Should the doe rabbit leave the nest for long time?

Question

My doe rabbit has just delivered her first litter of 1. She has made a nest to keep it warm and has fed it once as far as we know. But apart from this she completely ignores it. I dont think shes neglecting it but is it normal for the doe to leave the nest for a long time?

Answer 1

The doe will only visit the nest once or twice a day to feed her kits. They do not sit or lay on the nest, like some birds do.

What your doe is doing is completely normal, no need to worry!

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Does only feed and tend to their kits 1 or 2 times a day. They do not like to care for them when anyone is watching. This is a form of protection for the kits.

The mother will not stay in the nest box more than 10-15 minutes at the most. She is doing exactly what she is supposed to do.

Answer 4

They only feed once a day, usually late at night, so you'll probably never see it. As long as the kits are PLUMP and WARM, they're doing just fine =0)

Also, it is ok to handle the babies. All rabbit breeders inspect the nest the first day to clean it and remove any stillborn kits. The mother WILL NOT abandon the nest because you handled them, this is just an old wive's tale.

You can even take a kit from a doe who may not be producing enough milk for her kits and place her with another doe. But this can only be done in the first 10 days. after that the doe will know it is not her kit and ignore/kill the newcomer.

Answer 5

The doe will not stay on the nest except to feed, warm, and to protect.  But if you mess with the nest, some  rabbits will desert the nest so don't mess with it, if you have to make sure you rub your hand on the rabbits nose so the nest smells O. K. to her.  When the kits are hungry they will call and momma will go feed them.Hope this helps. Good luck 2u.

Check out this web sight.   www.debmark.com/rabbits/basics.htm

Answer 6

Rabbits do not stay by their babies. They only go to the nest once or twice a day for only about 5 minutes at a time to feed them. Other than that they really try to AVOID the nest. It's just their instincts; if they were in the wild there would be predators who would eat baby rabbits so the mothers stay away from the nest so they don't attract attention to it. Domestic rabbits do this too.

Answer 7

in the wild rabbits will only feed their kits once or twice a day , usually in the dark, this is because in the wild if a fox or wild dog watches them going in and out of the burrow all day then they know that babies are in there and will dig them out.

some people lock the does in with the babies, this isnt a good idea as it will stress the h**l out of the rabbit because it has the urge to leave the babes