# Baby bunny emergency...



## LadyIsabelle2011 (Dec 19, 2012)

Hey guys,

The last bunny that I expected to have babies today had them last night. She had six and didn't even try to make a nest. They were all scattered and cold I only managed to save 3 of them. They are still a little cold but wriggling,  I had to use my tummy as a hot water bottle. 

Anyway, I'm not sure what to do from here. I have doe that is currently raising a litter (she is taking excellent care of her own three babies), I was wondering if it would be a good idea to put them in there and how I could do that without disturbing her?  Will the kits advanced age be a problem, they are about 3 days older.

Should I try to get the real momma to nurse them at least once before putting them in the other nest box?

Thanx for your help!


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## LadyIsabelle2011 (Dec 19, 2012)

I'd really love a response here guys  Please 

Editted to add: I went ahead and put them in the nest box, they were warm and wiggling but still a little sluggish. The other does babies are HUGE now, big and fat and very very active. I did not expect them to have grown so much in just a few days  I'm just not sure these little ones have a chance. :/


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## Rabbit-boy (Dec 19, 2012)

First of all don't put them in a nest box what u need to do is Brest feed them on the mama......


step 1-get the mama and put her the floor or on a table....
step 2-slowy hold the mama down so she cant get away....
step 3-take a baby and lift the mama fount feet up just in tell all the baby's are under her....
step 4-check if all the baby's had eaten then put them in a nice warm box INSIDE.......with hey and pine shaves....


in worst case you can use a nest box but just put the nest box in the cage-hutch and then put the mama in the nest box slowy.....then take the nest box out and put it back INSIDE....


I really hope this helps i have had that happen to me before.....


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## LadyIsabelle2011 (Dec 19, 2012)

Rabbit-boy said:
			
		

> First of all don't put them in a nest box what u need to do is Brest feed them on the mama......
> 
> 
> step 1-get the mama and put her the floor or on a table....
> ...


Thank you bunny boy, but I already tried this. The mamma starting kicking and thrashing around, she nearly killed one of her kits. I also tried holding her on her back and putting them on her belly but that didn't seem to help either. She wasn't having anything to do with them. I was afraid of doing anymore damage so I moved them out with some other kits. I just went in checked and they are nice and warm and moving around again. I gave them  a little drop of sugar water for added energy which they ate greedily. (except for one which was very well hid, I'm a little worried about that one :/ ) The momma rabbit out there didn't seem bothered by them being their so that is a relief. 

I will just have to wait to see how it goes. Thank you for the reply


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## Bossroo (Dec 19, 2012)

Lady Isabelle ...  you gave the best chance for survival for these newborn kits  by giving them to the other doe with the older kits.  Female rabbits will nurse all  kits in her nest  at night ...   in the evening then early morning.  The doe will enter her nest to nurse, then immediatly leave.    She will ignore the nest as well as the kits at any other time.  You can check if their bellies are full in the morning.


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## LadyIsabelle2011 (Dec 19, 2012)

Thank you bossroo, 

I needed a little reassurance. I had to make the decision fast because I wasn't able to keep them warm, I felt like more I messed with them the less chance they had and I knew her nest was warm at the very least. Do you think the babies will have the energy to nurse and hold their ground with those bigger ones? They aren't that much bigger but they are much more active. :/


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## CrazyCatNChickenLady (Dec 19, 2012)

No input here for you but good luck with your babies!!


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## LadyIsabelle2011 (Dec 19, 2012)

CrazyCatNChickenLady said:
			
		

> No input here for you but good luck with your babies!!


Thank you!  I just did a quick check, I lost the one I was worried about but the other two are holding strong and look a lot better than they did this morning. I currently have six babies all together. 4 older kits(I got a good count) and my 2 little ones. 

I'm not as upset about the lost kits as I thought I would be, I'm just glad the survivors are getting a chance.  Praying that the momma will do better next time.


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## Prairiechick (Dec 19, 2012)

This happens, and it is a good reason for breeding more than one doe at the very same time.  I always try to have two bred at once in the case that one doesn't take care of theirs.  If the kits aren't too far apart in age, it is the easiest way to put them in with the one good momma.   I have one stupid doe that has yet to kindle in a box, but she produces good offspring, so she stays around.  I keep a bag of fur that either has been molted out that I pick up when it is clumped around in the cages, or I save them from does who lost litters, or if the fur is still clean enough from a weaned litter, I will save that too.  That way, if you have a doe who doesn't pull any or enough, you won't be left without for the kits to keep warm in.
Good luck with the survivors.  It can be a sad thing to try breeding rabbits sometimes, but when it all goes smoothly, it is a pretty cool thing.


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## Bunnylady (Dec 19, 2012)

Since there are only 3 other kits in the older litter, the new kits should be able to compete. As to the one that didn't make it - I've had some babies that seemed to have a death wish. They seemed energetic and normal at birth, but I kept finding them in corners away from the other kits. If they haven't the instinct to snuggle with their siblings, they are almost impossible to raise. Sorry about your losses, but congrats on the successes!


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## DianeS (Dec 20, 2012)

Sorry I didn't see this earlier, but you DID do exactly the right thing in putting them with the other litter. Mom won't care, might not even notice. And with those numbers the new kits do stand a chance of getting to nurse and of living. Congrats on two living kits!


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## Bitterroot (Dec 20, 2012)

How are they doing today?  Fingers crossed!

My first time momma is doing excellent.  I'm shocked, she's handling it like an old pro.  I've been bringing the babies in at night since she seems dead set on eating all the hay in their nestbox and ignoring her overflowing manger, but other than that, couldn't ask for more out of her.


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## LadyIsabelle2011 (Dec 20, 2012)

Thanks guys,

The 2 little ones are still doing good. Active as ever but their tummies aren't as full as I would like. I'm thinking on fostering them to powder since her kits were born on the same day,  but I'm worried 8 kits might be a bit much for her and I don't want to sabotage a good thing so I might just leave them with the older kits.  

@Prairiechick -I actually did have a little bit of fur that I had collected a few weeks before, it wasn't as much as I needed but it certainly helped with warming them up at first. For some reason rabbit hair is very heat conductive. 

@Bunnylady - I know what you mean, normally I can just pick up a baby animal and know something isn't going to go right with it. This one was a lot limper than it's siblings and just didn't have much of a spark. I felt sad when it passed though, it was the only broken colored kit that I had pulled through and was a little special to me already. :/

@DianeS - Thank you  She noticed I was up to something and came to investigate, even took a questioning sniff at the nest once I was gone but I don't think she ever figured it out. 

@Bitterroot -That is awesome to hear Bitterroot, my other first time mom powder had a litter of 6  the other day and is doing a wonderful job at it as well, she is even more attentive than the older doe.  But she also has the habit of snacking on her nest hay. 


Thanks for the replies everybody!


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## Bitterroot (Dec 20, 2012)

If you need more nest lining, try dryer lint.  I've had to whip some out of my stockpile the last couple days and it works well.


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## LadyIsabelle2011 (Dec 21, 2012)

Cool, but thankfully the girls are doing a wonderful job keeping their nests lined. Older doe even pulled more fur the other day because of cool weather, I was kinda proud of her


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## Prairiechick (Dec 21, 2012)

My daughter's Holland Lop kindled last week.  We lost all the kits, but not for lack of momma trying to keep them warm.  She pulled so much fur that I thought was as going to be bald before she stopped!  I saved some of it and put some in a nest that didn't seem to have enough for the weather we were supposed to (and now do) have.
I had a litter of 8 Californians this last week too.  I never kindle during this time of year for fear of losing litters, but with the exception of the HLs, they are all doing quite well.


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## DianeS (Dec 22, 2012)

LadyIsabelle2011 said:
			
		

> The 2 little ones are still doing good. Active as ever but their tummies aren't as full as I would like. I'm thinking on fostering them to powder since her kits were born on the same day,  but I'm worried 8 kits might be a bit much for her and I don't want to sabotage a good thing so I might just leave them with the older kits.


I wouldn't mess with the setup you have already, since it's working OK. But you can keep an eye on the size of Powder's kits vs the size of the orphaned ones. (They're the same breed, right?) If Powder's get noticably larger than the orphaned ones, you could swap two for two - put two of Powder's largest in with the older litter and put the two orphaned in with Powder. Or... if you're feeling creative, put two of the smallest older kits in with Powder, and two of Powder's in with the older ones and the orphaned ones. Whatever works! But what is happenning now is probably just fine, and personally I would not change it unless the two orphaned ones get significantly less milk than they "should". Three days age difference is nothing to worry about, a few more days and it won't matter at all.


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## LadyIsabelle2011 (Dec 22, 2012)

Prairiechick said:
			
		

> My daughter's Holland Lop kindled last week.  We lost all the kits, but not for lack of momma trying to keep them warm.  She pulled so much fur that I thought was as going to be bald before she stopped!  I saved some of it and put some in a nest that didn't seem to have enough for the weather we were supposed to (and now do) have.
> I had a litter of 8 Californians this last week too.  I never kindle during this time of year for fear of losing litters, but with the exception of the HLs, they are all doing quite well.


Poor momma she tried her best, but good to hear that everyone else is doing good. I was also a little worried but we have had pretty mild weather, nothing below the 30's but a few frosts here and there, it gets into the 60's during the day. Sometimes you don't even know it is winter here. 

@ DaineS - The size difference is actually pretty noticeable now. For some reason one kit just doesn't seem to be growing much at all, I'm not sure what to do, even powders babies have passed these guys in growth so I don't know what to think. :/


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## LadyIsabelle2011 (Dec 22, 2012)

I got a good look at the orphaned kits. One is starting to look more like the older ones and is growing good, but the other one looks small and shriveled :/ I took him out and compared him to powders kits and even next to them he is tiny. I got powder out and let the little one nurse to his content and then transferred him to her nest. Praying he makes it


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## lexibot (Dec 24, 2012)

I always have great luck placing babies in with another mother, usually if they are still bald (under a week old) they are okay even if the babies are a bit bigger. Lots of litters end up having some BIG babies (double the size) and all the babies end up living.

All you can do is try.


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## LadyIsabelle2011 (Dec 24, 2012)

Yeah, Fostering is a really awesome way to save a litter of kits, it is working better than I even expected. Having all my doe's kindle around the same date was a god send.  The one I was worried about is doing better in the nest with the younger bunnies, but he still seems really tiny next to them even though he is technically older. He looks more like a little baby mouse than a bunny, I'm starting to wonder if he is a dwarf or something.   His sibling is now twice his size and quickly catching up to the older kits.  Which is wonderful but it still makes me wonder what could be going on. His dad was a smaller rabbit, and his dad's dad was a smallish rabbit too, so I'm trying to figure out if he is just having a hard time or if it is genetics. :/


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