Newborns dying! Help!

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Peaches Mom

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Spokane wa
i rescued a Rex a few weeks ago. I didn’t know she was pregnant. She made a nest and had a litter of 5 on last Friday. Peaches is very good natured. After she had the babies we upped her pellets, greens, fresh water and hay. Assuming she’s been nursing since they were all warm and their bellies were full. Two babies died yesterday. The runt died today. What is wrong? There are only two left.
 
Well she could be a first time mom. The runt doesn't make it a lot of times anyway and things happen they might have gotten to cold. Just make sure you check them every day to make sure they are chunky and make sure you have enough straw or whatever you put in the nest box and make sure she has fur pulled thats a big one if she doesn't have fur pulled try to pull some fur it should come out of her dewlap with ease. Hope this helped :)
 
Well she could be a first time mom. The runt doesn't make it a lot of times anyway and things happen they might have gotten to cold. Just make sure you check them every day to make sure they are chunky and make sure you have enough straw or whatever you put in the nest box and make sure she has fur pulled thats a big one if she doesn't have fur pulled try to pull some fur it should come out of her dewlap with ease. Hope this helped :)
Thank you Fingers crossed.
 
Unfortunately, I know this all too well and I will share some of the things that the vet told me and what I learned from the experience of having 4 back to back surprise litters per bunny (8 total):

It is sadly very common for bunnies to lose half or more of their litter, especially when there is an underlying cause, such as the pregnant doe not getting enough good nutrition, being handled wrong when pregnant, being exposed to chemicals or poisons, or something in her or the buck's genes.

My two bunnies lost 50% - 70% of their last two litters due to some being born deceased (many were deformed) and some tragically passed as late as 7 days old, which is pretty devastating. The vet believed it was the lack of a proper diet during pregnancy or being exposed to something poisonous. As someone said, runts do not make it often, but we cannot assume this is almost a guarantee-- four of my runts survived.

Please make sure the babies are warm, are being feed, and strong. The belly should be round and not wrinkled at all unless it is close to feeding time. If a bunny has visible ribs and wrinkled skin compared to the others, please do not be afraid to gently hold them up to her nipple to nurse it, while stimulating down there so he will urinate after :) However, please do not be worried if you do not witness the bunnies being nursed-- they often do it once or twice a day-- usually early in the morning, then in the evening.

Also, please avoid putting long pieces of hay in the nest when they are not old enough to nibble on it, because the babies can get poked in the eye and it will be damaged. This happened to my girl, and she has a permanent blue scar over her eye.

Sorry for your loss, losing baby bunnies truly hurts.
 
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Thank you for your wisdom. Babies doing good this morning. Snuggling next to each other. Hopefully the day won’t bring any bad news. Will update later.
 
i rescued a Rex a few weeks ago. I didn’t know she was pregnant. She made a nest and had a litter of 5 on last Friday. Peaches is very good natured. After she had the babies we upped her pellets, greens, fresh water and hay. Assuming she’s been nursing since they were all warm and their bellies were full. Two babies died yesterday. The runt died today. What is wrong? There are only two left.

It’s hard to say since you just got her. It’s possible her diet played some part in the kits dying, as well as a genetic abnormality they got from the doe or buck, or both. If the kits were warm and being fed it’s a little unusual for them to just die that soon. Sometimes it helps to watch closely the doe’s interaction with the kits and to watch when she’s nursing. She might have even stepped on them causing internal injuries. Hopefully, the last two will be okay.
 
It’s hard to say since you just got her. It’s possible her diet played some part in the kits dying, as well as a genetic abnormality they got from the doe or buck, or both. If the kits were warm and being fed it’s a little unusual for them to just die that soon. Sometimes it helps to watch closely the doe’s interaction with the kits and to watch when she’s nursing. She might have even stepped on them causing internal injuries. Hopefully, the last two will be okay.
 

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