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Please help

K

Kayleigh15

New Kit
:( . I woke up this morning to see my mummy rabbit had died. Furthermore so did her baby. She had 5 babies about 5 weeks ago, mum is still young herself and was 7 months old. Dad is lost, other babies seem fine. unexplained death but very worried owner.. they are outdoor rabbits with a large double hutch, covered with carpet and plenty of bedding. mum was found near the door and baby on the steps. what could have been the cause? rang the vets they seem unsure but said babies should be weaned fine now and just make sure they have alot of hay and baby rabbit food. I cant help but feel the lost for them, she was a great loving mum and dad was always next to her :( could she have died because baby did or they not that emotionally attached?
 
So sorry you lost your bunnies :(

It would be best to get a post mortem done so that you can find out whether it is anything that could affect the remaining rabbits, especially as 2 have died. I would also advise against breeding any of the related rabbits, in case it is a genetic fault or an illness that could have been passed on to the babies.

No, a mother rabbit will not die from grief because her baby did, but the deaths are likely connected, and it could be something that may affect the remaining rabbits. From the question I take it you are not an experienced breeder, is this your first litter? If you have any questions about care of the rabbits or anything dont be afraid to ask, thats how we learn after all :)

I hope you can find some answers about what caused this.
 
Thanks. First litter. I brought the rabbits after being told they were both girls.. i took them back to the lady i got them from while i went on holiday she happened to double check and 1 was a boy. So after holiday i paid to get him done. Didnt think anything of it then found the baby rabbits. The mum and dad are brother and sister too. Should i take all the rabbits to the vets to get checked over? I took mum and dad before the op and they were fine. Darent look in the cage anymore just incase. I lost my bird this weekend too and he was 20! Overall a very bad few days. x
 
(this may help us get an idea, and perhaps you)

Where in the UK are you?

Were the adults vaccinated from VHD at all?
 
For the babies, just supply their diet as you normally would. I would say provide heat sources like SnuggleSafes too so they have something warm and snuggly to sleep on (my early weaned babies due to mum dying absolutely loved those). Keep them in the same hutch, etc, and keep stress to an absolute minimum and keep their diet the same as what it has been.

I won't comment on mum and kit because the others have done a good job, but I'm very sorry you are dealing with this.
 
The babies will NOT be fully weaned by now naturally but if you are lucky will be used to dry food enough to make the change, if they are used to being with mum then I sggest they would still be feeding off her at least as a supplement - unless she has been too ill to feed them.

And they will also be very very prone to being cold as they are used to being snuggled up so will need a substitute warmth provider (snugglesafes NOT hot water bottle - these are dangerous).

The death will be an enormous shock physically to them (and to a certain extent what we would call 'emotionally') .

Have you ever brought up baby buns before?

I suggest you bring these into the house to care for them now although keeping them with their current bedding that smells of mum and also if possible with the hutch (can you just move the whole thing into a spare room???) so you can keep a much closer eye on them in case they start to suffer from dehydration.

Whereabouts in the country are you???
 
What a sad, sad story.

Really sorry for your losses. I would follow the advice above and definitely bring your remaining buns inside, they won't survive in this cold weather. So it is vital you bring them in now.

A PM should get to the route of what has happened as well.

Lots of love to you xxx
 
Thanks everyone. Never looked after baby bunnies before no. I'm hunting down a smaller rabbit hutch now to put inside with the run as it can be used indoors too. I've rang the vets about a PM she's ringing me back. She seems to think it would have been a heart attack maybe a fox scare and they couldn't deal with it. I want them indoors now anyway. The babies eat well, I have 2 bowls 1 adult food 1 for babies.
 
Kayleigh15 said:
Thanks everyone. Never looked after baby bunnies before no. I'm hunting down a smaller rabbit hutch now to put inside with the run as it can be used indoors too. I've rang the vets about a PM she's ringing me back. She seems to think it would have been a heart attack maybe a fox scare and they couldn't deal with it. I want them indoors now anyway. The babies eat well, I have 2 bowls 1 adult food 1 for babies.
Click to expand...

This is very possible - the mother might have had a heart attack and the baby might have gone searching for her to feed and died of cold. Once the babies are on their own away from the other they are very susceptible to cold.
 
Any hutch can be used indoors so you could bring your current one in to save buying a new one. Or a lot of people with indoor rabbits use a dog/rabbit pen or a dog crate, as these give a bigger area for them whilst being much cheaper. Or in the long run they can live 'free-range' like a cat or dog.

You'll have to bunny-proof the wires in the room so when they come out to exercise they dont chew them.

Bear in mind though, once they are indoors they will have to stay indoors until around April, as they wont have grown winter coats, so if you bring them in make sure you can keep them in for the long-haul.

This thread has lots of great information on indoor housing: http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?304613-Indoor-Housing

Hopefully focussing on the baby buns will keep your mind off what happened, you must be devastated.
 
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