The Beginners Guide to Taking Care of your new Born Kits (baby bunnies)
When your kits are born its so important to know how to not only care for them but to know how to help them be wonder snuggly pets from day one.
When My first babies where born I had to call my mentor a lot almost daily I wanted to do everything right! She taught me everything I know, and now I want to help all of you! The featured picture on this article is of my very first kits! Aren’t they so sweet! It was so exciting and I was in love instantly. That never changes, I love them all and love to snuggle them all! I don’t believe in putting them in cages and ignoring them. Our kits are loved, snuggled, talked to and played with every single day! I will now help you know how to take care of and raise your cute fir babies the best way you can 🙂
kit baby holland lops baby bunnies
If you can’t committee to this kind of care your SHOULDN’T be getting bunnies especially to breed! They deserve to truly loved not ignored
New Born Kits
This may surprise you (it did me) when those new babies are born the best thing to do is let the Mom do her job! She will clean them, feed them and care for them. In most cases you don’t have to do anything!!! In some cases however you might have to step in. We will address that farther down.
Now for the social side of raising new kits…. Hold those babies from day one!!!! BUT……You should dedicate one person for the first week to 14 days to be allowed to actually pick up the brand new babies. Everyone else in your home should AWE with their eyes only, so that mom doesn’t get stressed from to many scents on her babies. Pick them up and hold them every single day! get them use to being held.
HEAT AND COLD the heat and cold can kill the babies. If they are outside simply pick up their nesting box and take them in the house to keep warn or cool down. Mom will be fine with them gone. Just bring them back twice a day to be feed or move mom inside with them.
Mom only usually feeds her babies twice a day and then tends to stay away from them other than that. Its in their nature to stay away from baby to protect them from predators so don’t panic if she’s not with them every 5 seconds.
Make sure mom has endless food and water to keep up her strength and nutrients daily as she feeds her babies.
Make sure there is always plenty of straw in the nesting box.
Continue to only let the one person touch the kit until they’re at least one week and then they can pet them but not hold them until 2 weeks old.
How do you know if they are being feed????? Well it is actually pretty easy. Turn them over several times a day you will know if they are being feed because their tummy will be swollen and kinda white, like you can see the milk through the tummy 🙂
Never keep dad with the babies he might or will kill them.
How to Care for 2 week old kits
holland lop baby
By now they should be cute and furry :). Mom will continue to care for them and you will continue to hold them daily.
Over the next few weeks you can now let your kids hold then with you right there, but not anyone outside of the family.
Their eyes will eventually open, they will get even fuzzier and adorable and they maybe begin to start climbing out of the nesting box so make sure they aren’t any where they can fall out and get hurt.
If they find their way over to their moms food and water that is okay, that’s what’s supposed to happen 🙂 If your mom is litter trained like ours then she will also teach them where to go potty 🙂 its awesome.
Keep holding and snuggling them daily. Be sure to turn them on their backs and scratch their tummy this will help them to get use to it and learn to love it 🙂 some more than others.
At one month old that’s when I will allow others to start to hold them
One Month and on:
Orange Holland Lop Baby
When they hit 4 weeks I will now start checking gender. I will do this several times a week so they are use to it and don’t freak out and if you laid them on their backs lots and scratch their tummy like I said prior they should do pretty good with this.
They are probably eating a lot more food now make sure they have plenty of food and water at all times.
Again remember with all buns especially kits/babies don’t leave them out side in 90 or higher or 20 or less, bring them inside! really the same should go for the adults too.
Always keep snuggling them! every day!
At 5 Weeks take them away from mom. Put them in a separate big enough space (not a small metal cage!) so they can run and have the zoomies. They can stay together until like 12 weeks.
If saying them you really should not let them leave until 8 weeks old.
What is a Peanut:
You will know if one of your kits/babies are a peanut because they look a little different they are really shaped like a peanut shell. Sadly these babies will always pass away. You don’t need to do anything just let nature take its course but once the kit passes you will want to remove it right away.
A peanut is an abnormally small dwarf rabbit that dies with its first two weeks of life, but usually within several days of birth. They are extremely small, even at brith they are almost half the size of their normal siblings. They re very skinny and almost look like a peanut. They tend to have bulging eyes, nose, and or bottom and extra tiny ears.
A runt is not to be confused with a peanut. A runt is just small and looks normal and will usually be just fine.
What do i do if mom wont feed:
First to be sure this is actually the case check babies tummies, if the baby is very wrinkly, cold, bluish in color, their tummies don’t look full, or maybe even crawling around looking for mom when they should be sleeping (which the do A LOT of) then yes you may be right they are probably not eating enough.
If we decide okay mom isn’t feeding her kits then you try to help her do it. You do this by holding your bunny over her kits so they have a chance to latch on and nurse. Make sure to pet mom while doing it so that she is calm. If the kits/babies attach and drink this will most likely fix the problem.
If mom died at birth, still won’t feed the babies, or aggressive to them you will need to take the babies out.
One option that works great is if you have another mom who gave birth at the same time and they are all just a couple days old you can add them to the other moms litter and she will take them on as her own and care for them.
If that doesn’t work or there isn’t another mom to do that with then you will need to feed and groom the kits your self. See attached article below for this. It is no easy thing but you can do it!
If selling them you really should not let them leave until 8 weeks old.
Common Questions/FAQ About Baby Kits/Bunnies
Question 1 How to prepare for coming babies/kits
Question 2 How to feed your new Kit/baby bunny your self if there’s no mom to do it.
Hold those babies everyday! at first just a little bit don’t maul them, but hold them so they love to be held as adults! All of our bunnies love snuggles and it’s because we held/hold them every day. Lay them on your lap on their back and scratch their tummy, scratch their backs, and the back of their neck. Talk to them, use their names. They will love you for it and they will feel so safe and happy.
If you can’t or don’t want to do these things then these little sweeties aren’t for you and you shouldn’t get one! or breed them! If that sounds mean I am okay with it, these fir babies deserve to be with kind loving people.
