When Are Baby Bunnies Old Enough to Hold?

To me, the best part of rabbit-breeding is the opportunity to hold newborn baby bunnies. I love snuggling rabbits of all ages, but there's nothing like the experience of cradling a mouse-sized kit in my own palm. Many friends, buyers and prospective breeders have asked me when a baby rabbit is old enough to hold. Unfortunately, there is solid answer that will be true for every kit, doe and guardian. Here are some points to consider if you're trying to determine when your baby bunnies will be big enough to handle.

1. Can you check on the babies without holding them? Even if you don't yet feel confident picking up your kits, you should inspect them every day for signs of illness and injury. Immediately after the baby bunnies are born, count them and look for signs of inherited defects or injuries incurred during birth. If any of the kits are dead, injured or visibly ill, remove them from the litter immediately.

2. Do you have a good relationship with the mother? If you are close with the mother rabbit, you're likely to have more luck handling the kits without disturbing her or jeopardizing the health of the babies. Mother rabbits who feel nervous around humans are more likely to panic when they see their kits being handled. However, if you're close with your doe and she has mothered multiple litters, you can likely handle the kits without causing her much distress.

3. She won't abandon the babies because of your scent. A common myth states that animals will abandon their young if the babies are handled by humans. According to folk legend, human hands change the scent of the babies, leading the mothers unable to identify their young. This is, in fact, untrue. The odor of your hands is not strong enough to mask or remove a kit's natural scent, and rabbits do not rely heavily on smell to identify one another. Some rabbits will abandon their young, often with no apparent reason, but it does not occur because of the smell of human skin.

4. Do you know how to handle kits correctly? If this is your first time holding baby bunnies, it's best to wait until they are a few days ( or possibly even a few weeks) old before you handle them any more than necessary. You should have already mastered the art of holding kits securely and gently before you begin handling them more than once or twice a day (or any more than you need to confirm their health and safety). Never let a child or someone who is unfamiliar with baby rabbits hold newborn kits.

5. Wait three weeks before you handle baby bunnies like grown-ups. After three weeks of age, most kits are strong enough and resilient enough to withstand regular petting, cuddling, and prolonged holding. Babies this age to need to be around their mothers and siblings for much of the day, but you can handle them in essentially the same way you would handle an adult rabbit.