RESOLVED: New Mom Marilyn to be killed tomorrow - SF Bay Area, Ca

[timetowaste]

osprey, you and your family are wonderful. post pictures, PLEASE, i'm so excited to see this family and watch them grow together!

thank you for taking them. that was really, really breaking my heart.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

This particular rabbit and her babies has touched us all somehow..... I will be interested to see what happens with them. They may have an extra special job to do somewhere along the line!

 

[osprey]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I have been thinking about fostering a mom and litter for a while now, and this came up just as our over-the-christmas-holidays foster Suttara was adopted, so it worked out OK. We do short term fostering from time to time, and when my wife agreed, we decided to take them in.

Haley, we've fostered older babies before (the kind with fur ). We had a litter of 8 5 week olds for a few months whose mom delivered another litter and refused to nurse them. I have no experience at all with newborns, this will be a learning opportunity.

 

[osprey]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

This particular rabbit and her babies has touched us all somehow..... I will be interested to see what happens with them. They may have an extra special job to do somewhere along the line!

The thing that really got to me about this situation is that this is a very young mom, less than 6 months. She came in as a stray, was put into the general adoption pool at the shelter and was not in immediate danger. Then, she has this litter and now suddenly they all have to be killed. If they were on the ball they could have done an emergency spay, but no they did not, and now she has to suffer the consequences. In addition, we had really bad storms here last week, and the shelter advocate could not leave her house on Friday because of downed trees. The shelter never notified us about her situation, so we lost a couple of days and really had to scramble.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Osprey, I'm SO glad you're getting them! You're my hero! Also, sorry for calling you a she and I want to see pictures!

 

[Ringer]

Thank You! Osprey your're indeed a HERO! I have been worried all day. I was driving this afternoon, thought of it and my stomach soured. Thank God when I got home that there was a good message. Please let us know when you have them. Little sweet babies and their sugar pie momie. I want to kiss them all. This makes up a bit for the 5 I lost right before Christmas. Sweet little angels and God Bless their fortitude. We want pics if at all possible. They have so many new Nanas.

 

[m.e.]

I'm tearing up over here. What a wonderful update! :thanks::hugsquish::bunnyheart

 

[maherwoman]

I wish we could've said yes to these sweeties...and we might have been able to (would've depended on Danny's answer), at least for short term fostering...but we just don't have anymore room after Harley. Not to mention, I have to think of Danny in this at this point, as he's got to be taken into consideration. We're going to have nine bunnies in a small apartment here soon (counting Harley), and that's a large number for our space.

I just have to take him into consideration in a very large way at this point...

BUT...if we'd been moved already, I could've taken them in for a longer period than just the eight weeks.

Oh, for reference...we are ten hours one-way from the Rabbit Haven, hehe...so no, not too close. LOL!

Hugs!

Rosie*

 

[naturestee]

OMG OMG OMG! :hugsquish:

Must... have... pictures!

And I totally don't understand why healthy, live babies would have to be euthanized. I'm all for spaying pregnant moms for as long as it's safe to, but once they're born they need a chance. Thankfully that's how my shelter works or I'd go insane!

 

[timetowaste]

oh JEEZ rosie, i didn't realize you were so far away. well, then i'm glad i didn't ask you to go get 'em! hahaha.

tracy

 

[Haley]

maherwoman wrote:

Oh, for reference...we are ten hours one-way from the Rabbit Haven, hehe...so no, not too close. LOL!

Oh sorry for including you on my desperate PM to CA members, Rosie! I always forget how big CA is so I never have any idea where everyone is. lol

Im so glad this worked out. Osprey feel free to post any baby bunny questions in our Rabbitry. Lots of our experienced breeders will be more than happy to help, Im sure

 

[maherwoman]

Oh...no problem at all, guys! I wasn't tryin' to make anyone feel bad...just wanted to give a frame of reference...

I do, however, have a friend that lives in Pacific Grove (which is about a half hour from Rabbit Haven) that would've been able to meet us halfway...

So, for future reference, as long as I have a little time, I can help!

Oh, and my friend could also let them stay overnight, if the need arises...she's the one that helped with Fiver's transport to me (he stayed overnight with her). VERY sweet!

 

[osprey]

Here are the first pictures. Not so great, I want to leave mom in the pen until the babies are bigger. The three white ones are eating well, very full round bellies. The black one is considerably smaller, I am going to try to see if I can help mom feed him/her later.

 

[maherwoman]

Aww...they're SO adorable...praying for the little black one...and all of them.

 

[timetowaste]

ADORABLE. and mommy is SOOO pretty, i am in love with her marks. good luck, sweet little babies and mommy!

osprey, one more time, thank you. this little family is so lucky to have you and your family!

tracy

 

[Marietta]

Hallo, Osprey!

I'm sure that God will repay you the noble and generous gesture of saving all these little lifes! What you did was amazingly touching and kind. Marilyn is such a gorgeous bunny! These ears, really!!!! Hope the babies live and grow without problems.

Again, a huge thanks for saving the family!
Marietta

 

[TinysMom]

I wonder if the black one could have the dwarfing gene and the others don't? (I forget what breed mama is).

I normally take mama and the special needs baby to a basket or box and put hay and treats in the corner of the box...and then put mama facing the treats and try to sidetrack her with them while the baby nurses. I think sometimes those babies just need some time to try and nurse without others interfering so they can catch up. I usually do this about every 2-4 hours until mama has gone ahead and nursed and then I do it twice a day until I feel the baby has caught up enough.

As long as the baby has the same type of full belly (for his/her size) as the others do...it should be ok.

I'm so happy you rescued these - thanks so much. Mama is so pretty and she looks so proud of her babies. It sounds like she's being a great mama......

Peg

osprey wrote:

Here are the first pictures. Not so great, I want to leave mom in the pen until the babies are bigger. The three white ones are eating well, very full round bellies. The black one is considerably smaller, I am going to try to see if I can help mom feed him/her later.

 

[Ringer]

Love love love mommie. She is so beautiful. Little white babies do look healthy. They are chubby! Maybe you could see if she will nurse blackie a little extra?

But all I can say is don't make her nervous. Leave them alone as much as possible. If you make her too nervous she could get crazy and ignore them. I would darken their area and put a towel over their box to make her feel secure. Give her a chance to get to know you and her new surroundings.

I think she is a real trooper, very strong and wonderful. She has been through a lot. Imagine if she had them outside as a stray. It would have been bad. She is a real DOLL.

I love little blackie. He's tiny and has caught my heart. You are so lucky to be able to watch them grow. God picked you for a reason.

 

[Ringer]

From the pic I noticed that little Blackie is a little away from the others. I would make sure he stays snuggled with them as they will keep him warm. If a baby feels cool, that is a bad thing. Push him closer so he gets all that body heat. Is his tummy full? There was a smallish baby in my last litter that I worried about. Sometimes she would snuggle with Mom for an extra feeding as they got older. She ended up to still be the smallest, but the smartest and most active and also the most affectionate. The boys were huge. LOL

 

[osprey]

Thanks for the advice guys. I am trying to figure this out as I go. "Blackie" was separated when I took the picture because of my attempts to build a nest for them. I am making sure that they are all huddled together in my makeshift nest. In addition to all of the other distress these little ones went through at the shelter, when the shelter person took the family out of the kennel, they destroyed the nest. Auntie Heather and I built something out of blankets and cotton balls for last night. I am going to get a Snuggle Safe today to make sure that they are warm in our thrown together nest. I watched mom feeding them this morning, and "Blackie" definitely got some milk. His/Her belly is still not as full as the others though. Heather suggested holding the baby on to a nipple to get more milk, but it was late last night by the time I got them settled and I could not do this alone. I may try the basket trick, that sounds like a good idea.

It is funny how their coloring comes out even though they don't have fur yet. "Blackie" looks like he/she has some Dutch, because this one has a white nose and a bit of the white around the middle (saddle?) that Dutch bunnies have. The big white ones have mom's Hototish eye liner, they look like they are wearing tiny masks.