Foster and abandoned babies

Most births go well. However it is important to be prepared for one or more of the following:

Abandoned babies by their mother
Inexperienced mothers who over zealously clean their babies
Too large a litter. The mother cannot cope and abandons one or more of the babies
Mother dies after giving birth
Babies with birth defects
Stillborn babies

Have spare wool from the mother to make a nest in a small box of clean cut up wool fibres
Consider mating more than one rabbit at the same time so they may be able to act as a foster mother if they have babies at the same time
Do not breed Angora rabbits that are too closely related to reduce the chance of genetic problems
Do not breed from Angoras that are too young or too old
Do not disturb the female rabbit while it is giving birth or in the first week of having babies unless there is a problem

Have a supply of small hot water bottles, towels, syringes or pipette feeders in case you need to hand rear
Most important thing is to ensure that babies are kept warm and dry and in a safe place if hand rearing

The success rate of hand rearing baby Angoras is quite low for the first 2 weeks as they really do need their mother’s milk
It is not impossible and can be done as a last resort if the birth mother has a problem after giving birth
Using a foster female rabbit is often the more successful approach, if they are producing milk and have babies of a similar age.

Having successfully hand reared baby Angoras, some of the rabbits have some unusual traits not found in naturally raised Angora rabbits
Hand raised Angora rabbits tend to be human focused and recognise and associate with people over other rabbits
They also tend to lack the socialising skills of rabbits and prefer people
They can lack the ability to keep themselves clean, as this is something they would learn from their mothers who initially would clean them
They usually lose the coat quality due to being handled and this can also be a side effect from a lower nutrient diet as they lack the nutrients from the mother’s milk
They will usually make good pet rabbits, but will rarely be of show standard