Hello!

[michelle329]

My name is Michelle and we got two bunnies this past summer for my daughters. The pet shop said they were both females but I came home yesterday to five dead newborn bunnies with bite marks on their heads

 

[lovelops]

My name is Michelle and we got two bunnies this past summer for my daughters. The pet shop said they were both females but I came home yesterday to five dead newborn bunnies with bite marks on their heads

Oh my goodness! Obviously you did not get two female bunnies. You got a male and female and I would ge them fixed asap.

I'm so sorry you had to come home to find them eaten.

My female bit half of my Chico's left foot off when he was a baby he lived.. then when the kits were 4 days old the mother died and two of the four of the kits died.. so I understand what you are going through. Oh my gosh I hope to goodness your daughters did NOT see the dead bunnies.

Normally when mother's cannibilze the kits it's due to a couple of factors.

I found this online might not be true:

Rabbits (and other small herbivorous animals) will commonly eat their babies for one of three reasons:

1) The mother feels threatened by "predators" because people or animals are too close to the nest. She eats the babies to take away the appeal for the predators, in the hopes she will live to breed a new litter.

2) The mother is stressed out and cannot lactate, so she eats the babies. Mother rabbits should always be left alone, and the babies must never be handled.

3) The father ate the babies to mate her again. The father should always be removed. Sometimes if you keep them together, the female will actually bite off his penis. I am not kidding. Do some research. The female may also just maul him to death.

I would separate them immediately and get them fixed unless you want babies and if you do I would NOT keep them together after you know she is pregnant.

I found this on a rabbitry site:



WILL SHE EAT HER BABIES IF I TOUCH THEM?

Rabbits eat their young for two reasons. They are either malnourished themselves and instinct tells them they are going to be unable to care for them and they will put their own survival first.

The other reason for cannibalism is to protect the young from predators.

Unless you just found the rabbit and she doesn't know who you are, she isn't likely to perceive you as a predator. Many sources recommend putting vanilla or Vicks on the doe's nose so she can't smell your scent but I honestly have never had a doe kill her babies after I handled them.

Stray cats, rodents and dogs around the hutch are likely to provoke a cannibalistic response so they simple solution is to provide your doe with a nice quiet place where she feels safe.

It is recommended to take each baby out of the nest every day to be sure none have died. The Mother knows your scent and shouldn't object. Some does are very protective and may lunge at you when you investigate the nest. It is a good idea to pet Mom first, then remove the box to inspect the kits.

http://www.barbibrownsbunnies.com/having_baby_bunnies_questions.htm

I am so sorry this happened and I would have given a piece of my mind to the
pet shop that told me they were two females.. that's so sad what happened..

Vanessa

 

[michelle329]

Vanessa -- I am not sure which one killed the babies. Nobody was home all day so they were by themselves and were dead when we got there. We had just cleaned the cage the day before so we are pretty sure it happened yesterday during the day. She had the afterbirth this morning. I called the pet shop and they said we could return the boy. He was less-cuddly and friendly then the girl so I'm thinking it might be a good idea. I really don't want to pay to get them both fixed ($375) and then buy another cage to keep them separate for a while. I feel bad though returning her companion.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Just one of the many reasons I'm against pet store purchases--a lot of shelters are just as bad though. One of our rescues was listed as a "male" but turned out they misspelled it--should have had fe there first. Good luck.

 

[lovelops]

You know you might want to check around for low cost fixing. I did that for my two rescues and
found a place that fixed my rabbits for $55 each in the Baltimore/ DC area. If you reach out to Rabbit Rescues in your area they can refer you to vets that would be able to help or charge less than that.
I know what you mean, my vet was talking about $450 each and that is because they just don't want to deal with fixing rabbits so they bump up the prices. It's also easier for buns to have companions as well so they aren't so lonely, even if they are male and female... and possibly in time he might be more friendly your family has only had them for a month or so right?

Vanessa

 

[Imbrium]

Welcome to RO. I'm so sorry you had to go through such a horrific experience! One of many issues with pet store rabbits is that people who buy them often get visited by the "gender change fairy" :banghead [In pet stores' defense, very young rabbits are notoriously difficult to sex... though this is compounded by the fact that they sometimes get their rabbits too young and aren't willing to invest in thoroughly training their employees about the animals they sell >.>]

Sadly, a doe's first litter (especially if she's very young) often doesn't survive for one reason or another, leading to heartbreak for many families who thought they had two rabbits of the same gender... and even if the kits survive, it's an emotional stress on the family and very time consuming for them to find new homes for the kits. We hear about "oops" litters fairly often on RO and it always reminds me how frustrating it is that pet stores sell live animals ssd:. The only silver lining (which isn't much consolation for all the issues people have to go through) is that sometimes people find there way here after the gender change fairy visits, allowing us to provide all the great info the pet store failed to.

I called the pet shop and they said we could return the boy. He was less-cuddly and friendly then the girl so I'm thinking it might be a good idea. I really don't want to pay to get them both fixed ($375) and then buy another cage to keep them separate for a while. I feel bad though returning her companion.

I'd like to clarify some common misconceptions regarding spays/neuters for rabbits, as it could make a difference in what you choose to do about your current situation:
~ Even if you had gotten two females like you were supposed to, you would still have needed to spay both in order for them to live together safely. Hormones can provoke vicious or even deadly fights; it's not safe to keep two or more adult rabbits together unless ALL rabbits involved are altered. [Something pet stores *should* mention but never seem to, either because all they care about is the sale or because they're clueless about rabbit husbandry ><]
~ Females really need to be spayed even if they live alone - the average lifespan of unspayed females is HALF that of spayed females due to their proclivity for cancers of the reproductive system.
~ Neutering a male obviously removes the chance of testicular cancer since their testicles get taken away, but the rate of reproductive cancer in males is extremely low to begin with - so low that neutering isn't considered a "must" for male rabbits as long as you can live with their hormonal behavior and don't want to bond them to another rabbit.