PREGNANT BUNNY

[Animal Person]

I just checked on the babies and unfortunately the sick one did die.. Stormy pushed the nesting box on top of the little guy. Tomorrow i will i need to go and dispose of him/her, she will be buried next to his/her sibling. Thanks for the help. This is all a learning experience and I am sure it will all pay off in the long run.
On the other hand their are 4 other healthy bunnies that are much bigger then the ones that passed. ( i believe i had originally missed counted, there were 6 live bunnies in the beginning).
Thanks again for the help and thanks @Pastor Dave for the encouragement! more pictures to come!

 

[Bunnylady]

I know dogs will push weak babies out of the nest, but rabbits don't do this. A doe gets into the nest to nurse, and stands over the babies, it is up to the babies to crawl under her, latch on and nurse. When the doe leaves, babies that are still latched on may get pulled out of the nest; they have to crawl back and snuggle up with their siblings to stay warm enough. Baby rabbits are highly mobile; they can travel quite some distance. I have had the odd baby that just wouldn't stay with the others, and kept turning up in other corners of the nest box; I don't know what may be wrong with such babies beyond an obvious lack of a basic survival instinct, but they generally don't survive (since this also happens when the box isn't in the doe's cage, I can be fairly sure it is not the doe's doing). This is one of the reasons that you need to check the litter at least once a day; if a baby dies in the nest, the doe usually does nothing about it, and a putrid, rotting body in the nest is obviously not healthy for the remaining live kits.

Sooner or later, every rabbit breeder experiences "Lazarus babies." These are kits that have gotten out of the nest, and chilled to the point that they may seem to be dead, but if gently warmed, begin breathing and moving again. This really only works with babies that are relatively new; babies that are a week or more old don't recover as well. If I find babies that have gotten pulled out, or which were born on the wire, I look at them closely. Unless I am absolutely sure that they are dead, I warm them against my skin until I can get them into the house. You want to warm them up carefully; if you try to go too fast, they can seem to be recovering, then collapse and die on you. I like to put warm water in a bottle and let the kit(s) snuggle up to it, if they are too warm, they will move away. I have to keep checking and remove the bottle before it cools down, or it will rob the kits of warmth just as they get warmed up. A heat lamp could work, but you'd have to keep an eye on things there, too, as the babies would scatter if they got too warm/

Sorry that you lost the two kits, best of luck with the rest of the litter!

 

[Animal Person]

Thanks @Bunnylady This morning one more had died. There is a heat lamp in the cage, the mom is pushing the nest box closer to the heat source. There are 3 kits left, should I keep pushing the nest back? Right now there is 2 bunnies in the back ,and one in the middle? Is this a problem???

Also tomorrow is the day i clean the animals cages, should i clean the cage?

 

[Animal Person]

Here is just a few pictures of the babies, and the mom, and kinda how the cage is laid out.

 

[SA Farm]

It doesn't look like they're covered in fur? I would make sure they're all together and make sure they have plenty of fur to snuggle in.

 

[Animal Person]

It doesn't look like they're covered in fur? I would make sure they're all together and make sure they have plenty of fur to snuggle in.

I had uncovered them for the picture But dont worry i covered them up.

 

[Animal Person]

Just a few more pictures The one picture of the cage is just so you can see the lay out of the cage. The babies are getting peach fuzz!!

 

[Pastor Dave]

So, there are three kits remaining, right? They will grow big fast getting all of Mom's milk.
I generally do a minimal job cleaning the Doe's cage when the nest box is in there the first week. You can do more as needed within a few days. Generally within 5-7 days you can definitely tell what color the fur will be as it is coming in and quite visible.

 

[Animal Person]

So, there are three kits remaining, right? They will grow big fast getting all of Mom's milk.
I generally do a minimal job cleaning the Doe's cage when the nest box is in there the first week. You can do more as needed within a few days. Generally within 5-7 days you can definitely tell what color the fur will be as it is coming in iand quite visible.

Yes there are 3 kits left, I cleaned the cage yesterday. One little guy keeps straying from the siblings. Normally i have a pen that i like to put stormy in so she can exercise. Can i still do that during the day? or should i wait?

 

[SA Farm]

I would wait. I let my doe out to exercise for a few minutes once the kits are out of the nest box. Then when they are about 4 weeks, they get to go out with her.