Help! My bunny just became Mama!

[TinysMom]

theekeem wrote:

I'm also fighting anger at Penelope for not feeding him and taking care of him.

Please do not be angry at her....I know it is easy to do.

Not all does "get it" about what being a mama is about - and most of the litters I've ever lost have been from first-time mamas that didn't know what to do. Odds are that a doe that doesn't make a nest or pull fur - doesn't understand enough to feed the babies too.

Some does are just not meant to be mamas at all...most breeders will give a doe 2-3 tries and if she isn't a good mama - they won't use her for breeding.

I'd love on her - she probably doesn't understand about being a mama and didn't know what to do.

 

[amdfarm]

Well shoot! I really rooting for the little kit.

Sorry for your loss. Don't be mad at Penelope. She didn't know any better.

 

[TinysMom]

I just wanted to share - I've had does kill babies (even one of my favorite flemish does killed one)....and I've had to forgive them and let it go.

Its hard - I do understand. But your rabbit really does need you to know that she just didn't know how to be a mama.

 

[theekeem]

Well, I'm not shunning her or anything. Sorry, I didn't mean to make it seem like I was being horrible to her because of it. It's just hard for me to accept at the moment that she just let it starve to death. I realize that's humanizing her, like she did it on purpose or something. I'll feel better about it in a day or so, it was just really hard for me to have to watch it die after trying so hard to do what I was supposed to do. I'm more mad at myself for not taking matters into my own hands sooner.

This was Penelope's second "litter". She was my mom's rabbit but my mom couldn't take care of her anymore so I offered to take her in. When she was my mom's she had a litter in the dead of winter, and at the time she was an outdoor rabbit. My parent's never knew she was pregnant. A big frost happened to hit one night, and the next day when they were cleaning the cage, they found her litter in the covered hutch area of the condo. They weren't in a nest or anything then either, so they died from the cold.

I guess Penelope is just one of those does that lacks the maternal instinct.

 

[amdfarm]

Sad, but have to agree being a mama is not her purpose.
Take care! (((HUGS)))

 

[iluvdutchrabbbits90]

just have the same thing happen. Lost a litter of 4 it was moms first litter and she just looked at them like "what am I supposed too do with those"?