Lydia
Active Member
I'm very sad to announce the death of one of our 10 week old babies. He never really had a name, since I was trying not to get too attached to him, knowing that he would have to be adopted. I affectionately nicknamed him " Thirteen", after his number on the adoption listing I posted in the Rescue Me! section here.
We don't know for sure what happened, but it appears to have been a freak accident. On Tuesday evening, I went out on our sun porch to check on the bunnies, and noticed that a large board we had built up as part of a little lean-to for the bunnies was down on the ground. Most of the bunnies were sitting on it, which they tend to do when they are trying to bring your attention to something, or when they are celebrating "vanquishing" it. I was immediately worried it could have fallen on one of the babies, and scooted all of those sitting on it away. No bun's were under it, so I breathed a sigh of relief thinking I had dodged a bullet. None of them seemed injured, since they were all running in circles and playing now. I decided to catch one of the babies to snuggle, and started walking towards a corner across the room where a couple of them were congregated. I saw 3 in a corner, so I reached out to pick one up, only to have 2 of them dart away. One of them just sat there, so I carefully picked him up, thinking that I just must have caught him off guard. The moment I picked him up, I knew something was wrong. He was limp in my hands, and his head was flopping back, with no apparent sign of breathing. Increasingly upset and worried, I cradled him in my hands and carried him inside. Once I was able to see him in better light, I could tell he was dead. He had what looked like wood particulate stuck in his teeth, and his neck was more limp than other dead babies we have had in the past.
Needless to say, I took away that lean-to set up immediately after that. They loved that thing, but they are all getting bigger and I don't want something like this to happen again. I believe that Thirteen had the board fall on him, and that or the other bunnies jumping on top of it with him underneath caused a head injury or possible broken neck. Then in fright, he ran in the corner to hide and eventually die.
It was definitely a freak accident, and it's something that both my husband and I feel terrible about.
Here are some pictures of Thirteen in happier days, taken about 2 weeks ago.
Rest in peace sweet baby!
We don't know for sure what happened, but it appears to have been a freak accident. On Tuesday evening, I went out on our sun porch to check on the bunnies, and noticed that a large board we had built up as part of a little lean-to for the bunnies was down on the ground. Most of the bunnies were sitting on it, which they tend to do when they are trying to bring your attention to something, or when they are celebrating "vanquishing" it. I was immediately worried it could have fallen on one of the babies, and scooted all of those sitting on it away. No bun's were under it, so I breathed a sigh of relief thinking I had dodged a bullet. None of them seemed injured, since they were all running in circles and playing now. I decided to catch one of the babies to snuggle, and started walking towards a corner across the room where a couple of them were congregated. I saw 3 in a corner, so I reached out to pick one up, only to have 2 of them dart away. One of them just sat there, so I carefully picked him up, thinking that I just must have caught him off guard. The moment I picked him up, I knew something was wrong. He was limp in my hands, and his head was flopping back, with no apparent sign of breathing. Increasingly upset and worried, I cradled him in my hands and carried him inside. Once I was able to see him in better light, I could tell he was dead. He had what looked like wood particulate stuck in his teeth, and his neck was more limp than other dead babies we have had in the past.
Needless to say, I took away that lean-to set up immediately after that. They loved that thing, but they are all getting bigger and I don't want something like this to happen again. I believe that Thirteen had the board fall on him, and that or the other bunnies jumping on top of it with him underneath caused a head injury or possible broken neck. Then in fright, he ran in the corner to hide and eventually die.
It was definitely a freak accident, and it's something that both my husband and I feel terrible about.
Here are some pictures of Thirteen in happier days, taken about 2 weeks ago.
Rest in peace sweet baby!