My mother dwarf bunny gave birth yesterday morning to three babies. One of the babies was born dead, I believe, but of course cannot be sure. It may have died shortly after birth. She was trying to clean it when I found it and the other two were covered and moving around nicely. I removed it, and the mother has did fine with the other two yesterday.
This morning, when I woke up one of the babies was missing. I found it on the opposite side of the cage behind the litter box and it was dead. She had to have carried it over there, as it could not have traveled there on its own. The cage is quite large. The baby seemed very healthy yesterday.
The mother has had several litters and is an experienced mother. She has always been a good mother. For this litter, the mother did not pull her fur, which she has always done in the past.
My questions: Why would the mother do this? Did she kill the baby? Did the baby die and she simply removed it herself? Is the other one going to be OK?
The last litter of three she had, one of the babies was kicked out of the nest, but not taken to the opposite side of the cage. I found it alive and put it back in the nest. She cared for it, and it did fine. Nothing was wrong with it.
Any advice? Mom is almost 3 years old. Is she getting too old for babies and doesn't want to care for them? We are not avid breeders, but we have one male and one female. We allow her to have litters a few time a year because she seems to enjoy being a mom and caring for her babies. I'm not so sure with this litter. What do you experienced breeders think about this?
This morning, when I woke up one of the babies was missing. I found it on the opposite side of the cage behind the litter box and it was dead. She had to have carried it over there, as it could not have traveled there on its own. The cage is quite large. The baby seemed very healthy yesterday.
The mother has had several litters and is an experienced mother. She has always been a good mother. For this litter, the mother did not pull her fur, which she has always done in the past.
My questions: Why would the mother do this? Did she kill the baby? Did the baby die and she simply removed it herself? Is the other one going to be OK?
The last litter of three she had, one of the babies was kicked out of the nest, but not taken to the opposite side of the cage. I found it alive and put it back in the nest. She cared for it, and it did fine. Nothing was wrong with it.
Any advice? Mom is almost 3 years old. Is she getting too old for babies and doesn't want to care for them? We are not avid breeders, but we have one male and one female. We allow her to have litters a few time a year because she seems to enjoy being a mom and caring for her babies. I'm not so sure with this litter. What do you experienced breeders think about this?