Removing nest box

[Suzy74]

Hi all!
Kits are 16 days old today so I'm considering removing the nest box. Low temperatures will be in the upper 30s and lower 40s for the next week. Should I give them a small box or will just some hay in the cage be enough to keep them warm?

 

[Tale of Tails Rabbitry]

I may move mom and kindle to another cage at around 14 days old (because we have a "kindling suite" and breeding on a rotation schedule presently), but I still provide a nesting box for the kits until weaning.

 

[Suzy74]

If I leave the nesting box, should I pull out all the old materials and replace? I read somewhere about nesting boxes being a potential source of eye infections. I'm guessing because the nesting material gets soiled and breeds bacteria? But if I replace it with fresh bedding I'd think that would negate any risk.

 

[promiseacres]

Yes clean that box! At those temps I would provide a box for kits but it will continue to get messier as they grow so clean often.

 

[Bunnylady]

Yeah, they are bad about pooping and peeing right where they are, and can make a nasty mess. Also, you want to get whatever fur the mother may have pulled out of there - they tend to eat the nesting material at that age, and they sure don't need to be ingesting fur!

Depending on the size of the litter and the size of the kits (and temperature, of course), you may be able to remove the box by the end of the week. Certainly, if the kits are so big/numerous that they can no longer all fit in there, the box will have lost a lot of its usefulness for keeping the litter warm.

 

[Tale of Tails Rabbitry]

Before we built the kindling suite, we used nesting boxes with wood sides and wire bottoms in the cages from kindling time to weaning time...and I still use them when it is warmer because we double up our breeding schedule. I usually clean them out and replace the hay at about their 14th day. They do not need the mother's fur in the nest to stay warm by then with those temps, but I think they still need the box.

However, it kind of depends on the conditions as to whether the nesting box needs to be cleaned out often or not. If the kits continue to use it for a bathroom, then clean and replace the hay more than once a week but at least once a week is a good practice. I really have not had to clean nesting boxes more than once a week as a rule, but we have large roomy cages and most of our kits from 14 days and older use the nesting box to sleep and do most of their business outside of it. However, some kits just do not get that until it is removed.

It is one of those judgement calls because so much depends the size of your cages, moisture, how the kits are using the box, what kind of nesting box you have, etc. If you are using a cardboard or plastic box than urine cannot drain out of, then you absolutely need to clean it out.

So basically, when in doubt, clean it out.

 

[mystang89]

The box definitely needs to stay clean or it will start to contain maggets and other nasty stuff. Take it the good for and place it aside. Scrape it the bad, clean it, then put the good fur back in.

I normally don't take it the box until the kits are jumping out and won't stay in. Even then, I just last it in its side so they can come out and go in when they want.

It's only after I feel they are too big for the box that I take it oou completely. My cages may be larger than what you have though so it's a personal choice.