mom died and left 3 babies please help me

[aurora369]

Basically with the weight you just want tomonitor them from day to day. Make sure they are not loosingweight, they should always be gaining.

The baby's eye may be already damaged, or that may just be built uppuss peeling off. Keep doing warm compresses and putting theeye cream on.

Any new pictures??

--Dawn

 

[KimboUNCW1]

could it be damaged if all the stuff is goingaway and now i can see the eye and before i couldn't? aw i pray thathis little eye isn't damaged forever.....i'll continue with thecompresses and meds. i'll post pics soon!

 

[KimboUNCW1]

i gave the females tums...the quick dissolve kind yum. should i give one to the two babies?

 

[TinysMom]

The babies do not need Tums. It is for thefemales for about 3 days before they give birth so they don't havecalcium deficiency which can cause problems.

Peg

 

[KimboUNCW1]

Ok so I'm on my phone and hope you all can readthis. I'm watchin the babies and saw the lighter one using 3 legs. Herother has what looks like a scab on the bottom of her back leg. Theupper side looks like something is stickin out. The bottom is alsopinkish. I guess I never really noticed it that much til tonightbecause they always hopped slow since they were learning.

 

[KimboUNCW1]

Also the light ones one eye is starting to beclosed a little with some hard stuff building up. Could it be that hishair gets stuck in his eye and irritates it? I'm worried about hislittle foot too. Ill post pics tomorrow when I get new batteries forthe camera.

 

[KimboUNCW1]

Omg the cream bunny had 3 babies! They're kindof every now and then whining and flaling around. Maybe they wantmilk?? Or could she be stepping on them? She's real calm and notbothering them too much. Help! Lol

 

[KimboUNCW1]

Could it be all the fur getting in their mouths?Its flying all over the place. i moved them a little bit to get someair and they stopped going crazy like that.... i need some advice!!!!could she still have more babies?

 

[TinysMom]

First of all - did you see her have them orsomething? (As in...were they just born - or born during the night andyou've just found them?).

Secondly, where they in a nest?

Thirdly, is mom eating or drinking? Will she take a favorite treat?

If they are in a nest, they are flailing around looking for mama -particularly when you look into the nest. They think mama is coming tofeed them and they're getting excited and trying to smell her so theycan find her. If she made them a nest, the odds are good that she willnurse them.

Was mama still in the nest with them? If so, she may still be delivering babies. Or she could have been checking on them...

NEWBORN (as in born within the last few minutes) will flail around abit because they are so new and they are trying to find mama and tryingto figure out where to go/what to do. My experienced mamas willoftentimes nurse the first ones while giving birth to the laterones...so the babies could have been looking for mama to nurse off of.

If mama is eating and drinking or will take a favorite treat, she isprobably done giving birth. Notice, I used the word "probably". I'vehad does do this and then 24 hours later give birth to another baby. Itdoesn't happen very often and I have one doe that does this - not allof them. I might have had two does....

But if she's not eating or drinking, then yes, she could be going tohave more. You may need to flip her and check for stuck kits after afew minutes if she appears to be trying to deliver babies and nothaving any success.

Peg

 

[KimboUNCW1]

well i went up to check on them and i found thebabies.... no one had a cage so i had to put them in a huge tuppowearcontainer with lots of towels down n stuff thats soft..... the mom hadtons of her hair in the corner....the babies are there now under allthe fur....can they breathe??? i flipped her over and checked the ventarea...is that where they come out? lol :?i tried to feed hersome pellets from my hand and i think she was tryin to knaw on myfinger and she wouldn't drink water so maybe she's going to have more?the babies are still jumping around every now and then.... with all thefur flying around i know I couldn't breathe.....are the babies able to?or does the fur get in their mouths and suffocate them....





k i just handed her a bit of broccoli stalk and she's tearing it up...she's breathing fast but i guess they always do that? i guess shes donegiving birth...so it's normal for them to be whining and literallyjumping around? i dont want them to hit their heads and get hurt:shock:this is the first time this rabbit has givenbirth....the same age as the boy, they're just now able to have babiesim pretty sure, because when we got them they were very very small

 

[TinysMom]

Mamas pull fur all the time and babies are fine.If you want to clean them up a bit (carefully) - you can do so. But thebabies should probably be fine. The biggest thing will be to see if shenurses them in the next 24 hours or so...

Peg

 

[KimboUNCW1]

ok i'll keep checking...she's backed up to thembut not exactly touching them all right now while she eats herbroccoli....i'll keep an eye on her.....i put a bowl of water on theother end for the mom....u dont think the babies could jump in it doyou? i doubt they can get over the other end on their own right now



also, when humans handle babies, do the moms ignore them after? like birds or something? lol




oh yeah another thing...what do you think about that cream baby's backleg situation? it looks like it has a scab or something....she doesn'treally use it

 

[KimboUNCW1]

we have the mom flipped upside down and thebabies on ur belly tryin to nurse but they act like they're not gettingany milk...one of the babies looks fat but that could be pee built uplike the last one right?



we just put one of the older babies on the belly to see if theres anymilk and she kept going from one to the other as if she wasny gettinganything.... could she noty have milk yet due to just havungthem or something? maybe she's not done having babies??

 

[KimboUNCW1]

regarding the older two babies, i read this: Inhand-raised babies, it is essential to provide adult cecotropes to thebabies after their eyes are open. can you help me with this topic too?

 

[KimboUNCW1]

i hope there was no milk because the mom wasscared with us being in there with her SO i put a little monitor in thebathroom there with her looking in her little box..... that way i cansee her from the computer here in the living room while she's in thebathroom. i want to see if she's going to feed the babies....two of thebellies looked kinda big but i hope she cleans them so they goto thebathroom...pray for these yall



also, i put water in with the formula so they'd get to drinking waterbut they dont seem interested in drinking unless i give it to them frommy hand...i saw them nibbling pellets a little bit and some hay, butthey seem to be getting a bit lighter....what should i do?? the blackone's eye is still kinda mesed uptoo

 

[grumpybabies]

Are you trying to put the newborns on her tonurse while mum is upside down? i wouldn't do this its too early, shewill prob feed them fine herself, how long is it since you found them?she will be stressed with you doing that and may stop her milk comingdown, it can take a while to come through after birth with some does ithink, and it will prob only be the night after she gave birth to themso don't panic just yet! if a couple look fat i would say that was agood sign of milk not urine, because they would need to have milk inthe first place to get a build up of urine wouldn't they? i'm no experti've just had one litter recently, and i know its hard to know what todo but i'm sure she will do fine, don't help too much for the first daybecause she will catch on to what to do i'm sure.

 

[KimboUNCW1]

thanks for the advice!! i guess i'll go checkthem tonight and tomorrow morning to make sure they're warm and stillmoving around.... i have the box covered up with a heavy blanket/dropcloth to make sure they don't get cold..... onder:goodthing i gave the females a tums the other day... im so glad the mom isstill alive for the babies

 

[TinysMom]

For those who seem to think I live on the forum'cause I always show up - this is my homepage....but frequently, I willwalk away from the computer and not come back for a couple ofhours...

First of all, let's talk about what mama did. She had babies - yes -but she pulled fur and created a nest. That means her instinct iskicking in and she knows what she needs to do. This is good.

If this was a rabbit in the wild, she'd have her babies in a hole,maybe nurse them (maybe not), cover them and hop off to get pregnantagain - and come back when she feels it is safe to nurse them anywherefrom 12 hours - 36 or 48 hours later.

Have you read the message that is pinned at the top of the rabbitry forum?

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=5541&forum_id=8

I suggest you read this as it tells you what mama will do once she gives birth.

If the babies were just born today, there can be no buildup of urine(that I know of). Odds are good mama nursed them when they wereborn...which means she's going to leave them alone now for a while.

It is when a doe doesn't pull fur that I start to get concerned aboutthe babies because then her instinct doesn't seem to be kicking in.I've had does that didn't have babies in a nestbox - but whereever theyhad them - they still pulled fur...which meant they were usually goingto be a good mom. I've had does have one baby deliveredsuddenly in the middle of the cage and they head to the nestbox fortheir rest...and pull fur. Usually I've found them laying beside (oron) the one lone newborn to keep it warm....but that's just my girls.This doesn't happen often.

Anyway, I suggest you go and read the message I've linked to as it will answer many of your questions.

Peg

 

[KimboUNCW1]

well i checked the babies again this morning andthey all appear to have full bellies.... one did look kinda smallerthan another one tho...not less full but just shorter maybe? my oreoone (the dutch?) tried to eat me up this morning when i cleaned the hayout of her water lol and she growled and tried to slap me with herfront feet....grumpy little thing! is she about to have babies perhaps?she's never that ill



im in the process of getting the camera fixed in case you wondered why i haven't been posting new pics...



oh yeah, i put Terramycin in the formula/water so the babies won't get'enteritis'. after i read that article i went to the kitchen and gotthe terr. powder. do you think it will help to clear up the baby's eyeor the other one's leg??

how do i find a local breeder who can look at these babies forthemselves to make sure they on the right track to a healthy life?

 

[TinysMom]

I'm guessing the dutch doe is pregnant based on the way she's acting.

I never use terramycin in my baby's water so I can't tell you anythingabout that. I use the terramycin ointment if they have an infection butI don't do it in the water and I don't know of any lionhead breederswho do. Maybe Pam will see this and give her comments....

As far as finding a breeder, you could ask a feed store if they know ofany rabbit breeders in the area and then you could call them and ask ifthey could look at your babies. I can post on my lionhead list but Ican't think of anyone on the list from your area...

Peg