• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Babies born dead?

J

Jessica+Jynx

New Kit
Hi there, I'm new to this forum. I currently have 2 bunnies, both netherland dwarfs. One is female, around a year old and a beautiful white & brown colour, her name is Jessica. The other is a male, around 10 weeks old, and a smokey grey/black colour called Jynx.

I bought Jessica because I fell in love with her when I saw her in the petshop. A few weeks later I got a companion for her, a larger rabbit called Alice, which Pets At Home told me was a female. Turned out she was a male. Jessica had babies a few times, she only ever had 1 or 2 and they were always born dead. Alice has since died, she (or should I say he) was killed by a fox after it knocked over our hutch. Jessica managed to run away & hide in our tack room at our stables. I bought Jynx a few weeks ago with intention of having more baby bunnies.

My question is: what could have caused her babies to be born dead? Is it because the other rabbit was too large for her? It really was quite big, we didn't know it was a male until Jessica had babies - that was entirely not our fault. If the new rabbit Jynx mates with her, will her babies be okay because he is smaller?

I am fully aware that if she has babies again that they might not survive because of previous problems. If this happens then I am willing to get Jynx neutered.

I have attached some pics of both of them.

Jessica (female)
photo.php


Jynx (male)
photo.php
 
I would get both rabbits neutered now. Repeated still birth is nature screaming at you that something isn't right. Having babies is very hard on the mummy rabbit. It isn't necessarily anything to do with the buck.

In any case, pet shop rabbits should not be bred from. If you don't know the rabbits' full medical and family history for at least 5 generations back don't breed them. It's like playing russian roulette with the mummy bun's life as well as the kits' lives.

Get them both neutered straight away.
 
Last edited:
Sorry, but it isn't safe at all to breed petshop bunnies.
Please neuter your rabbit. Do not breed her.

Breeding is generally not a good idea anyway (there's a HUGE amount of rabbits in rescues as it is), however if you seriously want to breed then you will need to do a LOT of research into genetics.
You MUST know the genetic backgrounds of your rabbits familiy for several generations and know there are no problems, or you could cause untold amounts of suffering to babies.
 
Awww they are gorgeous!

But please please neuter them both and enjoy them as pets, don't breed them, you don't know their genetic history and there Thare sooo many bunnies sat in rescues and many waiting in lists to get into rescues.

This is a great informative forum that you will learn lots from, I have learnt so much and still am everyday and my bunnies are much happier for it. :wave:
 
Welcome to the forum. :wave: Your bunnies are gorgeous!

Yes, most likely, the kits were far too large, you are lucky she wasn't killed this way, giving birth to large kits often kills the mother.

There really is no need to be breeding rabbits. Here's a video made by someone on this forum who has similar thoughts to you...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqpHe9_kZL0

There are 33,000 rabbits in rescue centres every year, including thousands of babies, purely waiting for homes as people and pet shops keep breeding them.

Nevermind the fact that you likely don't know 5 generations of your rabbits, and whether there is health problems in those lines that you could be breeding into any future babies!

Please do reconsider. :wave:
 
Last edited:
Ok thanks for the advice. I have kept rabbits pretty much all my life but was completely unaware that you're not meant to breed from petshop ones. I have had baby rabbits before, when I was younger.

So should you only breed from pedigree rabbits? How much would one of these set you back?
 
Jessica+Jynx said:
Ok thanks for the advice. I have kept rabbits pretty much all my life but was completely unaware that you're not meant to breed from petshop ones. I have had baby rabbits before, when I was younger.

So should you only breed from pedigree rabbits? How much would one of these set you back?
Click to expand...

Pedigree rabbits aren't necessarily expensive, my pedigree in 2002 cost £35, which I don't think is far off standard rabbit prices.

Really, no rabbits should be bred, but if you feel you must breed, go to a good breeder, select a breed that there are not many of (ie. don't breed Dwarf Lops, Mini Lops, Rexes etc, as rescues are bursting with the common ones). Make sure the breeder can tell you 5 generations back that there are no health problems. Then and only then should you breed. Remember, there is no money in good breeding, and if something goes wrong, it can go into thousands of pounds to put right.

You should also have a waiting list of homes prior to mating, and let each bunny go with a care pack, info sheet and contract that the bunny be returned to you if they can no longer keep it, so you do not add to the rescue situation.
 
Jessica+Jynx said:
Ok thanks for the advice. I have kept rabbits pretty much all my life but was completely unaware that you're not meant to breed from petshop ones. I have had baby rabbits before, when I was younger.

So should you only breed from pedigree rabbits? How much would one of these set you back?
Click to expand...

Before you even think of pedegree rabbits you need to think about a lot of things.
First off, all rabbits should be vaccinated ( Which should happened even if there is no breeding ).

You need appropriate sized setups (6x2 hutch minimum with an attached 8x4 run). You need enough of these set ups to house as many rabbits that are born incase they need to be split. Again, this is the housing size you need, whether the rabbits are being bred from or not.

You need to think about why you want to breed. A hobby or to see baby bunnies is not a good enough reason.

Where would the babies go? Petshops sell them to people who would not always take care of them. Could you take babies back from owners who could no longer cope?

Can you afford possible vet fee's of hundreds of pounds? If not, don't even take the risk. Anything can happen morning and night, and the rabbits could need urgent vet care at any time of day. Just an emergancy appointment can cost a few hundred.

You would need to do a huge amount of research of genetics of the breed you wanted to keep.

Breeding properly will not give you any money back out of it. You will make a loss.

You also must think about the fact that you are brining extra lives into the world when rescues are working their bums off to save as many as they can.


If you want pet bunnies, then you could get some from a rescue. If you want to see baby rabbits grow up, offer to foster for a rescue. They often need people to take on and care for pregnant rabbits while they raise the young and look for a new home.
 
steph182 said:
Before you even think of pedegree rabbits you need to think about a lot of things.
First off, all rabbits should be vaccinated ( Which should happened even if there is no breeding ).

You need appropriate sized setups (6x2 hutch minimum with an attached 8x4 run). You need enough of these set ups to house as many rabbits that are born incase they need to be split. Again, this is the housing size you need, whether the rabbits are being bred from or not.

You need to think about why you want to breed. A hobby or to see baby bunnies is not a good enough reason.

Where would the babies go? Petshops sell them to people who would not always take care of them. Could you take babies back from owners who could no longer cope?

Can you afford possible vet fee's of hundreds of pounds? If not, don't even take the risk. Anything can happen morning and night, and the rabbits could need urgent vet care at any time of day. Just an emergancy appointment can cost a few hundred.

You would need to do a huge amount of research of genetics of the breed you wanted to keep.

Breeding properly will not give you any money back out of it. You will make a loss.

You also must think about the fact that you are brining extra lives into the world when rescues are working their bums off to save as many as they can.


If you want pet bunnies, then you could get some from a rescue. If you want to see baby rabbits grow up, offer to foster for a rescue. They often need people to take on and care for pregnant rabbits while they raise the young and look for a new home.
Click to expand...

Great post.

I really wouldn't breed at all. It's completely unnecessary.

The sizes outlined (6x2 hutch with attached 8x4 run) is the MINIMUM size for 1 or 2 rabbits regardless of whether they are breeding rabbits or not.
 
Jessica+Jynx said:
Ok thanks for the advice. I have kept rabbits pretty much all my life but was completely unaware that you're not meant to breed from petshop ones. I have had baby rabbits before, when I was younger.

So should you only breed from pedigree rabbits? How much would one of these set you back?
Click to expand...

I have had rabbits all my life but didn't realise how little i actually knew until i joined this forum. Theres a huge problem with the amount of abondoned rabbits more so really than any other pet because they are so readily available for anyone to just impulse buy from a petshop and stick in a tiny hutch at the end of the garden.

There really is no need to breed anymore, rescues are full of baby bunnies. Your pair of nethies are stunning and once neutered will be wondeful pets, they will be much happier neutered with eachother to snuggle up too and groom than breeding them.

I have three gorgeous rescue buns that live together, i did have four up until a few weeks ago.

My buns are neutered, bonded and have loads of space to run round, they live in a shed with an attached avairy and follow me round like dogs :love: enjoy your bunnies as pets is my advice. :wave:
 
Do you want to kill Jessica?

Her body is obviously not meant for breedind.
If she dies you killed her!

And what about your hutch did you get a fox proof new one?
If not it is only a matter of time until the fox comes back for Jessica and Jynx.

If you think about breeding, most breeders can't get rid of there bunnies as there are more baby bunnies out than there is demand for them.
But hey that wouldn't be a problem for you cos thanks to you unsave hutch the fox will soon take care of the bunnies.

You sound extremely irresponsible.
 
Sorry Hoppla but there is no need for you to be so rude. Unfortunately a "fox proof" hut is a very rare thing, the fox actually knocked the hutch from the table it was standing on and the wood split, that was how the rabbits managed to escape.

And as previously mentioned, it wasn't my fault that Jessica had babies in the first place - we were sold a rabbit which was meant to be female and it wasn't - the petshop was completely to blame.

So instead of jumping to conclusions and having a go at me for it, maybe think next time. I don't actually want to sell the baby bunnies to make a profit, I would just like some baby bunnies of my own. My rabbits are now in a hut which has a bolt & padlock on it.
 
Jessica+Jynx said:
Sorry Hoppla but there is no need for you to be so rude. Unfortunately a "fox proof" hut is a very rare thing, the fox actually knocked the hutch from the table it was standing on and the wood split, that was how the rabbits managed to escape.

And as previously mentioned, it wasn't my fault that Jessica had babies in the first place - we were sold a rabbit which was meant to be female and it wasn't - the petshop was completely to blame.
Click to expand...

Fox proof hutches are entirely possible. I'm not sure why the hutch was on the table? :?
You should really have a very large, solid hutch made with solid wood and fox proof mesh, with a run built in the same way, on concerete. If the run is on grass, there should be mesh burried under the grass to prevent anything digging in (or your bunnies digging out).
In this there should be plenty of places for a rabbit to hide if they need to.
 
Jessica+Jynx said:
Sorry Hoppla but there is no need for you to be so rude. Unfortunately a "fox proof" hut is a very rare thing, the fox actually knocked the hutch from the table it was standing on and the wood split, that was how the rabbits managed to escape.

And as previously mentioned, it wasn't my fault that Jessica had babies in the first place - we were sold a rabbit which was meant to be female and it wasn't - the petshop was completely to blame.

So instead of jumping to conclusions and having a go at me for it, maybe think next time. I don't actually want to sell the baby bunnies to make a profit, I would just like some baby bunnies of my own. My rabbits are now in a hut which has a bolt & padlock on it.
Click to expand...

I agree that the response was rude, but you should've had both buns neutered before you attempted to bond them.
Neutering is what makes bonding work, it stops them fighting because their hormones are acting up. Had you waited to neuter both rabbits you would have known that one of them was not female and could have completely avoided the babies.

You should always get a new bun checked over by a vet within 24 hours of getting it if it's from a pet shop. A good vet would have been able to tell you that Alice was a boy and then you would have known also.
 
Jessica+Jynx said:
Sorry Hoppla but there is no need for you to be so rude. Unfortunately a "fox proof" hut is a very rare thing, the fox actually knocked the hutch from the table it was standing on and the wood split, that was how the rabbits managed to escape.

And as previously mentioned, it wasn't my fault that Jessica had babies in the first place - we were sold a rabbit which was meant to be female and it wasn't - the petshop was completely to blame.
Click to expand...

It sounds as if the hutch is quite small if the fox was able to push it over and not great quality if it split. Most petshop hutches are rubbish and far too small unfortunately.

If you look up the happyhutch company they do 6ft hutches at a reasonable price, certainly not a hutch a fox couldpush over and plenty of room for your bunnies.

Or a popular setup now is to buy a second hand shed or playhouse, pop and catflap in and attach a secure run, all on paving slabs/concrete with welded mesh to help keep mr fox out. The playhouses look gorgeous in the garden as you can make a real feature of them. :wave:

If you want more buns then I suggest you rescue some, bunnies don't stay babies for long and you will hae to neuter them too. 80% unspayed does develop cancer of the uterus and bunnies are much happier in neutered pairs/groups than on their own in a little hutch. :)
 
Last edited:
Sorry but I do not think you should breed your rabbits. Do you know how many adverts I saw in the pet shop window today advertising free baby rabbits? 5.
As Hoopla said there are too many rabbits already, they are hard to find homes for them, so I would not be surprised if you couldn't rehome any of them.

Do you have enough hutches/the money to seperate the babies when they get to the age where they could breed? (I don't know what age it is that rabbits breed at but I think it would be before they were old enough to go to new homes) and would you be able to take all the baby rabbits back at any point in their lives if the owners could no longer care for them? If you breed rabbits you will lose money, no-one makes money from breeding rabbits.

I really think you shouldn't breed Jessica, she obviously can't cope with it, and as the babies have always been stillborn I personally think its cruel to keep breeding from her. I'm sorry if I've offended you in any way, I'm trying to keep this post polite, but I think you are being a bit selfish breeding from Jessica.
If you wanted baby rabbits could you foster a rabbit and a litter of baby rabbits from a rescue?
 
Hoppla said:
Do you want to kill Jessica?

Her body is obviously not meant for breedind.
If she dies you killed her!

And what about your hutch did you get a fox proof new one?
If not it is only a matter of time until the fox comes back for Jessica and Jynx.

If you think about breeding, most breeders can't get rid of there bunnies as there are more baby bunnies out than there is demand for them.
But hey that wouldn't be a problem for you cos thanks to you unsave hutch the fox will soon take care of the bunnies.

You sound extremely irresponsible.
Click to expand...

That is well out of order :censored: We were all new to this forum at some point and I'm sure you didn't know everything then. I'm pretty sure most of us on here had our eyes opened to breeding rabbits when we joined. I know myself, I didn't realise just how many rabbits were in rescues until I joined here.

What you said is down right out of order and you should apologise.

Jess+Jynx - I do hope comments like the above don't put you off sticking around on Rabbits United. The majority of us are very kind, caring and helpful bunny lovers.
 
Oh right, so it's a crime now to put a hutch on a table? Jeez, I didn't know there were so many rules to owning a rabbit. The hutch was on a table to keep it off the ground, to stop the base getting wet. I thought this was a pretty normal practice to keep a hutch off the ground? Even if it was on something else other than a table, a fox would have still been able to knock it over.
 
Jessica+Jynx said:
Oh right, so it's a crime now to put a hutch on a table? Jeez, I didn't know there were so many rules to owning a rabbit. The hutch was on a table to keep it off the ground, to stop the base getting wet. I thought this was a pretty normal practice to keep a hutch off the ground? Even if it was on something else other than a table, a fox would have still been able to knock it over.
Click to expand...

I understand where you are coming from, in my old house my hutches were on tables outside for the same reason. Looking at it now, I realise it really wasn't all that safe, but we didn't have foxes there thankfully.

In future, I'd always go with a solid hutch and run in the ground personally. Is this an option for you?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Pregnant bunny ?
Replies
1
Views
426
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
M
Baby rabbits
Replies
11
Views
320
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
Cocoandpickles
general advice for new baby
Replies
8
Views
257
Cocoandpickles
Cocoandpickles
Back
Top