to nurse the infants.
There is a way to determine that the mother is indeed feeding the offspring. Did the mother rabbit pull fur? Did she shred papers, or gather hay or rip up carpeting (if housed indoors) in an attempt to "make a nest?" Mother rabbits usually make a nest any time between a few days prior to the birth up to the day of birth itself. She may also do so without an actual pregnancy.
A mature female will often pull fur to make a nest, with or without a male present and regardless of whether actual mating has occurred. This hormonal behavior is known as a "false pregnancy."
If the mother has pulled fur in an attempt to make a nest, she will probably be all right if her nest is appropriate. It is safe to examine the babies and move them, with the mother, to a more proper place, if necessary.
If the babies are scattered, cold and do not have plump tummies, the mother needs help making a proper nest box, and the babies need to be warmed up before anything else is attempted. No baby mammals can successful digest foods if their body temperature is below normal. This is extremely important to understand.
In this case, warm the babies as follows: Place a hot water bottle, filled with warm water (not hot,) into a small box of any kind. Line it with clean, terry cloth towels and place the bottle UNDER the towels. A small plastic container or a leak-proof plastic bag can be used if necessary. Make a small space within the nest and put the babies within the temporary warming nest.
Be sure the babies are not in direct contact with the warm water (it may become too hot for them.) Be sure that the towels do not have holes in them and are not frayed, because the fine threads could cut their delicate skin and holes could strangle them should they squirm through one.
In the meantime, prepare a proper box and nest for the mother, so she will feel secure when the babies are returned to her. Get a cardboard box, or make a wooden one, which is just slightly larger than the mother rabbit. It should not be too big, or the babies may scatter again and miss that important feeding.
A doorway should be cut in the center of one side, which is just large enough for the mother to fit through. The doorway should have a lip of about one-inch above the floor to help keep the babies in the box (until they are old enough to venture out on their own.)
Place a large handful of straw, grass or hay in the box and place it in a corner of the rabbit cage. Be sure it is not in the corner that she uses as a bathroom! Make sure that grass clippings do not contain any pesticides or fertilizers. Do not use fabric scraps, burlap, gauze or anything else with fine threads or holes in it. The straw/hay should be removed and replaced every three or four days as it may become soaked in urine. This is done by taking the babies out of the box, removing and later replacing most of the clean fur, and changing the rest of the bedding and lining the box with clean bedding.
The babies can be placed into the new nest as soon as their body temperature feels warm to the touch. (ONLY warm the babies if they have been scattered about on the cage floor. If they were huddled together in a good nest site, leave them alone, except to check whether they have been fed.).
Place the mother and the babies in a small, warm, quiet room. Give the mother a litterbox, in the opposite corner of the nest, if she's placed indoors. If she is not used to being in the house, this may stress her more than being left in her outdoor cage. The only thing to do in that case is add a proper nest area.
A well-fed baby will have a very distended tummy, looking like the "Pillsbury Dough Boy." If the babies' tummies are full, the mother is feeding them and the caretaker can rest assured. The babies can be examined every day if that will make the caretaker feel more assured.
If the babies have not been fed, they will have sunken tummies, their skin will be wrinkled from dehydration and they will be weak (their response to being handled will be weak or non-existent, although they will hopefully be breathing.) Scattered babies are more likely not to have been fed, so make sure that they are warm first.
If the babies are weak or dehydrated, veterinary intervention is advised. Placing a drop of honey or fruit jam into their mouths sometimes helps elevate their blood sugar level until veterinary help and/or mother's milk is available.
If you feel it is necessary to examine the babies every day to verify that they have been fed, pet the mother rabbit first, to help cover human scents, and avoid wearing heavy perfumes when handling the babies. It is best to handle the babies as little as possible until they are old enough to leave the nest box on their own.
If your concerns begin on the day of the birth, wait a day before attempting to do anything. Some mother rabbits do not feed their babies until the evening of the first day or early on the second day.
If it has been close to two days and you are positive that the babies have not been fed, a veterinarian must be seen immediately. Oxytocin will not produce results if you wait more than forty-eight hours after the birth.
If you think that the mother is injuring the babies while kindling (giving birth,) while feeding, or has "cannibalized" any of the babies (eaten them,) several issues should be explored. Sometimes a mother rabbit will accidentally injure the kits because her nails have never been clipped, the nest box is not proper, or she is stressed and skittish by too much activity around her. It is possible, if she is housed outdoors, that neighborhood predators, such as feral cats, raccoons or fox, are causing her anxiety at night. Some rabbits are highly skittish ("fractious") by nature.
Very young mothers, especially those under six months of age, may not "understand" what has happened to them and veterinary intervention is imperative. Nervous and young mothers sometimes abandon their nestlings for unknown reasons, which may include having produced unhealthy kits. Sometimes the nutritional status of the mother is highly inadequate.
If the mother seems to be cannibalizing the nestlings, nutritional deficiencies are but one of the possible scenarios. It is normal for these vegetarian animals to eat the afterbirth, as it is for most other mammals. It prevents predators from discovering the nest and provides the mother which some much-needed nutrients. Sometimes people confuse this behavior (if it is witnessed) with cannibalism.
As Baby Rabbits Come Of Age
As soon as the babies are weaned, at eight weeks, the mother rabbit should be spayed. She can then be placed back into the companionship of the now (hopefully) neutered male.
In any case of domestic rabbit babies, do not remove the babies until they are a full eight weeks of age. Separate the male babies from the females at this time. Males can become sexually mature as early as ten weeks!
Spay and neuter the offspring. Males should be neutered as soon as the testicles descend and females after four months but before a year of age. This is especially important in "open warrens," wherein rabbits run free; as one pair of mature rabbits, with their unaltered offspring, can produce more than 200 babies within a year. That is a lot of responsibility, which could be curtailed by simply altering the existing bunnies.
Altered babies will make much more adoptable bunnies, be better human companions, will live longer, and will never be a contributor to the pet overpopulation problem. They will be less likely to be dumped at a shelter, most of which would be unable to accept such large numbers and would probably have to euthanize most... if not all of them.
Rabbits that are put up for adoption, especially babies, are often "adopted" to feed predator pets, such as pythons. "Free to a good home" is not a good advertisement for a safe new place for them. People take "free" bunnies not only to feed predators, but less ethical persons take them to train their dogs to kill. Some use them for "religious" practices that use animal sacrifices, such as Santeria rites. Some take a "free" rabbit I order to eat it and others will kill it for their fur (pelt.)
If one raises baby Rabbits, it is ones responsibility to find a "good" home . It is ones ethical and moral duty to adequately interview potential adopters and find the best home for the babies.
The best places to post advertisements are at veterinarians' offices, organizations that promote Humane Education, "no-kill" shelters and civic organizations that support human services.
