Depressed Mommy??

We just weaned Clover's babies from her Saturday; they are 8 weeks. They are doing well, but we noticed that Clover has been acting a little off. Whenever I let them all out for play time she goes into their crate and doesn't want to come out sometimes and she's not eating her hay. She will eat the heck out of pellets but hasn't touched her hay in the last few days. The last two nights I have also noticed she sometimes doesn't want to come out of her crate. She just sits in the corner. My fiance says it's because she misses her babies. At first I thought well maybe they are bonded? But I find that highly unlikely. Does any one know why she may be acting this way? I'm just a little concerned that she hasn't been eating hay and wanting to come out for a stretch.

She has also been kicking her litter out of her box. Sometimes if we put too much she gets mad and will kick some out, but the other day I walked in and there was none in the box.

I won't try to dwelve into your rabbit's psyche, but no matter the cause, a rabbit who is not eating her hay is not a healthy rabbit and it can cause problems quickly. And her sitting without moving would be something that I would link to a physical discomfort like a stomach ache. Examine her thoroughly, she might be hurt somewhere. Is she pooping normally? I would also take the pellets away and give her a lot of fresh hay and a bit of wet leafy greens - eating a lot of pellets and no hay is a sure recipe for gut stasis as she is filling her stomach and doesn't consume the long fibers needed to push the 'waste' toward ths exit. If she's not eating hay tomorrow or/and that her poops get small or worse, stop, take her to the vet - she will need to have her teeth checked and maybe to get a stimulant for her guts (Reglan) and something for the pain (Metacam) to avoid stasis.

I've heard about other momma buns getting upset/sad when separated from their babies, so yes it can happen. If her babies aren't in a cage or pen next to hers, you could try that. It can sometimes help for them to be right next to each other. I also let my momma bun have play time with her babies after I had to separate for weaning. You just have to keep a close eye on them to make sure they don't start to irritate momma trying to start nursing again, or if any hormonal behavior starts up. And when the babies are 10-12 weeks old you won't be able to let the boy buns play with momma or sisters anymore, so you don't end up with a pregnancy. Unless playtime together is what you are already doing and it's not working.

With her not eating hay well, have you decreased her pellet amounts back down now that she is no longer nursing? If not I would try that and see if it gets her eating her hay again. If you already decreased her pellets and she's not being fed too many that she is just filling up on them, then the lack of hay eating could have to do with being separated from her babies. If so then rearranging things so they are in pens next to each other and letting them have playtime should help. If those changes don't help her and you still feel like she is upset about being separated, the only other thing I might try is putting one of her daughters back in with her so the separation can be more gradual, then after a week or two try separating the daughter again.

The other thing you need to check is that by suddenly weaning all of her babies at the same time, she could have developed mastitis. So you'll need to check her belly and make sure none of her nipples are inflamed or hard. if she does have mastitis, you'll need to get her to the vet right away.

I did wean them all of a sudden �� I can I tell if she has mestasis? She is pooping regularly and the babies are in the cage right next to hers. I did reduce her pellets. I feel awful not knowing what's going on with her.