Baby bunny problem

[fffarmergirl]

Hi - got a baby bunny problem I'm hoping you can help me with.

We bred LaFonda once and then 10 days later and if she'd had the babies at 31 days she would have had them on either the 4th or the 14th. Yesterday (the 6th) she started going insane building a nest, so I put the nesting box in with her. We figured she'd be due on the 14th, but we woke up this morning to two baby bunnies. She must have pushed up against the side of her cage to have them, though, because they were in the litter pan underneath the cage. There were only two and one was dead. The one that's left was very cold. I warmed it up in my hands and under my shirt and then put it in the nest she built in the nest box. It's very vigorous although it's tummy is empty.

Why would she have had them late, and is it unusual for them to only have two? Will one bunny be able to stay warm enough? We've got her in one of the cooler rooms of the house - it probably stays in the 50s or low 60s there most of the time. Hubby rigged up a light over the nest box, to provide a little heat.

Do you think she's done? How fast do they usually have them? She's very crabby. She's always been a crabby rabbit, but this morning she jumps at me and thumps hard if I reach my hand in the cage. She's not making any bones about not wanting me near her.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Oh - also, they seem kind of big to me. I've never seen baby bunnies but they're about 4 inches long. She's a german/english angora. I hope they're not too big and she doesn't have one stuck in there. She's not acting uncomfortable - just sitting there eating - and we don't want to pick her up because she's so mean.

 

[fffarmergirl]

I just checked on her again - trying not to bother her too much. It looks like there's a placenta in the nest box that wasn't there before, so maybe she's not done yet? She hasn't fed the baby yet but it's warm because of the light.

Also - I forgot to mention this earlier but there was quite a bit of clear fluid - would have thought it was urine except it wasn't in the spot where she typically urinates, and she also squirted urine out the side of the cage all over the floor.

Poor bunny. I'm getting cramps just thinking about how uncomfortable she must be. I don't know much about rabbits yet, but those babies definitely seem big to me. Are they supposed to have any fur? There's definitely some fur.

 

[fffarmergirl]

Another question - sorry. How long does it take for their milk to come in?

 

[clevername]

If the placenta has come out she's probably done. The crabbiness is normal for a new bunny mummy. She doesn't want you in her space or touching her baby.

Also its not unusual for her milk to take a day or so to drop.

 

[clevername]

Congrats by the way! Angora babies are so sweet. Be sure to handle them as much as possible so they imprint to people. Wool bunnies need to be especially tolerant of human affection.

 

[fffarmergirl]

Thanks, Clever! I think she may have fed the baby - does this look like a full belly to you?

It's too bad that there's only one - but it looks like she might actually take care of it. How exciting.

When should I start handling it a lot? The bunnies I have don't like to be handled much and I think it's because they weren't handled a lot when they were babies. They hate to be trimmed, and I hope future bunnies will like it more.

 

[Hayley411]

I have always handled all my babies from day one.

~Hayley

 

[tonyshuman]

A caveat: I'm not a breeder, never taken care of baby bunnies, but this is what I've read about it. Baby bunny bellies should be white and look like pingpong balls. It usually takes a few hours for milk to come in. I think she may have given birth to them late if you say they already have fur, as they usually are born hairless or with a very light downy fur. I don't know if she's done giving birth, perhaps passing the placenta means she is done. Hopefully a breeder with experience with late babies can tell you. I know BlueGiants had a baby that was born at least a day after everybunny else in the litter, so it's not impossible, just uncommon.

 

[fffarmergirl]

Well - the baby's still alive and it looks like mama's been moving it around the nest a bit. Thanks for all the answers, everybody! I'm sure I'll be back on here with more questions.

 

[naturestee]

It's not too unusual for them to just have two. Although if they were able to fall out of the side of the cage, I'd attach smaller hardware cloth to the cage bars. Just use zip ties for a quick fix. This will keep them from falling out when they start wandering the cage, and for future litters.

You can start handling from day 1. That's what I did with my foster babies. Some of them still turned out anti-social, probably more due to genetics than anything else. If the mama is really protective, try petting her first so your hands smell like her, and give her a treat. Take her out of the cage if she's really protective.

 

[fffarmergirl]

This is so cool! Handling the baby is not only allowed but encouraged! I think I'll go get him and carry him all over the house with me, introduce him to the dogs, etc. Just joking - I have a weird sense of humor. Today's been a heck of a day for him - his first day existing in the world, nearly dying and all. But I will go pick him up and cuddle him a little.

LaFonda lunges at me if I try to pet her, but she doesn't seem too concerned about me touching the baby - not protective maybe just hormonal!

Did anybody look at the picture? Does his belly look full?

 

[polly]

His tummy looks ok she will feed it once or twice a day so may just be a while till its next feed I would say that its a couple of days over becuase if it was that early then it would be very small or not quite fully formed but nearly there! I dont understand why you bred 10 days apart though? Ideally you should mate then remate up to 8 hours later.

 

[fffarmergirl]

Polly, I didn't know what I was doing and realized my mistake when I looked into it more later. I thought she'd be pulling fur or showing signs of pregnancy in some way, assumed she wasn't pregnant, and re-mated her. I know better now.

Thanks for the answer - would you be able to tell, just by the amount of hair, that the baby was overdue?

 

[fffarmergirl]

Holy cow! Active, squeeky little guy! Practically jumped right out of my hands! Cute little booger, though.

 

[BlueGiants]

Keep an eye on mom, she may not be done yet. If the baby is the only one, it will need the ligth bulb to help it maintain it's body temperature.

Now this is going to sound silly, but I use old, washed beanie baby's in nests with singletons. I throw it in my clothes drier to heat it up, then snuggle it in next to the baby so the baby has the security of leaning against a warm body. The momma shouldn't mind. It's worked numerous times for me and none of the moms even noticed it in there. (One did try to nurse it though...)

If the mother used her own fur to make the nest, I'd suggest you pull the nest and the baby out and take a pair scissors to the wool, and cut up all the wool strands into 1" pieces. I've seen angora babies strangle on their mother wool from the nest... and most angora breeders keep bags of cut up wool ready for nests, removing momma's wool and replacing it with the cut up wool.

 

[naturestee]

If you have a Petsmart by you, you could get a Snuggle Safe. That would last longer than a warmed up beanie baby (or the makeshift equivalent, a sock full of dried rice). That's how I kept my orphan baby toasty warm. I don't know if it's necessary with that nice furry nest and the light though.

 

[fffarmergirl]

Thanks for the excellent tips, naturestee and bluegiant! The bulb we're using is keeping the baby nice and warm - not too warm. It's a growlamp flood, not a heat lamp, but I put my hand under it and held it there for a long time and it's just comfortable. I'll have to get some beanie babies, though - for extra heat and snuggles!

I was counting on having several babies, but it looks like she's probably done. She passed the placenta and doesn't show any signs at all of anything being wrong. She's not trying to build another nest or anything. I had already promised one of her babies to a friend of mine, so it looks like this one is spoken for, assuming he makes it.

So - I decided to go ahead and breed my other two females. I've got one in with the buck right now. She's been in with him for about an hour and a half. I'm going to take her out now and put the other one in with him and I'm wondering - how many times can bucks . . . well, I know they can do the fun thing many times but how many wigglers . . . how to I make this PG rated? Does the buck need to recharge? :blushan: I want both of my females to have their babies at the same time so that one can foster if the other ones isn't a good mommy.



Oh - and thanks for the suggestion about the fur. I'd trimmed the rabbits not too long ago, and I had a shoebox full of fur that was too short for me to spin into yarn that I put in for her to use, so I think it's all short enough. I guess some of it's about 1.5" long - will that be a problem?

 

[fffarmergirl]

Just want to let you all know I'm leaving for work now. Hubby's home and will check the forum for further info.

We went ahead and put the other female in with the buck - just wondering how long to leave her in with him since he's kind of tired. The poor, poor guy.

 

[polly]

it looks about right for being a day or 2 over. Will be lovely to see it grow and you may want to give him a bit of a break to recharge otherwise he may be a bit exhausted lol

 

[Bo B Bunny]

CONGRATS! and BlueGiants, that's a great idea about beanie babies! We give our bunnies one (or something similar) to have as a buddy in their cages.