HELP!!!

[TinysMom]

I've been meaning to add that I really respectyou for normally checking out about animals before you add them. Ithink it is also great that you'd already called around about gettingyour rabbit neutered....

Do you know what type of rabbit it is? Just curious...

Oh - and don't forget we have the "bunny blog" section where you can start a blog of your bunny w/ pictures and stories, etc.

We LOVE pictures here...

:bunnydance:

Peg

 

[TinysMom]

Potato is probably tearing up paper to make a nest and digging to make a nest.

You have to understand - if she was out in the wild...she would go offand dig a hole and then have her babies in the hole - lining it withfur, etc. Then once or twice a day she would go toher babies and nurse them - but she would stay away from them so thatpredators wouldn't follow her to them.

My does don't normally dig after giving birth which sort of leads me tobelieve she may have more. As strange as it sounds - if she has more itcan almost make things easier for you as they will keep each other warmand the nestbox can probably be put in with mama.

Let us know what happens as the day goes on.

Peg

 

[MindAteMum]

She's a sort of dwarf bunny. I have pictures of her here:

http://www.eatmycreativegenius.org/Photography/Pets/Bunneh/

A blog, huh? I will look into this! I hope she has more just so it'llbe easier. But finding the money to fix them all before finding homesfor them will be hard. ;-; Let alone finding good homes for them.*laughs* I will think of that at another time.

 

[TinysMom]

Oh wow - she's cute. At least you don't have afrench lop or flemish where we could be looking for the possibility ofanother 10 babies or so.

I'm guessing the most she would have would be 4 and 1 or 2 would bequite possible. I don't breed dwarfs (well, lionheads do have the dwarfgene sometimes).

I've heard that many dwarfs will lose their first litter...so congrats on her having the one!

Peg

 

[MindAteMum]

I am very worried about losing this little guy. I sure hope he makes it!

I will need to fix Potato. (Well, not me personally) There are no otherrabbits around. But I heard good things about fixing bunnies.

I sure hope I can get her littler box trained so she can have the living room to play in.

 

[MindAteMum]

I should also ask: What if she continues tostomp on the baby and doesn't feed it? Will there be something I willneed to do? Maybe hand feeding?

Just trying to get everything in mind now. As not to have an issue at 3am when everything is closed and I can't get what I need to save alittle life.

Thanks again, guys! :heart:

 

[TinysMom]

If she doesn't feed it - you have two options.

Try to hand feed it yourself - or find a breeder in your area and seeif they'll allow it to foster off one of your mamas. I've never hadanyone call asking that - but if there was someone in my area needing ababy fostered, I'd take a quick look at baby and mama (to check foranything wrong) and then probably say "sure" and let a mama foster itif I had one nursing at the time.

Normally I don't breed very much - I'm just getting ready for lionhead Nationals...so I have a lot of litters.

You might want to get some kitten replacement formula (I like thepowdered kind). I think I have a recipe somewhere too - let me check.

Peg

 

[TinysMom]

Try this link...

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/orphan.html#How much formula should I feed?

Peg

 

[MindAteMum]

She still is not doing a very motherly job.

she stomps on the baby in the nestbox. :shakefist:
I will try in another hour or two.

 

[Pipp]

Not my area, but do you mean stomping as inthumping her foot intentionally down on the baby? Or juststepping on it while moving around the nest box? Don't wantto alarm you, but some mothers when they're stressed will try and killtheir babies in what is thought to be an odd attempt to save them frompredators.

The nest boxshouldn't have too high ofasideso the mom can see where she's jumping whenshe comesin and doesn't have to land too hard, but highenough to keep the kitfrom being able to crawl out.

How active is the baby?

sas

 

[Pipp]

PS: Not to contradict Peg or anything, she's theexperienced one, but if it hasn't already been stressed, it's FARbetter to have the doe feed the kit (even if you have to hold her inplace and let the kit feed from her) than using formula. Theprognosis with formula and hand feeding, and apparently often withfostering (according to Pam I think) is pretty poor.

sas

 

[TinysMom]

Ok - you may want to put baby in the nestboxAFTER you have mama settled down a bit. The baby's best chance isnursing off of mama...vs. formula feeding. So we really want to try toget mama to nurse.

Now here is the question - is she stomping ON the baby - or beside the baby?

My mamas will sometimes thump or stomp to call the babies when it istime for them to nurse. Some mamas will lick the babies and clean them- others will thump (particularly as they get older).

Also - remember - maybe her milk isn't in yet. You want to get her inthe box and comfortable and relaxed so the milk can drop. That's why Ilike to put treats in the box....so she's eating treats and not reallythinking about baby.

Once she starts nursing like this and gets used to the idea - sheshould do better at seeing you get ready to put her in the box and go"oh..I'm supposed to nurse now".

By the way, is she still digging in the cage? If so, she may bethinking she's going to deliver more. You may need to flip her over andlook at her privates to see if she has a stuck kit.

Peg

MindAteMum wrote:

She still is not doing a very motherly job.

she stomps on the baby in the nestbox. :shakefist:
I will try in another hour or two.

 

[MindAteMum]

She just trots all over the baby as if he's not there. Steps on him and tips over the nestbox. ;-;

His tummy still looks full. So I am not too worried as of yet. I willmainly worry when I go to sleep and wake up. Hopefully not to a deadbaby.

Should I keep the lamp over the baby all night to keep him warm?

 

[aurora369]

Is there any fur in the nest with the baby?

I would make double sure that the cord on the lamp can't be chewedon. And make sure the baby has somewhere to wiggle to if hegets too hot.

--Dawn

 

[TinysMom]

I would not keep the lamp over the baby ifyou've got it set up with fur and hay in the nestbox. To me the lampjust risks getting TOO hot.

If the baby has been fed, it will look like it swallowed a ping pongball. It is possible it got some food but maybe isn't all that full tolook that way. Getting food in it is the important thing - and somedoes won't nurse their litter for the first day. The picture you postedof the baby made it look pretty healthy.

I would definitely take a warm damp cloth or cotton ball and wipe its privates though to get it to pee and poop if she fed it.

Peg

 

[KimboUNCW1]

i pray that your little man makes it. i recentlyfound a baby too and the mom had died i'm thinking from giving birth.my little baby looked good too but either the handfeeding got liquid inhis little lungs or he had some kind of urinal problem.... i did thewarm cloth on his little belly and privates and he pooped but youshould definately make sure he pees.... if the mom is feeding him thenthat's more than i dealt with. good luck and i will be praying for him!ray:

 

[MindAteMum]

Thank you.

We've replaced the newspaper with plenty of hay. She is still nestingand collecting it all and ignoring the baby (Who already seems to befuzzier) still. He was born about 2pm and it's now 9:30pm. When shouldI start to worry about him not getting fed. Would any sort of pictureshelp at all? Maybe of his nestbox? Or anything? Everytime we put thenestbox in the cage with mom she tears it apart for the washcloth.

:S Am I being over paranoid? And if I am -- Isn't it understandable..? I'm already attached to the little guy.

 

[TinysMom]

Being paranoid? Naw..you're being cautious.

I would be concerned if it hadn't eaten by 2:30 tomorrow afternoon.Some of my mamas nurse while giving birth or shortly after. Other mamasnurse hours later.

I would NOT leave the baby in with mama overnight since you know shewants the washcloth. Can you give her another washcloth to make a nestwith?

If she is going to have more she may continue trying to make anest....or for all I know she's thinking, "If I make a nest, I'll findthe baby again". I never fully understand some does.

What you want to avoid is the sunken belly look. If the baby's bellyisn't sunken in and wrinkled...then you have a chance. The first photoyou showed us looked pretty good for a newborn. I've had newborns thatwere so small I was thinking, "I don't know if you'll make it" - andfrequently they didn't. Your little one looked pretty good though...anice size.

Have you flipped mama and checked her privates to make sure there isn'ta stuck kit? That is pretty important - especially since sheis still nesting. You might want to visit a vet tomorrow (or a breedereven) and see if they can palpate to see if she still has any leftinside.

I am going to ask on my lionhead list if there are any breeders in yourtown or nearby that could palpate your doe for you....maybe we couldget someone to look at it that way. (I'm not saying DON'T go to thevet...ok? I'm just saying that might be a good first option).

Peg

 

[MindAteMum]

We did turn her over and look. And we didn't seeanything of the sort. *smiles* Thank you for asking around for me. Iwould love to find a breeder around here.

 

[Hollie]

Good luck with your little one! Mummy's a very pretty bun, so I'm sure her baby will be when it's grown, too

This forum has so many people who know so much about rabbits thatyou've definitely come to the right place! If you can't get the rightadvice on here then you won't be able to get it anywhere!