beach chick Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 (edited) well, knock me down with a feather! Ruby has got more friendly again after all her growling and biting, but no sign of any babies, so I decided she was having a phantom pregnancy - its about a month since we thought she could be pregnant - and therefore it would be safe to move her run onto fresh grass without upsetting her. so I popped her in Arthur's bit of the run, took all her bits including home-made nesting box out and called mr beach chick to help me move the main run. then I picked up the nesting box and asked him to look into it with me, saying "no, there are definitely no babies" - and there at the back was a perfect little mini-Ruby fur, ears, etc etc, same colour as Ruby, and I would guess maybe 2-3 weeks old?? ie not a new-born, but hasnt been out of the nesting box yet (or not that we've seen anyway). so we know there's at least one; desperate to know if there are more but will have to wait til she deigns to show them the world... VERY exciting! I am going to just leave her to it; the nesting box seems to have been cosy enough for a new-born, and she's obviously doing the right things. baby's first venture out will be onto grass but that's what would happen in the wild so I'm fingers crossed it will be ok. Edited September 3, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LolaLayla Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 How exciting. Does the nest box have a lip at the front to stop the baby being accidentally pulled out the nest by mum when she is feeding it? My rabbit had babies on 1st July so we have been through this too. They are so lovely when little As you say the baby must be weeks old as they are totally bald and have their eyes closed when newborn. Well done Ruby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted September 3, 2011 Author Share Posted September 3, 2011 no lip, but the box entry point is ground level, and I would have seen if one had been pulled out... this one has its eyes open!! desperate to have a good nosy about but dont really think I should - tho everything you read on t'internet says things like 'handle immediately' and 'check for dead babies' etc etc. I guess I have to assume that as she's got this far she's done ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LolaLayla Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Their eyes open about 10 days old. I would say to handle the baby now as you want it to get used to being stroked and lifted early on. I was told by an experienced breeder it was safe (and recommended) to do so after a week. I had to lift a baby back into the nest when it was only a day old as it had been brought out by accident I was just careful to stroke mum first to get her scent and to move the baby as quickly as possible. There seemed to be no problem with me doing that and mum (mini lop) looked after all 8 babies brilliantly. As I said from 1 week on I was checking the babies by lifting them and I also changed out the nest box filling then for hygiene reasons (there were 8 babies, as you have 1 maybe it will not be so necessary). I replenished it with new hay but put some of the old fur back in, at first mum came to look to see what was going on but as the days went by she did not seem worried by my intervention. Latterly she didn't bother coming to see what I was doing at all when I was handling the babies. Good luck with the baby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted September 3, 2011 Author Share Posted September 3, 2011 thanks lolalayla, I think we will have an investigate and a bit of a tidy up too. I was planning to keep some of the cleaner straw and fur. will report back!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LolaLayla Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Great. Look forward to hearing an update Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted September 3, 2011 Author Share Posted September 3, 2011 Here they are! 2 lovely babies but also sadly 2 dead ones - very very tiny, must have died pretty soon after birth I think sooooo cute! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted September 3, 2011 Author Share Posted September 3, 2011 oh my sizings gone funny, dont know what I've done wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted September 3, 2011 Author Share Posted September 3, 2011 and one more - "hello mum!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarlettohara Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 They are lovely - what a nice surprise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LolaLayla Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Lovely! Just going by my girls babies I think they may be about 2 weeks old. I just had a look at a video I took of ours at 3 weeks and I would say they looked older than yours do at the moment. What breed are yours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted September 3, 2011 Author Share Posted September 3, 2011 I'm thinking they are probably coming up to 2 weeks old, but need to check back on my other thread to find a rough idea of birthdate, I know I posted when she was pulling her fur. they still not venturing out yet. Ruby seemed fine with us holding them etc, but she clearly knows the nesting box now smells different although I kept a small bucket full of fur/straw from the top layer - she has a good sniff then veers away, then goes back. hope everything will be OK. they are minilops I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LolaLayla Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 My rabbit pulled her fur about 3 days and then again 1 day before she gave birth so that may help you with dates. They will soon start to come out and eat what mum is eating. I was told not to give them access to vegetables as it can upset their digestive systems. Mine were on grass too and although they ate some of that it was ok. I tried to keep the babies out of the way when mum had greens (which apparently is good for her when she is producing milk). I am sure Ruby will be fine with you changing the nest and is just interested in what has been going on. Are you going to keep the babies? We kept one boy to keep our rabbit company. (She was on her own before and went to visit a gentleman rabbit :wink:in the hope she would have babies and we could keep one for her). He will be off for the boys op asap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted September 3, 2011 Author Share Posted September 3, 2011 I think they were born about 22nd Aug, so roughly 2 weeks old. the girls want to keep them of course! so we will, but ideally I would like to bond them into a family group of 4 - we've quite a big hutch for night time and can expand the daytime run. not sure if that would work but dont really want 2 separate set-ups... Arthur is off to the vet on tues for the old cojones removal - but obviously we'll need to know what sex the babies are!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LolaLayla Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Thought you might like to see how they grow! This is mum and baby (9 weeks old). He is so big already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted September 4, 2011 Author Share Posted September 4, 2011 awww, lovely! but wow, he's practically the same size as mum already Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted September 6, 2011 Author Share Posted September 6, 2011 had to move Ruby and the babies into the shed today, the wind and rain was so bad... they seemed to approve tho because the babies came out and had a good nosy around - first time we have seen them out and about! one is the spitting image of Ruby (blue-grey) and the other has little apricot-coloured patches - behind the ears, and a pale tummy, which must have come from Arthur. so cute, and they just bimble about. they have been trying to eat Ruby's food, but then track her down and try and feed - she's not having it when they are out and about tho! Arthur had the cojones removed today, so now it is the 40 days apart for him and Rubes and then we can start reintegrating them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LolaLayla Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Good to hear all going well. I found that feeding was very much on mums terms too. I only saw her feeding them twice while in the run and that was when they were a good few weeks old. Hope Arthur is recovering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted September 7, 2011 Author Share Posted September 7, 2011 Arthur doesnt seem to have noticed anything different bless him so funny - youngest has trained him to run from the outdoor run to his hutch at night-time - she lifts him out of the run and puts him down about 10ft from the hutch, and he makes a bee-line for it, where his pellets are waiting. only tonight, one of our cats was in the way - dont know who was more shocked, Arthur, Sooty or youngest!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted September 14, 2011 Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 need to take more photos, but the babies are doing really well - eating grass, running around a lot. they look quite different to each other - Gremlin is the absolute mirror image of mum Ruby in terms of colour, but he/she's a funny looking little thing. very short ears which stick out sideways; a very broad head; and a nose that looks totally flattened - resembles a guinea pig!! the other one -no official name yet - is a paler shade of grey with touches of apricot (from dad Arthur) on the nose, inside the ears, belly and tail, and looks much more like a proper rabbit than Gremlin does! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LolaLayla Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Good news that they are both still doing well. I would love to see more photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 still need to take more photos.... sexes still not identified but they are so cute! youngest is calling them Harry and Niall out of the 1 Direction boys, but I am sticking with Gremlin and Koala. Arthur is back in with them all, and they are a very happy little bunny family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
