Not taking care of the babies?

[theturtlepond]

I had a rabbit have babies yesterday. They all looked fine. Today 3 of them are dead and there is only one left. Is she not feeding them? Is it because I touched them? Is it the bedding I am using (aspen)?

 

[Sabine]

I am so sorry you lost those babies. There could be a lot of reasons why the babies died but I think lack of the mom feeding them is the least likely if they were only born yesterday. They don't usually starve within 24 hours.
Could you see any wounds on the babies?
Were they maybe scattered and got cold?
I hope more experienced breeders can give you better answers.

 

[theturtlepond]

They were close to each other and buried in the bedding. They looked pretty good to me. Sounds crazy but could a rat foster the last one if the mom won't take care of it?

 

[Sabine]

Has the last baby got a full belly? How does it look?
Never heard about a rat fostering a rabbit baby.

 

[theturtlepond]

It looks like it has a full belly.

 

[Sabine]

Then she must be feeding the baby.
I don't think there is a problem with Aspen as litter.
Just make sure the little survivor is keeping warm as he is missing out on the body heat of his siblings.

 

[Rattiemattiesrattery]

theturtlepond wrote:

They were close to each other and buried in the bedding. They looked pretty good to me. Sounds crazy but could a rat foster the last one if the mom won't take care of it?

a baby bunny requires too much milk and it would take all the nutrients from the rat, and the rat might get scared and kill it or it's own young. (I've been breeding ratters for 12 years)
I wouldn't do it. A cat would be better then a rattie ^_^

 

[Lishka]

Matties right. What I did when I had a mother neglect the litter is puled the babies out. And once a day I would nurse them on the mother. Hold her on her back and let the baby nurse. Now they are eating and drinking on their own and about ready to wean!!

 

[theturtlepond]

I just discovered the last baby dead. Is there bellly supposed to be white when ful? I am not so sure they were being fed. And whenI found one of the babies yesterday after it died it was covered in blood like the mom didn't even clean it. It wasn't in the nesting box either.

 

[Sabine]

Are you sure there are no injuries? Could mom have attacked them or could any other predators (rats?) get into the hutch?

 

[theturtlepond]

The last one looked perfectly fine. One of them could have been attacked by the mom but I don't know if it was attacked or just not cleaned off after it was born.

 

[Sabine]

I am not sure if the belly being white has anything to do with it being full or empty but a full belly is quite distinct. It's almost like a little pig pong ball and the skin feels tight. In comparison the skin of an unfed baby feels sort of loose and the belly is sunken (I had two dead babies that felt like that) But I am sure there are also some inbetween stages.
I am really sorry you lost all those babies. Did your doe have a litter before? It's not uncommon for first time moms to mess up on their first litter

 

[theturtlepond]

She had 1 but I didn't know she was pregnant so I belive the other rabbit she was with attacked the babies. They were separate this litter though.