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Urgent Help Please!!!

P

princessdanii

Warren Scout

Hi, I'm new to all this, My rabbit gave birth to 7 little bunny's i didn't even know she was pregnant, Just woke up this morning and they was all there What a :shock: that was :lol:

Unfortunatly 2 have died & the rest are absolutly fine or i think they are :roll:

This is her 1st litter and she isn't bothering with them at all, I know they don't normally bother with them they just feed them on a morning & on a night but she's just not showing no intrest in them at all. I haven't touched them either when i've moved them i've had gloves on.

I've bought some of that lactol formula just incase she doesn't feed them at all but how would i know?? Because they feed them when no1 is there.

I've got them all in an indoor cage inside with there mum to keep them warm & give them some peice and quite but she just walks all over them i keep thinking she's going to hurt them.

Is there any advice anyone can give me? As i really don't have a clue. :cry:
 
Hey,

First off, it sounds like she is acting completely normally for a mum. Which is good. They are not attentive mothers and in the wild leave the nest and return onky to feed them.

Is she separate from the bunny who got her pregnant? She is most receptive to pregnancy in the frist 72 hours after giving birth, so I'm sure hoping they are separate.

She will feed them 24-48 hours after birth, and when they have been fed they will look like they swallowed pingpong balls. She will stand over them only for about 5 mins and that will be enough.

You need to check the babies twice a day or so. You can touch them, but make sure you have no strong smells on your hands (no soap, or other animals or anything). If she is a stressy bun you can stroke her first.

Don't give lactol, if she doesn't feed them herself, there are ways to help her, so don't intervene with anything yet. Handfeeding needs to be the last resort because of the high mortality rate.

Are they in a nest box or anything?
 
Oh thankgod for that i was really worried about them & herself didn't want her stressing out lol.

Yeah i seperated them as soon as i realised she had the babies i don't want her falling pregnant again :lol:

I've got all the babies and her in a cage in my bedroom near the radiator where its warm for them all.

Yeah i've read that you can put the babies onto her and try and feed them that way as the lactol can be bad for them sometimes.

Its all new to me i feel like a grandma :lol:

Thankyou for your advice! :) I was all in a hiffy this morning i didn't know what to do. :lol:

Is it ok to put the mum in a luke warm bath to get all the rest of the blood and plasenta off her as its all stuck to her bum, i don't wanna try pulling it off incase i hurt her as i can imagine she will be quite delicate down below.

Danielle.
 
It is possible she is already pregnant, so in 31 days you may have this happen again, so be aware of that.

How is mum acting? Is she eating? Drinking? Pooing? Weeing? Acting normal? Also, are there any placentas or anything in the nest? (there shouldn't be, but some don't realise they should eat them).

Where does mum normally live? I wouldn't advise having them near the radiator, inside should be enough. Is the nest a good one? Lots of fur and hay?

If mum has stuff stuck on her then, to be honest, I think she needs a vet because that's not normal. She may have a stuck kit, or she may have some sort of other problem. Rabbit births are naturally minimal blood and mess so they don't attract predators. If she was mine I would be seeking vet attention tonight.
 
Oh god more babies :lol:

She's absolutly fine doing everything normal yeah, I don't think its really stuck to her its in her fur so i'm thinking a little warm bath will sort the problem out, She has very long fur at her bottom so its all in her fur, See what happens after the bath. I've just moved them away from the radiator, They've got pleanty of furr & hay to keep them warm.

I'll go give her a bath now & try get it off & i'll post a reply back if not then i'll be taking her to the vets myself.

Danielle.
 
I wouldn't suggest giving her a bath to be honest. If you have to, try trimming it off. If its stuck to her then soak it and wipe it. A bath is generally not advised, and certainly not on a rabbit who has had a stressful day already.

She should have cleaned it though. The fact she hasn't is the main concern (and my concern is genuine because I lost my rabbit after doing exactly what you are describing- and then consulting a less than adequate vet who didn't actually know how to help her).

If it looks like it is attached to her thenshe does need to go, but really, I would get her checked out anyway.
 
Well i didn't give her a full bath i just bathed the bottom of her bum & its all come off it was stuck to her fur just below her bum, She's very contend now back with her babies. :D

I know someone who is a vet so i'm going to get them to come and look at her later on, Just giving her some space at the minute.

She seems very contend & not stressful so thats a bonus!

Sorry to hear about the rabbit you lost some vets don't even know what there doing half of the time.

Danielle.
 
Ok, I'm glad it was on the outside. Keep an eye on if it reappears, again, that means there is a problem.

Is she eating and stuff?

It may be she has not finished kindling yet, so be prepared for that. They have two uterine horns and so can have the babies in one side and then stop and have the babies in the other another time (say a day or so later). Also, sometimes one random baby will arrive a day or two later. So be prepared for that too.

She needs a normal amount of food today but over the following days and weeks she will need it increased until you are free feeding pellets so that she can produce enough milk.
 
Yeah me too! :D

Yeah she's eating loads give her pleanty of veg today she's happy again, She's always had an appetite. :D

Wow, i know they say you learn stuff every day but i wasn't exspecting to learn all this :lol:

Didn't realise all this could happen, I'm glad that i've joined this site to find out all about this :lol:

Yeah ok i'll keep that in mind, Them babies just wanna move all the time, When i go check on them they move from each sides of the cage :lol: Bless them there proper gorgus! :D

Danielle.
 
I would suggest putting the babies in a nest box. The box needs to be open at the top, have low enough sides for mum to get in, but high nough so the babies can't wriggle or be dragged out. You can line the box, stuff it with hay and then move the whole nest into it.
 
Where would i get one of these from? Any petshop i would of been prepared but i didn't even know she was pregnant, The bloke i got her off told me she had been snipped! :shock:

I'll go get one monday morning as i doubt any petshop will be open tomorrow with it being a sunday :(

Just hope there ok until then.

Is it natural for her to stand on them? I'm worried she'll hurt them :cry:

Danielle.
 
There are not things specifically sold as nestboxes, Its just a case of finding something that works for your bunny. A shoebox can work well for a small or middle sized bunny. Do you have a spare one of those?

She will probably be very gentle with them, but its common for mum to walk on the nest. If her nails are short then it shouldn't be a problem. Generally with the nestbox they realise what it is and only go in when they have to, and so the babies are at minimal risk. They can easily move away though.
 
Oh yeah :lol: Sometimes i can be so simple i'm sure i can find one from somewhere i'll go get one & put them in it with pleanty of hay & fur.

Danielle.
 
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