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Baby lionhead rabbits
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09-04-2010 8:37am#1
My rabbit Evie had 6 babies this morning
They're very cute, and look to me to be healthy and wriggling and lovely. (though this is my first time ever seeing newborn rabbits) She has them completely covered in so much fur!
I'll take some photos later, cos she didn't seem to mind me touching them. 2
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morganafay wrote: »I have one photo of them in the nest. It's not great though. I'll take them out later for a minute and take proper photos.
is it a good idea to handle them this young, would it make the mother reject them - i don't know but thought i'd ask - congrats Grandmother Bunny 0 -
is it a good idea to handle them this young, would it make the mother reject them - i don't know but thought i'd ask - congrats Grandmother Bunny
Apparently that's a myth. I thought that at first too, but after reading loads about them and asking some breeders, they said it's fine to handle them. To check them every day to make sure they're feeding, etc, but not to disturb them too much. I think they're probably meant to just sleep all day because the mother only feeds them once or twice a day.0 -
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StormWarrior wrote: »A rabbit I had once killed her babies after I opened their side of the hutch and had a look at them.
It was mostly likely something else, looking at them will not cause the Mother to kill them, total wives tale. The babies may have been weak or sick, if she was outside, a predator may have scared her etc.
Oh and congrats on the new babies!
It is always good to handle them from day 1, so they will make good pets for someone when they are older, and to make sure they are feeding and healthy0 -
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If they were weak and going to die anyway, then the mother might kill them all so that she can have a new litter. My cat once abandoned half her litter of kittens (three days old) and I brought them inside and they died a few hours later. The mothers just know they'll die. I also had a cat who knew that three of her kittens were dying and did everything she could to try save them, even crouching right over them to keep them warm, but one survived.
Or if the mother was young or inexperienced. My rabbit is 9 months old anyway, so that's plenty old enough for a small breed rabbit. And she seems to know what she's been doing, since she been building the nest since the start of her pregnancy and pulled out so so much fur,
My rabbit seems like an excellent mother so far anyway I'm planning on handling them loads (just a tiny bit at first and much more after 2-3 weeks) to make them really good pets, and I'm going to keep one so I want her to be really tame and friendly 0 -
I just checked them again. I figured checking twice a day is a good idea. I took them all out and there was another one that was dead underneath them.
It looked strange, kind of stretched out and its stomach looked very big and strange. I expected for some not to live though.
The other six are doing fine though, I think. And they all seem to have fat bellies.
I'm new to this so not sure what colours they will be. The dad is black and the mom is Vienna marked sooty fawn (I'm told!) so I think 4 of the babies look like they'll be black. Though some have a little white crest on the heads. I must check their paws to see if they're pink too. So maybe some like their mom, or some black and white? I've no idea!0 -
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I want to keep one and sell the others. I know I'll be able to find homes because I made a fake ad to test it, and got over 20 replies, some looking for two rabbits. They're very popular and it's hard enough to find them it seems (Lionheads, or any breed really) unless you go to a petshop or want to travel for them. And I'll try my best to find good homes, and I'll make up an information leaflet thing for the new owners, with everything they need to know. Then I can only hope they're well looked after
Thanks Rabbitandcavy I hope they will have nice patterns, the mother has lovely markings (well i think so anyway!) 0 -
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Guineapigrescue wrote: »Since there will be an odd number of buns looking for homes will three be sold together?
Will the babies be vaxed against VHD and Myxo before they leave?
They'll be sold seperately or together, whatever the new owners want. I don't know if I should sell a male and female together though, just in case they don't get him neutered in time . . . ? If I did then I would definitely explain what age he needs to be neutered, since males and females are meant to be the best pair. I know rabbits like company, but it's not completely neccessary for them to go together. Not as much as with guinea pigs or kittens, in my opinion. I'd prefer to home to experienced rabbit homes who already have a neutered rabbit anyway. And an indoor home would be lovely. I won't sell to children, unless their parents have/had rabbits and really know what to do. I got so many people looking for them that I can be choosy. I'm just going to ask them a few questions and see how I feel about them. If someone wants three then I'll definitely give them three. Although I am not counting that all will survive yet, just in case. I'm so nervous of them until they get bigger.
And my vet recommended vaccinating at 3 months (I've heard that 2 months is ok though. I'm a bit worried about vaccinating young animals since I had a dog who died from a vaccination.) and the babies will be gone by then. That's a tough choice, if I get them vaccinated I will have to charge more (I am charging something for them, covering all their food/bedding costs and what not, but still less than a pet shop, but I don't want to charge people too much when they could just buy a cheaper rabbit. And they are purebred. I'm not going to make a profit though, since I have already spent alot and am going to use the money to convert the shed into a lovely rabbit shed for the parents, with an outside run of course.)
This might sound like I'm not such a great rabbit owner but I really care about them. The parents are my pets and I just want to provide nice pets to other people, with the most important thing being their health and temperament and that they are well socialised. The parents have brilliant temperaments. I would never have an animal for breeding that wasn't my pet, otherwise I would just feel wrong about it.
Oh an since putting in the shoe box last night she hasn't fed them. They aren't making sounds though, so don't seem too hungry. She is weird also as she seems to feed them late in the morning and early in the evening instead of at night, so I'm watching her until she feeds them (from a distance). 0 -
And I'm pretty sure I'm keeping the babies til 8 weeks so I can make sure they're ok. I will check the sexes soon, and keep checking until I am sure. I want to do the best for them, I really do. I'll handle them everyday, and bring them inside so they get used to being indoors, and they see my family. I'll give them lots of exercise (am getting a bigger run, my current is 4' square but am getting a 7' X 4', which should be great for small rabbits) and they'll be used to dogs and cats. I'll feed them properly, am gonna start growing herbs and veggies for the rabbits but unfortunately the babies won't be able to have these, as they have to only have hay and pellets for the first 2 months or more. Any signs of illness and they'll be straight to a vet. I really want to do it properly.
And you wouldn't believe how much I have read about rabbits in the last month! I've had rabbits for 6 years, but there was so much more to learn. I read a rabbit book, joined loads of forums, asked way too many annoying questions :P and read every web page about rabbits and mostly about baby rabbits/breeding. And I also asked my vet loads and a vet nurse (my teacher) and now I think I am well prepared to look after them. 0 -
The babies have all been fed! Panic over . . . they all seem so healthy, which is amazing. I'm still paranoid about them! My baby guinea pig was easier, he didn't seem so helpless.
Sorry for all the posts though . . . I'm gonna stop now really
(Just so excited about my baby rabbits, my friends are getting annoyed with me for talking about them!)0 -
Guineapigrescue wrote: »Since there will be an odd number of buns looking for homes will three be sold together?
Will the babies be vaxed against VHD and Myxo before they leave?
Sorry one more, I just thought, I will probably ask another vet (I have to anyway, because my vet doesn't have rabbits vaccinations) and then I will maybe vaccinate them if the new owners want me to, or tell the new owners that they should be vaccinated and leave it up to them. I know that some vets say that indoor rabbits don't have to be vaccinated, especially if they aren't in contact with outdoor pets. My friend's vet told her that, because she said there is really no way that a rabbit flea will get near them. So maybe I will leave it up to the new owners to decide? It's a hard decision . . . I really don't want them getting myxo, but even my teacher (vet nurse) said it is pretty unlikely . . . I don't know. I have two months to think about it anyway. I'll ask some breeders on forums.
See I'm just caught between not wanting to charge too much money, and not wanting them to get sick. But I am going to recommend to the new owners to take them straight to a vet after buying, and they can be checked up, and if there is anything wrong then they can get a refund straight away (just for their peace of mind) and to prove that if anything goes wrong afterwards, well they left here healthy as far as could be told. (Of course I will take them back anyway, but not give a refund if it isn't my fault, say if they catch anything afterwards, or whatever.) So maybe I will recommend that when they take them for their check up that they can vaccinate them then. I don't know, I know I sound like a bad rabbit owner now
Just thinking that I've never seen rabbits for sale saying "Rabbits will be vaccinated before selling" the way puppies and kittens are . . . maybe because rabbits are cheaper, the costs wouldn't be covered. There is really no profit in rabbits, unless you are mass breeding them cheaply. Which is not for me . . .
Sorry, this is really the last reply . .0 -
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I took some new photos because they're growing fur now
There's one with white paws and a white bit on the head (far left), and I am seriously falling in love with it! It's markings are very cute, I have a cat and a guinea pig that look similar! But I have to be careful or I'll want to keep them all. They're all black/black and white.
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Sure
All but one have gone to great new homes now. But I kept one girl, Lila.
Here they are at 2 week approx. with their eyes open. I just took them out of the nest to take photos and so I could clean out the nest, they didn't live on a bare floor.
Here are some of them at about 4 weeks I think. By 3 weeks they can nibble on food, by 4 weeks they were eating grass rabbit food and hay. They lived in a shed at night though or if it was raining.
Here is Lila, the one I kept. I haven't taken any photos recently, but she has gotten much bigger, and fluffier.
And here's Lila and her friend Lily
And I have a new litter at the moment, and here is one of them. I haven't taken many photos at all because I don't want to get too attached to them, haven't named them either, but I am definitely keeping a grey female (have to choose between two) and that'll be my last rabbit! For a long time anyway . . .
This is at about a week old I think, maybe even less, they got their fur in quite early, were born with some fur and with whiskers. They were very cute. It's a litter of five and all of them are doing great, the mother is brilliant. They are actually nearly four weeks old now but I haven't been taking photos.
I'm sure I should have more photos somewhere, I'll have a look later. I know I took dozens of photos . . . they were such a nice litter of rabbits. It was hard to let them go, but they got good homes. And at least I got to keep Lila. She was a very nervous rabbit for some reason, though the others were completely tame and friendly, so I was glad I got to keep her to make her more friendly myself. And now she's very brave and cheeky 0 -
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