10 just born Silver Marten babies.

We woke up this morning to 10 Silver Marten babies! This is great news – but we’re also a little nervous because this is the mama’s first litter.

Proof she’s new to this whole “baby” thing? She didn’t pull fur and had the babies in the nestbox, but not in the hole. This resulted in 10 chilly baby bunnies.

Without even thinking about it for more than a moment, I pulled my first true rabbit breeder move and loaded all 10 of those suckers close to my skin and then went about the rest of the chores. By the time everyone was fed and watered the babies had warmed and we were able to tuck them back into the nestbox.

Because the mama didn’t pull hair, we lined her hole with dryer lint then pulled hair for her. Pulling it from the tummy helps stimulate milk production, but I’ve found it’s easiest to get clumps of hair out of the rabbit’s flank area. (Left to their own devices the doe will pull hair from any part of her body she can reach, specifically her dewlap and tummy.)

As of tonight we have warm babies and a mama who is looking quite skinny now that all those offspring are out of her tummy. Time to enjoy watching them grow!

Tagged: how to warm a cold rabbit, keeping a bunny warm, silver marten