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ghostbusterbunny

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I've just checked my pregnant doe and there is one kit in the nest. But I know she has more than one kit, and there is still at least one left in her belly. The kit she has is fairly well cleaned, still some blood on her and the afterbirth isnt there, (calling it a her for now) and she's a little bruised but moving. Is there something wrong if mum hasnt had the others yet?

The mum seems okay, she's eating drinking and hopping round the cage. But she hasn't finished giving birth o_O

Please give me some advice if you can. Thanks :)
 
Give her time and let her be... Usually the kits come pretty fast (all within 20 minutes) but I've had them deliver as much as 2-3 days apart. Sometimes the first kit comes fast and theothers take more time. Have patience.

Keep an eye on her and if she appears to be in distress, she may have a kit that won't deliver. You may need a vets intervention then. The vet can give her an injection of oxytocin to improve contractions and expell the stuck kit.


Is this her first litter? How old is she?
 
Yup, I agree with the legend that isBlueGiants.

My last litter was half one day, half the next. Another doe had three one day and another the next.

As well as keeping an eye on her being in distress, also look out for being very tired (which is obviosuly a different type of distress) because that also needs vet intervention. Also if she appears to be straining but not passing anything.

Try not to feel stressed around her, because she will pick up on it, take some deep breaths before you go near her, and go feeling calm.
 
Yeah, i stay calm around her, she's a stressy rabbit anyway, so i just stroke her head and she calms down. Is it safe to check the kit to make sure its not too cold? Im just worried that its on its own and its winter.

I didnt purposefully breed her, it happened when we were on holiday, my male got out with her, and my neighbour didnt notice till she came to feed them afterwards. But, no problems, we just might need more hutches.

She's in the garage with duvets and sleeping bags over the hutch to make sure she doesnt get cold. There is LOTS of fur in the nest, much more than her mum built a nest with in summer 06. So she obviously knows she needs more fur in the nest to keep her kits warm.

Rabbits eh? Confusing creatures at the best of times. The mummy rabbit is one of my faves, as I hand reared her when her mum didnt, she was the runt, and I couldnt leave her as she wasnt getting fed. So I worry about her, and now her munchkins.
 
Hmm. If that was me I would check the kit not too often, maybe every two or three hours, otherwise the mum might get very stressed, particularly if she is a stressy bunny anyway.

I'm sure the baby will be warm and toasty with all that fur, especially in your garage out of the drafts. Something someone once suggested to me was to tape a hot water bottle on the underneath of the cageso that the heat can filter through the cage and to the baby, but not burn him/her. If you do that though, try not to make the bottle too hot.

How is mum in herself at the moment?
 
She's typical Splat. Grumpy. She's normal really. She's eating and drinking okay, though not drinking quite as much as her mum did when she was born. She's just led in her hutch waiting for something to happen. Or plotting how she is going to take over the world with her new babies. I cant make my mind up :)

She's okay when i stroke her, a bit of grunting at me, but like i said, its normal for her to grunt when we touch her.. till she realises we're actually nice and she calms down a bit :)
 
Okay, i just checked the Kit again. And its cold to the touch and shivering. I put a hot water bottle underneath, but I dont think it's working...

Also, she's all red around the mouth, like bruises around its cheeks. She wrigles a lot, but she's a cold kitten. What else can you suggest?
 
Depending on how you think the mother will react,you could try taking the baby and its nest box inside into a warm area to heat the baby up.

You could also try holding the kit to warm it up. If you gather it up with some nest material it will probably feel safer.

Any chance you could move mum and her cage into the house so it is warmer? Or set up some sort of heater in the garage?
 
The bruising is pretty normal. One of my does just had a litter of 7 and

some of the kits had the bruising around their nose. It will go away within

a couple of days.

I would bring the doe and kit in the house or the basement if it has heat.

A lone kit has no siblings to keep it warm. Your other option is to see if

there is another breeder around with newborn kits that wouldn't mind

fostering the kit for you. In my area we have all fostered kits for each other

at one time or another.

Roger
 
You can leave the nest box in the cage and bring the baby in the house for a few hours. It won't hurt the baby or the mom. Put the baby in a basket or someplace snug, wrapped in a towel, in a warm spot. Bring the baby back out to the mom tonight. The doe doesn't usually feed the babies right away. She probably won't go looking for it until ths evening.
 
I would definitly take the baby out of the nest box and take it inside to get warm. Stick the baby in your bra!

Use a small box like a show box and a heat source. A heating pad set on low with the box half on top, so the baby can wiggle off if he gets too hot.

Also, a sock filled with dry rice can be put in the microwave and will retain heat nicely. You could put on of those in a box with the baby.

Use some towells to provide a buffer between the heat source. Make sure there are not loose threads anywhere as the baby could get stuck in them and get hurt or die.

Lots of good advice above on what to watch for with mom having problems. Keep a close eye on her and check for other babies frequently as they may need warming up too.

--Dawn
 
Oh, yes. Update :)

Well im glad to say, baby is fine. I warmed her up once, she got cold again. My mum said they can come in the house till the babies are bigger. So she's nice and toasty :)

Mum has been led on my floor for three hours just chilling out and getting a good stretch. Very relaxed. She's now back in her hutch having a drink and eating, leave her till the morning now. Hopefully it wont be an only baby tomorrow! :)

Thanks for all your help, and Flashy, you've helped tremendously on the chat :D You kept me calm when i was worried :)

I'll update all the time and add pics of the baby/ies tomorrow :D

Erin.
 
To all those who may have read this post before. Some miscommunication happened between my parents then me. Apparently, she had 2 stillborns during the night. My sister found one baby, thought it was my munchkin, and told dad so i didnt have to see it. But, she later told me she KNEW there was one live baby in the nest, but mum didnt know that. I went down, unfortunately it was me that found the other dead kit. But after crying that i'd lost my little one, i felt in the nest, and she squeaked at me!

The loss of the other two is horrible, but it doesnt affect me as much, because I dont even know what they looked like. These things happen, it's nature. I just have to give every chance to my remaining rabbit. I hope that makes sense, and doesnt just sound heartless?

So, she's still here, I may have to hand rear her, as mum still doesnt seem to be producing any milk at all. But we'll see. I've hand reared the mum, and I know it's one hell of a task. I'm going to think what to do during the day.

Any advice on this problem would be great.

*if this kit turns out to be male, I'll feel evil for calling it a girl*

 
Its not as pudgy as it should be. It has a little bit of a round belly, but i just dont think it's getting enough from mum.

i held the baby to her last night, and the baby kept giving up after a few seconds, and started nuzzling round for another teet. I know it got something, because it was pooing everywhere a few mins later. But it wasnt enough to make it fat and non wrinkly.
 
Have patience, but keep a close eye on the babies belly. Sometimes it can take a day for the mom's milk to come in fully. Let the baby root from nipple to nipple for a few minutes. The more "she" nurses, the faster the milk will come in. Nothing wrong with letting her nurse three times a day at the onset. I know you are familiar with hand raising a baby, but you know it is alot of work. It would be wonderful if the mom would do it. Give her a chance.
 
i just tried again, and once again the baby kept giving up. It's really skinny now. The mum wasnt impressed with it either, she kept trying to get the baby off, but got my hand instead.

I'm just worried that the kit is gettin too skinny. Is there anything i can give it as a boost? once it gave up with mum, it came to me and started nuzzling all over my hand. The kit is about 30 hours old now i think, and im pretty worried that it hasnt had a decent feed.
 
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