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stephiemarie78

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I went to feed and check on Blue and she hadbabies sometime since yesterday afternoon. 6 of them 3 are dead and theother 3 were just laying there on the wire floor. So i put them in asmall box. I really have NO clue what to do now. I know i shouldn'thave moved them but i couldn't let them lay there
 
Good job in moving them!

Where they responsive at all?

If they still feel chilled, you need to warm them up asap, they shouldfeel very warm to the touch. Take the nest box into thehouse, and if you have a heating pad turn it onto "Low", and place thenest box half on the pad. Or a hot water bottle wrapped in atowell.

Did the mom pull any fur? If not, you need to either plucksome from mom's tummy (the fur should be loose enough to not hurt her)or use some clean cotton balls (pull them apart to make a nice cozycover for them).

It's okay to touch the babies, and necessary in a situation likethis. If you are worried about mom not accepting the babies(I have yet to experience that), you can run your hands all over mom tomake your hands smell like her.

Good luck, and let us know how they do.

--Dawn


 
Did you not know she was pregnant? Did she notbuild a nest? That's sad about the three dead ones, same thing happenedwith us with Berri, she had six, but three were dead and out of thenest. We were told by a rabbit breeder she threw them out because sheknew they were dead. I hopeBlue cares for them, I don't thinkthe chances of hand raising baby bunnies is very high (but I've neverhad experience and I'm no expert so I'm not sure)

I really hope everything's ok. Sending good vibes to you, Blue and the little kits!:pray:

Michaelaand the girls:brownbunny:brownbunny:brownbunny
 
How did she get pregnant? I thought she was separate from the boys?!

Let us know how it goes. I'll be praying for those little babies
 
well i was told blue was a boy a little over amonth ago my husband let them all out of the cages to play at the sametime. thats the only time they have been in the same area at the sametime. she must have just built the nest since friday she's in theoutside hutch and the box faces to the side i feel bad that i did'tnotice she was making it. but i've been sick and a little busy with mynew bunnie =( Plus the fact she's been really really mean to me thelast few weeks now i know why. I did notice she was getting a littlebig but i figured i was feeding her to much.
 
How are the babies?

Are they warm and wiggling? If you put your hand in the nest, do they jump up and bump into your hand?

Did mom pull fur to cover them?

If this was her first litter, the babies where probably born on thewire because she didn't know what she was doing. Didn'trecognize the signs of labour. The birthing process is onlyabout 15 minutes, the babies pop out one after the other quitequickly. So if she didn't know they where coming, there waslittle she could have done once they started to come out.

Most mother rabbits will not move babies either, so those not born in anest normally die of exposure unless someone finds them and puts themin a nest.

That's why it's always crucial to know when a doe is about to kindle, and to check frequently, especially first time moms.

--Dawn


 
she did pull fur and they are moving and feelwarm they aren't cold. but i'm worried that she's not feeding them. shegets in the box and practicly stands on them. no of them look to beborn the in the nest
 
dont feel bad, ive had this happen before. has mama fed them yet? they will have nice round bellys if she has



 
This is what a well fed baby looks like:

P1010329.jpg

P10103331.jpg


His tummy is well rounded, and you can see the milk in histummy. Not all babies will have the little white patch, butthey should look very round in the belly.

Mommy rabbits will normally feed once or twice a day. The dothis by standing over the nest. The mothers will also not liewith their babies like cats and dogs do. They are preyanimals, and lying with your babies will attract predators.

As long as the babies are warm and round looking, they will be okay.

--Dawn
 
u will need to put hay on the bottom of the box something to keep them warm,and there mamas fur over them.
baby bunnys get cold very quickly esp if there in an outside hutch.
more then likely she will feed them during the night.
 
How are they doing now? Do you think they've been fed?

Don't worry if you haven't actually saw her feeding them, she usuallyonly does this once or twice a day for a few minutes, she probablywon't feed them while you're there. :)

Michaela and the girls:brownbunny:brownbunny:brownbunny
 
Well they are still alive and warm, I think 2 ofthem got fed and 1 didn't =( but i'm not sure if they did it wasn'tmuch. She did come over to the box and look at what i was doing. Ididn't want to go to work today =( and i didn't sleep well lastnight Idid bring them inside. So i can watch them more. I feel horrible theonly reason i had moved blue outside was because a few weeks ago shestarted dumping her litter pan and making a huge mess, then when i'd goto clean it up she'd bite me. So i moved her outside so i didn't havealot to clean and i could get to her a bit easier. She stopped bitingme so i thought she was happier.
 
If they're still warm and moving, that's a good sign!:) I don't think they'd be alive if they weren't getting fed.

Don't feel bad! It's not your fault, you didn't know she was pregnant,you didn't even know she was a she! We'll all just pray for the littleones now they are here,:pray: and you can enjoy watching them grow:)

Michaela and the girls:brownbunny:brownbunny:brownbunny
 
I would take the mama and the babies out of thecage (probably in the early evening or early morning) and hold mamaover the babies so the babies can nurse. (Maybe use a shoebox orsomething to hold the babies in while mama is nursing?). Ifshe doesn't nurse them right off - try again 2-3 hours later and keeptrying.

At times I have had to hold a mama on her back and then put babies onthe nipple if mama fought trying to nurse. Most mamas hate this (it isfrequently a two person job to get mama to hold still and put babies onher) and after a couple of times of this - they've settled down tonurse when I put them over the babies.

I would definitely get the unfed one fed asap if you can by trying to get mama to feed it.

Peg
 
What type of rabbits are Blue and Snoopy? I'mguessing from the picture of the babies that Snoopy is thedad.....since I thought one of the babies was a broken...

Peg
 
well Snoopy better not be the dad or i'll bepretty mad since i was told he was fixed or the SPCA will be getting anot so nice call from me.

there were alot of different colored rabbits that were all from the same litter when i got blue, and same with cooter.
 
yeah, when I saw the pics I thought for sureSnoopy was the dad. hmm..might want to have him checked just to be sure(or just have her spayed..)
 

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