Couple of Questions

My wife informed me tonite that, we will be able to get the lil bunnies, this weekend, so I've been racking my brain on how to house them in the kitchen.
Money is pretty tight right now, so going extravagant is out of the picture completely. We will be keeping them in the kitchen, at least for the duration of this winter cause of them being so young.
Question #1. Is it ok to Purchase rabbit fence from the local farming store and make a pen of sorts with individual nests inside. It would be cheap and be their hutch & play area all in one and plenty big for them while in the house. We are going to litter-box train them, or try to at least. I have a corner in the kitchen that would give them plenty of room for all of this.
Question #2. Since they are siblings and still very young, is one nest ok, or do I need to build two nests??
Question #3. What exactly should I be feeding them?? Pellets, veggies, herbs, a variety of all three?? They are about 5 weeks old. I have read thru the lists of foods to feed and not feed, but know what they should be fed at this point is not clear to me. I don't wanna pull the old, well this is what they was feeding them so I'll do it too. I want to make sure they are getting what they should.

Thanks so much for all the help, its greatly appreciated.
Joe

This is the fence that I was thinking of using for the pen. OK or no??

tractorsupply.com/fencing/welded-wire-fencing/rabbit-guard-fence-28-in-x-50-ft--3632149

I'm pretty sure that if they are 5 weeks that they are too young to leave Mum

Baby rabbits should be rehomed about 8 weeks old but longer will give them plenty of time for them to develop a healthy intestinal flora. Are you sure they are only 5 weeks old as that is a little too young and baby rabbits have such delicate tummies and a change of diet needs to be done gradually as it can cause serious digestive problems and sometimes even death.

I have no experiece of the Rabbit fencing, so I can't comment. However, if these babies are indeed 5 weeks, and you take them on (against advice, as too young), make sure you stick absolutely ridgidly to the diet they are currently on, changing it very gradually from age 12 weeks onwards. They will also need weighing every day to make sure they are not losing weight, and you need to keep a very close eye on the poos and wees.
The only reason for taking babies into care at this age is if they are orphans. They are NOT easy to rear at such a delicate age.
If they still have their mum, I would seriously suggest that you wait until they are quite a bit older (12 weeks is recommended).
The other thing to bear in mind, is that at this age, baby rabbits are not easy to sex. Even vets have problems sexing rabbits at very young ages. You may end up with a brother and sister, who WILL reproduce if not neutered.

FarplaceRescue wrote:I have no experiece of the Rabbit fencing, so I can't comment. However, if these babies are indeed 5 weeks, and you take them on (against advice, as too young), make sure you stick absolutely ridgidly to the diet they are currently on, changing it very gradually from age 12 weeks onwards. They will also need weighing every day to make sure they are not losing weight, and you need to keep a very close eye on the poos and wees.
The only reason for taking babies into care at this age is if they are orphans. They are NOT easy to rear at such a delicate age.
If they still have their mum, I would seriously suggest that you wait until they are quite a bit older (12 weeks is recommended).
The other thing to bear in mind, is that at this age, baby rabbits are not easy to sex. Even vets have problems sexing rabbits at very young ages. You may end up with a brother and sister, who WILL reproduce if not neutered.

Agree with this .

If they are taken from Mum too early, it's often a recipe for disaster I'm afraid.

A pen is fine, built from wire fence (no sharp edges) , but I can't get the link up. The holes need to be small, otherwise the little ones will escape and possibly cause havoc in your kitchen! More importantly, it needs to be safe so that they don't harm themselves. Rabbits have a habit of chewing wires and eating carpet, which at this stage of their lives in not a good option.

They'll need a large space, the beauty of fencing being that you can easily expand it.

If they are nest kits, they will most likely want to stay together.

Don't be feeding veges at the mo. Break up pellets, and give small amounts of herbs, like mint & basil, but no veg for a while. If you have any blackberry leaves around, small nibbles of these and the odd nibbles of dandelion, but most importantly, stick to the food they are on when they arrive. They can have as much hay as they want, and more pellets than you'd give an adult. Don't feed Muesli mix food, you'll never get them off it, and it's not good.


You can get them toilet trained, but when you have them neutered, they may well have to be re-trained.

These babies are too young to leave their mother at the moment. Whilst rabbits can survive perfectly well leaving their mum at 5 weeks (and I have one of them!) being delicate creatures, they need as good a chance as you can give them, and this reduces that. Although they will be weaned around now, it's best leave it until they are 8 weeks old, as mum may still feed them.

If you put up a pic or two of your kutchen set up we can give you some pointers, in case there's anything you've missed

I agree with what everyone has said re their age and also think that they should stay together.

They will be difficult to sex correctly being so young though so thats worth keeping in mind.

Im sure the pens will be fine, so long as they have an area inside they can escape into/under where they feel safe x x

Adding a probiotic to the water can help minimise the risk of upset tummies in baby rabbits when they are brought in to a new environment, it is something I would suggest looking in to as it supports the good gut bacteria. A change in environment is initially stressful and stressful situations can lead to the bad bacteria multiplying rapidly.

Be sure to include somewhere snug and dark for them to go where they can feel safe.

Hey, I agree with everyone else 5 weeks is way too young to be taking them, I was always told not to take them before they are 10 weeks old. Also you should feed them on whatever they have been fed on up till then, the person you are getting them off should give you several weeks worth of food, and then you can wean them gradually onto whatever food you want to feed them on. Pellets are better than muesli stuff though but I'm sure you know that!

As far as the pen goes i brought this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pet-Cage-Run-Play-Pen/dp/B004SXSER6/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1318967400&sr=8-5 There are 26 of these metal squares and you can attach them together with the connectors provided (although the gaps might be too big, so i attached them together with cable ties, which the pack also comes with!) It is by far the best thing ive bought so far, as you can swap and change it as and when you want, however you want. and it will last forever!! also easy for when it comes to neutering and you have to separate them for a bit you can just put some down the middle of their enclosure. I would defiantly recommend it!! and as your in the US they are even easier to get hold of and cheeper, Just search for 'wire mesh cubes' on google etc.

Keep us posted please!!

Well here is the link to the pics of the Cage I made, Lizzie I did not see your post prior to this evening or I would of looked into those. Will definitely keep them in mind for later tho.

I started getting the fence and wood this morning as soon as I got home from the Fire House, I started making my cuts and putting it together after I had some lunch. The wife and kids are out of town for the rest of the week so I didnt have distractions to contend with, which was a big help.

I did have to re-do some stuff or change the way it was put together a couple of times. It is 3 ft. wide, 5 ft long and 2 ft. high. I finally finished with it around 730 this evening, needless to say Im gonna relax and have a few cold one.

https://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb371/wfd7137/Rabbit%20cage/

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I'm going to make the nest box tomorrow, then all that's left is getting the toys and litter box. no biggie they can wait.

I'll probably end up using this as an extra run, once I make the outdoor hutch, in the spring.

Looks Fab - they are going to love it!

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[url=]MG]

Finally done with it!! just have to get a couple of little things, but Its ready for Move-In.