My lionhead rabbit gave birth on Saturday,

Question

She had 4 adorable babies, they all look great. Very unexpected, she was given to me 5 weeks aog, and noone told me she was pregnant. :) This morning I found that she had a mouthfull of her own hair? I know they usually do that prior to giving birth bit is it normal to do it after giving birth? Her mouth was so full that she could not eat, I pulled it out of her mouth, there was alot. Can anyone help me? I have never had a bunny before, so this is all new.

Thanks,

Sonia

Answer 1

Cool, i have one of those rabbits

Answer 2

PLEASE Don't worry i breed Dwarf lop rabbits and they ALL do this,she is being a Very good mummy! As the female rabbit(Doe) pulls soft fur from her body(chest,stomach,legs) to keep the baby bunnies warm as they can't control their body temp. You aren't meant to touch the baby rabbits(kittens) but supposedly i doesn't make a difference! As the Doe is used to your/human smell,i find i can handled the kittens,basicaly as soon a they are born(i leave 24 hours just to let her be alone) The Doe will only feed the kittens every 24-25 hours as in the wild the doe gives birth in a tunnel underground which she blocks up the entrance when she leaves the babies to stop pretadors getting in and eating them, so the milk s formed to last them a day,so DON'T worry if you don't see her with them they normally feed the kittens at night. She should be fed up to 3-4 times her normal amount to keep he babies milk nutritous for them. She also will requrier a lot of water!

The babies will start to come out the nest at about 2-3 weeks at with you can fully start to handle them they should be weened at 8 weeks at which you can sell them! Hope this helps. P.S if she doesn't use the nest box then take it out as mine don't use theirs,otherwise sometimes the box can confuse them.

Answer 3

They do that to make a nest for their babies to keep them warm :) IT's normal just leave her to it  

Answer 4

Don't worry. The mother is just trying to keep her babies warm in a nest of her own fur. Do you have a box that the babies are in? Do you have a bunch of hay for her as well? Mother rabbits are really good at knowing what they need to do for their babies, that you normally just need to watch what's going on and not do too much. That's weird that you said the rabbit was given to you 5 weeks ago and pregnant. A rabbit's gestation period is 28 days from conception to birth. Only 4 weeks. Although good luck with the babies. Feel free to ask any questions. I am a 5 year rabbit breeder with 40 show rabbits of my own, so I know a few things.  

Answer 5

I'm sure your rabbit was just adding some more fur to the nest. Speaking of which, do you have a nest box that the babies are in? it might be a good idea to put them in one, so they can keep warm. Otherwise, congratulations on ur new baby bunnies! =D