Abandoned Babies

[Shaded Night Rabbitry]

I am SO angry right now. My best friend just called me, stressing out. She just found a batch of young babies thrown in a dumpster, in a bag.

She's a cavy person, and babies are muuuch different. So I told her to bring them over, and I'll see if I can save any.


Now... I don't feel specifically good about offering one of my brood does. Especially since my only lactating one is the most expensive/best producer. What's the chance of getting something from fostering kits? There's no way they could be wild, unless someone destroyed a nest, and took everything out of it.

I also don't really want to keep them around for very long. Frankly, I don't have space. All my holes are filled. I have three litters due in the next week. I'll have to stick them in a makeshift NIC cage (I have a shelf set made out of it, so I'll break it down.)

So I guess. If I give them actual rabbit milk (either by letting them feed, or milking here (which is gross, and weird, but I've done it before)), is there anyway, once they're mostly on pellets, to take them off rabbit milk, and put them on a replacer? As soon as I can, I need to get them out of this house, and back to the person that found them. (She can deal with it. I don't want to get attatched, and I don't want to have hopes of them living.)

So.. Help?

 

[kmtangelkrystal]

you could take them to a vet.. .. thats awful they threw them out.. oh and i have a question for you, the babies have been with mom four days and they are starting to eat her food, but they drink milk too.. i was told it was three weeks not two that they started nibbling.

 

[Shaded Night Rabbitry]

As soon as the babies leave the nest, they'll start nibbling on whatever they can get their hands on. usually they start with hay... But I wouldn't be surprised to see them eating a bit of pellets too. Kits are amazing sturdy, and delicate, at the same time. They should be fine.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

They were found in a dumpster!? Oh my gosh. That is awful! Do they look wild or domestic?

I'm not sure if fostering could transmit anything to the doe...but I would be worried about the kits transmitting something to the other kits in the litter, if you are fostering them to a nursing doe with a current litter.

I would try feeding them with a replacer, although I don't know how well it would work and it might be very time consuming. How old does she think they are?

Emily

 

[tonyshuman]

Most of the diseases found in any pet rabbit (which I'm assuming these guys were) and any show rabbit will be the same. Things like pasturella, papilloma, EC: nearly every bunny that is not from one of a small number of large-scale commercial breeding facilities (ie those that supply lab animals) will have been exposed to these things and has them in their system at a low (non-pathogenic, not causing symptoms) level. I wouldn't worry about those things.

You could have a problem with syphilis. Depending on how long the kits spent with their mom, and if the mom had syphilis, they could have contracted it, and I assume they can pass it to your doe. THat could be a real problem for you, since there are more babies coming, and I assume this doe may be used as a foster mom for them, they could get it from her, etc. The treatment for syphilis isn't hard or expensive--it's just Pen G, which you probably know how to administer. I'd have to look up the dosing regimen for syphilis to be sure.

It is a bit of a risk. It sounds to me, though, that the babies weren't with their birth mom long enough to get exposed to the disease a lot (I would say several days of exposure are probably needed for them to catch it), and the mom might not have had it. If the doe does catch syphilis from these babies, which is a remote but distinct possibility, it will not be fatal or have long-lasting effects if you treat it quickly and correctly, which shouldn't be too hard.

I hope that if you can't risk your doe, you can find someone else who can foster these babies, at least for a little bit, or you can get them a few days' worth of rabbit milk. I'm sure you know how important it is for a baby to get at least a few days of actual rabbit milk to build their immune system properly. They can be fed formula as well, but some real milk is really preferred.

Things like mastitis and the sort--I'm not sure how they come about, so you'd have to ask someone with more knowledge about that.

 

[Shaded Night Rabbitry]

I've been dealing with her all day. She's been at school, and I've only gotten information between classes.

I went through a small checklist. The babies have their eyes open. They don't look like they've been fed in a while. I'd assume if they're still small enough for her to think of them as young babies, they're probably under 20 days old. But if they've survived this long without food, they must have been with mom for a while before being thrown out.

I'm hoping she'll be able to make the drive from Chehalis to Olympia tonight, for fitting and showing practice, so i can see them.

If I do choose to foster them, which I think I may for as short as time as possible, the babies will stay in their own box, in my room. I'll just bring the doe to them for feedings every now and then. Hopefully that will minimize the chance of anything catching. I'd hate to risk her current litter, though. It's my first batch of sable points, which is what I've been trying for.. Well, since I started breeding. I wish this would have been a week later. I have a doe due in a few days, who's babies I'm fostering out... And I don't specifically care for her as a brood animal. She's getting retired after I get a single live litter out of her.

But I'm wondering if they've had enough rabbit milk for me to be able to switch them out to a formula safely. Well. I guess it's never safe. But. I'd much rather lose the litter, then endanger my personal litter and doe.

 

[tonyshuman]

Oh I didn't realize that the doe in question had a current litter (of course that would make sense, but I thought maybe you could keep her lactating after a litter had weaned somehow, maybe by milking her). I think the system you have is a good idea. They are probably old enough to be fed with formula at least half-time, if their eyes are open, I would think.

 

[Shaded Night Rabbitry]

XD I've had a doe keep her litter until 12 weeks, and still have milk until she was 2 weeks into her next pregnancy, without me doing anything. Rabbit are odd animals.

We'll see how it goes for the first night, if she brings them today. (If she doesn't... Well. Good luck to her with actually keeping them alive through the night and most of the day tomorrow.)

 

[mistyjr]

Those more babies... That is sad that people do that to any baby. They just do it so they cant deal with spending more money on them.. Glad you can take them in.. I would... That is awful just letting babies die slowly from starving...