# Doe giving birth, babies dead



## doolie_82 (Jan 29, 2008)

hi im new to this forum, but i have a question about my new bunny.

i bought him a week ago and iwas toldthat hewas a 14 week old netherland dwarf (not pedigree) male.

i have had1 male and 1 female rabbit in the past but never have seen this behavior.

what he is doing is colecting straw from around his cage and putting it into his 'house'. 

Is this nesting and is it normal for a male rabbit, or have i bought a pregnant female???


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## aurora369 (Jan 29, 2008)

Where is this rabbit housed? Inside or outside?

Nesting is generally reserved for female rabbits. Although some males exhibit nesting behaviour in cold weather. They will build a nice insulated place to sleep.

Is there any way you could take your bunny to a vet or an experienced breeder to recheck the sex? Baby bunnies are notoriously hard to sex and even the most experienced person can make mistakes.

Also, were are you located? Could you put a location in your profile? Even just a country will help.

--Dawn


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## Lias_ark (Jan 29, 2008)

sounds like a pregnant doe. It is probably older then you were told. If it is male it should have testicals around 4/5 months of age. It is easy to miss sex young rabbits. been there done that You may want to give her a nest box and hay.


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## doolie_82 (Jan 29, 2008)

uk, sorry. he's inside the house but gets the occasional draft when the front door is opened.


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## Becknutt (Jan 29, 2008)

My male has always gathered hay, toys, etc. into his house. He usually puts hay all around the inside walls of his house. It could just be his personality.


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## doolie_82 (Jan 29, 2008)

*Becknutt wrote: *


> My male has always gathered hay, toys, etc. into his house. He usually puts hay all around the inside walls of his house. It could just be his personality.


i hope thats what it is. lol


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## PixieStixxxx (Jan 29, 2008)

Even at 14 weeks, rabbits can get pregnant and have babies. Although I really hope you didn't bring home a pregnant youngin! Like aurora369 said, is there an experienced professional you can bring your rabbit to?

Before I brought Savannah home when she was at 10 1/2 weeks... she lived outside with her sisters. When she came to live here -inside- she still continued to cover herself in hay.


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## pamnock (Jan 30, 2008)

Generally, it's thedoes who go through nesting behavior, but it doesn't always indicate prenancy. We've also had bucks that would gather hay and nest.


Pam


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## gentle giants (Jan 30, 2008)

Yes, even if he is a she, it's possible for him/her to be having a false pregnancy. That can cause nesting behavior, too.


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## doolie_82 (Jan 30, 2008)

just had a good look and i think he is a she. going vets 2moro to get it confirmed then off 2 the shop to complain. I think he-she is pregnant as they said at the shop he was close friends with a black one. joy.


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## doolie_82 (Jan 31, 2008)

he IS a she. confimed by vets. not sure if pregnant though.


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## PixieStixxxx (Jan 31, 2008)

That's why I never trust the pet store's "knowledge of rabbit sexes" =P

I'm assuming your rabbit was housed with other rabbits in the pet store? Oh no, then it really does sound as if she's nesting. Otherwise, it could be a false pregnancy. Or she's just really really cold.

The gestation period is one month. Shouldn't be long to find out if she is pregnant or not.


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## doolie_82 (Jan 31, 2008)

*PixieStixxxx wrote: *


> That's why I never trust the pet store's "knowledge of rabbit sexes" =P
> 
> I'm assuming your rabbit was housed with other rabbits in the pet store? Oh no, then it really does sound as if she's nesting. Otherwise, it could be a false pregnancy. Or she's just really really cold.
> 
> The gestation period is one month. Shouldn't be long to find out if she is pregnant or not.


yes 3 males. lol, got to wait now, vets couldnt feel or hear anything.


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## PixieStixxxx (Feb 2, 2008)

We've had shelter rabbits who we assumed were pregnant. Brought them to professional, experience rabbit-savvy vets who said "No, this rabbit is not pregnant" and then give birth the next day.


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## doolie_82 (Feb 2, 2008)

*PixieStixxxx wrote: *


> We've had shelter rabbits who we assumed were pregnant. Brought them to professional, experience rabbit-savvy vets who said "No, this rabbit is not pregnant" and then give birth the next day.


lol typical. started to nest on tuesday, a little last night, nothing as of yet (havent looked in boxbecause not supposed to!)


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## PixieStixxxx (Feb 2, 2008)

What do you plan to do with the babies?


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## aurora369 (Feb 2, 2008)

Yes, look in the nest box!!! Not touching babies is a myth! You need to be checking the box and looking for babies. If there are any dead babies or left over after birth with the live babies, that can cause disease and infections. You need to check over all the babies as soon as they are born, make sure non are injured and that they are all clean.

If you are concerned about the rejection, then you can rub your hands all over mom before handling the babies.

I have fostered several mothers who had never met me before. I handled the babies from day 1 and non of the mothers rejected their babies.

I normally remove the nest box from the cage and take it to the couch with me. I will make a nice warm second nest using fleece blankets. I take out one baby at a time and check them over to make sure they are clean and fed. Once all the babies have been checked over, I normally snuggle with them a bit then put them back in the box and put the nest box back in the cage.

There is some good information in the Rabbit101 section on breeding and care of young: 
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12047&forum_id=17

--Dawn


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## gentle giants (Feb 5, 2008)

Did you ever have any babies show up?


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## doolie_82 (Feb 6, 2008)

no babies as of yet, i have put nesting box in and at the moment she is pulling her fur out as i type. so hopefully tonight or tomorrow.

ill stick a pic on if and when the happy event is here!


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## doolie_82 (Feb 6, 2008)

just had 1 jet black, i think its dead, not moving. She sounds like shes in a lot of pain.


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## doolie_82 (Feb 6, 2008)

just had 2 more dead ones, shes eaten 1.


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## aurora369 (Feb 6, 2008)

It is possible that you are seeing her eat the after birth and not a baby. It is very uncommon for a doe to eat an entire baby, normally they just over groom and the baby looses an ear or foot.

Are the babies really dead or are they just cold? You can try warming them up to see if they come back to life. Stick them in your bra or in a shoe box that is halfway on at heating pad with a towel in between. Fill the box with hay.

Baby bunnies that are not born in the nest box can become cold very quickly and even though they look dead, they are just very, very cold. Once warmed up, they should "come back to life".

I'm also moving this to the rabbitry so others with baby experience can give you advice.

--Dawn


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## doolie_82 (Feb 6, 2008)

what about them being jet black and not pink


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## aurora369 (Feb 6, 2008)

If the babies are going to have dark fur, they will have dark skin. A black or brown coloured fur will have black skin underneath. 

Are all the babies dead? Any of them alive?

How's mom? Is she still pushing or is she done? You need to make sure she doesn't have a stuck baby.

--Dawn


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## doolie_82 (Feb 6, 2008)

ive just looked at the babies and they looked dead, very cold and not moving, its been over 2 hours now. shes stopped pushing, sheseating and drinking. i didnt know they could have black skin, shes black and white and dad could possibly be black.


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## aurora369 (Feb 6, 2008)

Can you put the in a shoe box filled with hay on top of a heating pad? You may be able to revive them. Put the heating pad on low and put a towel between the box and the heating pad. 

If you don't have a heating pad, you can fill a sock with dry rice and put it in the microwave.

Did she have them in a nest box or on the cage floor?

--Dawn


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## doolie_82 (Feb 6, 2008)

cage floor


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## aurora369 (Feb 6, 2008)

Chances are there was nothing wrong with the babies, and mom was just too inexperienced. 

If you can, please try to warm them up! It may not be too late.

--Dawn


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## TinysMom (Feb 6, 2008)

Many larger women (like myself) will put the babies in a bra (while wearing it) to warm up the babies - you have to be careful to not sufficate them.

You can also warm them up with your hands...and I think we have tips available but I only have a minute before I have to get ready for work.

I would start holding the babies and blowing on them with warm air ... or at least have them in your hands and see if your hands will start warming them up...

Peg


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## BlueGiants (Feb 6, 2008)

Any chance they revived? (I saved 2 last month by sticking them in my bra...).Experienced breedersnever take a cold, non-movingkit for dead until you warm him up... 

And it wouldn't be unusual for her to have black babies (the pet store told you she was "friends" with a black....). Black is a very dominant color.


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## doolie_82 (Feb 6, 2008)

just tried with one of them, its really warm but still nothing, cant tell if its beathing or not


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## TinysMom (Feb 6, 2008)

If its really warm - then there is a good chance it could live....

If it was dead - it wouldn't warm up to body temperature...

Peg


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## doolie_82 (Feb 6, 2008)

just dont know what to do, its warm up, but that because ive had a water bottle on it, i dont think its breathing, how can i tell


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## polly (Feb 6, 2008)

lol you two!! I wish i had some decent assets for that purpose!! i usually get a warm water bottle and cup them in my hands over the top of it that works for me otherwise if they are born in the morning Bruce brings them up to me in bed as i am always really warm!

If she is a nethie though it is pretty common for them to loose their first litters anyway unless they are a big doe also if she isnt 6 months + then she wasnt likely to have them alive. I have to admit now i leave mine till at least 7 months to increase the chances.


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## Starlight Rabbitry (Feb 6, 2008)

If you hold the baby in your hands, it should move slightly. It really is hard to tell if they are breathing. Easier to try to get them to move slightly, even just a leg.

Sharon


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## doolie_82 (Feb 6, 2008)

right from birth they werent moving. tried to warm them up, no luck.


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## BlueGiants (Feb 6, 2008)

Awww, I'm sorry about losing them. A lot of first time moms don't quite get it right. (At least you know it's a girl now!) Didn't help that no one knew she was pregnant, no telling what kind of nutrition she had or how she was handled before you got her.

Clean everything up and let her recouperate a bit. You can get her spayed if you want. (Better for her if you're not breeding.)


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## doolie_82 (Feb 6, 2008)

i know, she didnt get much extra food and admittedly ive rough handled her around the middle when she did a runner once, this was just after id bought her.


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## BlueGiants (Feb 6, 2008)

Don't blame yourself. As long as she is OK and got through it fine... that's the important thing right now. Give her a hug and nose rub from me. I'm sure she will be much happier with you.


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## bunnybunbunb (Feb 6, 2008)

I had a doe that could not for the life of her pass babies fast enough to live. I worked and worked and never could get them going. They would slowly gasp and die. I then found her birth and 1 born dead and one slowly gasping. I worked and it died but right after she had another and it was gasping a lot and fast. I worked for an hour. Every 5 minutes it was doing better. After 30 minutes it would breathe 2 times then gasp. Then it went on to it would breathe 4-5 times then gasp. At the end of the hour it was gasping maybe once every few minutes so I put it with another doe and litter I had and she raised it. The does next litter she had 2 tiny doesalive and well. I still have them two. 1 is Kikyo, my doe with the 7 babies 

Usely if a rabbit is to young or to old they will have problems but some does do have problems no matter if they are age or not. Some just can't pass them fast enough. Isn't often but it does happen.

Hope she is ok. Watch her because she could have more in her. The fact she had them on the wire tells me she was having problems because a doe that doesn't have problems usely if they make a nest has them in the nest. Does that have trouble they get out and move around trying to get them out.

Good luck!


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## BSAR (Feb 8, 2008)

Im so sorry.:innocent At least it wasn't your fault you had no idea. I have a nethie that is due soon to. :stork:


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## doolie_82 (Feb 12, 2008)

zorro is back to being a pain, lol, would love to see your nethie babies! :biggrin2:


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## BSAR (Feb 13, 2008)

Well we don't think she is pregnant. It was hard for her to take. Took a while for her to stop running around and everything so I don't think she is which is sad because i wanted a nethie litter.


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