How To Care For And Raise Baby Rabbits
I believe some of the cutest creatures in the world are baby rabbits. If you have a pregnant doe or a female rabbit, you need to ensure that these nearly helpless little offspring have everything they need to survive and thrive upon and after birth. Kits, or baby rabbits, are born blind and deaf with very little fur, they rely solely on their sense of smell and touch to navigate through their siblings and find the nourishment and comfort from mother's nipple.
Before your baby rabbits come into the world, you need to have the proper set up for mom where she is safe and all of the necessary precautions are taken to ensure your doe and kit survival. The first thing you need to do is to provide the mother with a friendly and comfortable nesting area. This can be a cage, a small room or anywhere else where the mother rabbit has a clean room to move around that is protected from the elements and other animals and children. If you have other rabbits, the mother will have to be isolated to her own area to have her kits. Never house another rabbit, including the father in the same cage as cannibalism has been noted to occur on rare occasions, especially when the food source is low.
The doe will also need in her area a nest box; this can be a small wooden box. It should have enough room for her and the babies to lie down and turn around or you may simply wish to use a litter box and line it with the proper materials. Pine shavings are great to line the bottom with; they are an all natural way to soak up any moisture such as urine or birthing fluids. Then add a second cushy layer of Alfalfa, Timothy Hay, or just plain dried grasses. Do not be surprised if the mother adjusts this mixture or even takes some of her own fur to add to the warmth of the nest. This is all normal and natural behavior of the doe in preparation of her giving birth.
If everything goes well, you will not have to worry about feeding or otherwise caring for your baby rabbit. In fact it is better to not get that human smell all over the babies; this may confuse the mother and cause her to reject them. It is important however that after about two weeks you double the food supply you are giving the mother as all the baby rabbits will be starting to munch on solids. A sad fact is that trying to feed a baby rabbit less than two weeks is almost impossible; the formula often ends up in their lungs instead of their stomachs and causes death. This should be a last ditch effort if the doe does not feed her litter for more than a couple days.
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