The Mitchell Baby Bunny Blog: Four weeks old!

The kits turned one month old on May 11th.
I cannot believe that they have passed the four week mark already. On the other hand, it is hard to remember what life was like in our house before the BIG SURPRISE.

The kits are growing like crazy. They can run, jump, climb, and binky. They eat hay, pellets and use a water bottle. They can no longer fit through the tubes they use to runt through, although they do still like to chew them.

can barely get their heads through the bars now

Poor cuddles now has to share the second level of the condo with all five babies. Within the span of the last week, they all can jump up and down from there at will. One figured out how to jump up there, then the next day, the second, the following day the third, and then two days later, the last two managed it.

all 5 kits on the second level with Cuddles

having a rest

We spent several days trying different configurations of baby gates, boxes, etc to give them a play space in our living room that would also keep them from being under foot and out from under/behind the furniture, but each time, the little houdini's would find somewhere to sneak out. Which then meant a good hour of chase, grab, and miss while we tried to gather them back up again.

Cuddles is crowded by the kits

We have now given up, and decided to let them have the run of the living room and stairs. A baby gate stops them from going into the kitchen, and pool noodles cut to size and shoved under the edge of the furniture (along with some cardboard and pillows) keeps them from gettign under/behind the furniture. They can now run around all they want, but there are no hiding places that we cannot get them out of.

Of course, we now have to keep an eye on the three year old and his toys to make sure that he does not accidentally hurt them in his exuberant play, nor do they chew his toys and injure or make themselves ill.

Looking for crumbs

two babies sniff around Dad's cage

one baby tries to taste a storybook

Although, they are fun to watch as they race around the room, jump over your legs, or a toy, climb whatever they can find, and, of course, binky out of sheer excitement., they are also becoming a lot of work, and activity. It will be sad to see them go, but, at least for me, there will also be a sense of relief. They are no longer five little babies that the mom takes care of, but five additional rabbits to feed, clean up after, and watch over. Even their own mom is starting to have enough. She does still nurse them, and will continue to (less and less as the weeks go by) until they are around eight weeks, but unless she is feeding them or they lay down beside her, she tries to get away from them as much as possible.

Cuddles jump up on a chair as the babies circle below

We originally thought that we needed to keep the together with mom for 3 months, but as they are all eating and drinking well on their own, we will likely start adopting them out at 8-10 weeks instead. As the males can become "mature" as early as 12 weeks, we will want to make sure that the kits have either been adopted or separated by 11 weeks.

Enjoy the last week's worth of pictures.