I’m in Baby Bunny Hell…HELP!

[skunklionshow]

One of our therapy bunnies had babies over the weekend!  I was in the process of raising the funds to get her spayed.  Unfortunately due to beareucratic (spelling?) BS…I was tied up w/ getting the funds.  Even though one of the boys accidently got into the classroom in December.

I’m so angry right now!  This is not at all the kind of pet care giver I am and I’m so disgusted w/ myself!!!!  She had 5 babies.  I took them all home today.  I spoke to the vet and the babies do not seem dehydrated.  However, I could not feel any milk from Jessica’s nipples.  The vet’s staff suggested that I begin bottle feeding them just to be safe.  They gave me an recipe.  So mom and babies seem to be doing fine….but I’m real scared b/c I really screwed this up!

I’d appreciate any advice about monitoring, checking on if nursing is occuring, dealing w/ a very protective mama, and what to do w/ all these bunnies! 

I could kick myself in the head….no wait that’s exactly what I’ve been doing!

[dmh426]

Oh, I am sorry to hear about your suprise litter! I had to syringe feed Soph when she first born. Cat’s milk and a syringe twice a day. First of all and most importantly- did you bring the mama home with you tonight too? Those babies need to be kept warm (under a heat lamp!!!) REMEMBER TO KEEP THEM VERY WARM. Preferably, they should be kept in their nest all covered up like baby birds. Did the mother make them a nest with pulled out hair, etc.? Mama will definitely be protective, those are her children. Rabbit.org has great info on this subject and so does mybunnyfarm.com. Check out those sites! Most mothers will not feed the babies right away, so it is possible she gave birth very recently (as recently as last night) and that’s why her milk hasn’t dropped into her nipples yet. 

I could go on and on and on but check out this link:      http://www.rabbit.org/care/newborn.html

It basically is everything I will tell you!!!! Keep us posted, please!

[BinkyBunny]

uh oh! Well, first, if you can get the mother back with the babies that would be best   Many people think the mother is not nursing because they don’t see it.  Mother rabbits actually only nurse their babies once a day for only about five minutes or so.  But the milk is very rich and can sustain their babies.  Unless you see a runt or one that is not getting enough then it’s a good idea to let the mother nurse them.  Unless she is being aggressive towards them which can happen if she’s feeling great stress.  So just keep her calm and give her a nest box with soft bedding for her and her babies.

 Dmh gave great information and links, and it looks like you have a vet that is helping you out.  I am not much help in this area, as I do not know too much about raising babies, so I learn along with everyone else as this happens.

I do know that bunnies can breed like….eh….well bunnies and just know the mother can get pregnant wthin 24 hours of giving birth so you want to make sure the male is separated immediately.

Keep us updated.

[Elena Niznik]

awww babies. Im sorry that you are stressing out over the babies and dnt punish yourself. You are being responsible now in trying to do what is right for the mother and her litter.

I thought my bunny boo was pregnant at one point so i ran to the library and got out every book on rabbit care.

I cant really add more than what has been added but i do know that a nest box is a good idea. The babies like to lie at the bottom of the nest covered in bedding.

Also many rabbit moms feed late at night or very early in the morning. It might be an idea to weight the babies every morning. Providing it doesnt upset mum too much to make sute they are gaining weight.

I would also discourage unneccessary handling.

I hope you work things out.

[osprey]

I don’t have alot of experience with babies, but I do know that between the birthing process and producing milk for the kits, Mom will need a tremendous number of calories.  You might want to consider free choice alfalfa hay (much higher in calories that grass hays) and allowing her to eat more pellets.  Once the kits are weaned, she can go back to a more regular house rabbit diet.

[skunklionshow]

Thanks for the input!

I brought mama and the babies home w/ me yesterday.  I wrapped up the babies in their nest w/ extra blankies.  I also put some blankets over the cage.  This morning when I checked on them…one of the babies was dead.  There seems to be another that’s not doing to well.  I did do some syringe feeding w/ a recipe that the bunny vet gave me.  I added some hot water bottles to the nest.  I have increased Jessica’s food supply.

I will check out the links today.  My supervisor located several rescues that agreed to take mama and babies during this time.  I didn’t go to work today b/c I have a major cold and sinus headache. I’ll keep everyone posted.

Thanks

[dmh426]

I’m sorry to hear about the baby that died. It’s been my experience with EVERY litter, that one almost always dies. Keep us updated on what’s going on!

[Gravehearted]

I am glad that you were able to find a rescue that can take in the mama and babies. I really hope the other babies will thrive and make it and that Jessica is ok…

[skunklionshow]

I am very sorry to report that the last of Jessica’s litter died last night.  All 5 babies did not make it.  I followed info on the websites listed.  I’m not exactly sure why they died.

Is it possible that she may have trampled them?  I kept them super toasty in their nest (I used therma care heat wraps).  I attempted to feed them, but they weren’t interested in the milk (the vet’s recipe).  I did catch Jessica nursing 2 days ago.  However, each day, either in the morning or in the evening, I found another dead baby.

I have to accept that iit just wasn’t meant to be for Jessica.  She seems to be doing well.  She’s going to the vet next week.  She’s back to her looney tooney hopping self!  She’ll return to our program tomorrow.  We will have a grief therapy session tomorrow as well.  I think I need the session more than the kids.

Thanks for the help!

[osprey]

Aw, that stinks.  It sounds like you did everything you could do, maybe mom was not nursing or maybe they caught something.  It is hard to lose them when they are so little.

[dmh426]

I am so sorry to hear about the loss of the litter. Sometimes these things happen but I know how emotionally draining it can be. Please feel free to rant, cry, scream in writing if you need to. PLEASE tell me Jessica will be getting spayed in the near future. Let us know how it goes with the grief therapy session.

[skunklionshow]

My husband and I decided that we will be keeping Jessica as our house bunny….with our 4 cats. This decision was made based on the litter incident and well….see my behavior posting today.
I look forward to getting Jessica spayed as soon as she and I heal from the most recent events and my budget can afford. Any suggestions on low cost spay in Philly region would be appreciated!!!

[skunklionshow]

My husband and I decided that we will be keeping Jessica as our house bunny….with our 4 cats. This decision was made based on the litter incident and well….see my behavior posting today.
I look forward to getting Jessica spayed as soon as she and I heal from the most recent events and my budget can afford. Any suggestions on low cost spay in Philly region would be appreciated!!!

[Wendy Cal]

i’m so sorry about your loss!  i recently raised an orphaned wild cottontail baby ~ i ‘got’ it when it was approximately 3 days old.  After reading everything i could find online, i followed a regime of:

NO additional heat on the baby ~ it’s own body temp was plenty to keep it warm in the nesting material (crochet!);

Eyedropper feedings of 5ml (more or less, as the baby wanted) of Pet Milk with a drop of Karo syrup in it, twice per day. (This recipe was my Mom’s formula, and the baby responded quite well to it.  As soon as i could, i got some Kitten Milk Replacement stuff, fed it, but discontinued it when the baby seemed to be having loose stools.  i also got a vet’s recipe, which included raw egg, but i didn’t feel comfortable feeding the baby something it would NEVER eat in ‘real life.’  );

i wet a Viva (SO soft!) paper towel and used that to stimulate the baby to void (use the bathroom), and did this twice per day;

and i didn’t excessively handle the baby ~ although i’m sure i handled it more than i was supposed to! 

This is Baby Bunny Boy, shortly after we got him (you can read the whole story on my blog ~ http://www.my-bunny-rabbits.blogspot.com):

And this is him now:

One of the things i wondered about when i was reading about how the mothers took care of their babies was whether you should keep her ‘cooped up’ with them.  In the wild, the mother stays close to the nest in order to draw off any predators from the babies, but she pretty much goes about her usual business, seemingly ignoring them.  Whenever i hear of a mother rabbit killing her babies, i always think that she must have been stressed to the max to do that, and forcing her to be in constant contact with the babies would, it seems to me, do that to her.  i don’t believe that that was the case for you ~ i actually wonder if you might not have kept them too warm.  The things i’ve read say that rabbits can tolerate cold much better than they can handle heat.

i’m so sorry that i didn’t get into this forum earlier ~ i’ve been posting over in the lounge, and today is my first expedition into the other forums here.

Again, i’m sure sorry about your loss, but am happy that you are keeping Jessica!  You sound like a caring, concerned and loving ‘parent!’

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