# Baby bunners



## khaelbee (Feb 4, 2011)

I haven't searched the forum yet, just kinda googled around and figured I'd post a new topic to ask a few questions...

Our bunner just had babies (we were SHOCKED. we didn't know she was pregnant and we had just about figured she wasn't going to get pregnant because she's been with the boy for months on end and nothing happened). One of my first questions: she only had 3... is this normal?

my second question: of the 3, two of them look COMPLETELY healthy and are starting to get fur and they have little plump bellies and all that jazz... the third one is TINY. the 2 healthy ones are about 3 inches long, where the third one is maybe half that size. his belly is not plump at all and developmentally he's not as far along as the others.

i know if we leave him in there he won't make it. it looks like he's not eating or anything. can i take him out and bottle feed him and hope for the best or is this a total loss and should we just let him go?

annnnddddd last question: if we can bottle feed him, i read online that regular KMR (kitten milk replacer) will work just fine for him... is this true or is there something better?


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## slavetoabunny (Feb 4, 2011)

I'm going to move this to the Rabbitry for you. You'll get a lot more help there.


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## khaelbee (Feb 4, 2011)

thanks


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## khaelbee (Feb 4, 2011)

just to give you all an idea of how tiny this guy really is.... and he's about a week old.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...399615945529_875325528_17031481_3270722_n.jpg

and here's one of the two bigger ones

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...398809480529_875325528_17020256_7013779_n.jpg


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## maxysmummy (Feb 4, 2011)

... you were shocked? really? leaving an un neutered male an female together and you were honestly shocked? hmm.

anyway,

don't leave him to die or bottle feed him. simply take the mother out of the cage and lay her on a towel and put the runt under her belly and attatch him to her nipple to feed. do this 2 or 3 times a day untill he's a few weeks old. we had the same thing happen to us


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## lelanatty (Feb 4, 2011)

What breed are your bunnies?

The baby looks like a peanut if they are dwarf bunnies, though they usually don't live past 3 days. It is very normal for smaller rabbits to have fewer babies. Supplemental feedings are probably the best thing you can do for him. If you can't get the doe to stay still and feed the baby, you can flip her over on her back and hold her on your lap, and let him nurse that way.


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Feb 4, 2011)

Could you take a side-by-side shot of the smaller baby, and the normal sized ones? 

She probably didn't get pregnant at first because she might've been too young, or the male might have been to young. I hope they are now seperated, and were seperated as soon as she had the babies? If not, she's probably pregnant again.  

Emily


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## maxysmummy (Feb 4, 2011)

BlueCamasRabbitry wrote:


> Could you take a side-by-side shot of the smaller baby, and the normal sized ones?
> 
> She probably didn't get pregnant at first because she might've been too young, or the male might have been to young. *I hope they are now seperated, and were seperated as soon as she had the babies? If not, she's probably pregnant again.  *
> 
> Emily


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## khaelbee (Feb 4, 2011)

Please stop worrying about the fact that she might be pregnant again... we have plenty of people to adopt babies... I would just like my general questions answered. She is considerably bigger than the dwarf, but he's still pretty young and I'm wondering if that contributed to this... We were also wondering if he's just smaller because he got the dwarf traits. I don't have a picture of them side by side but the two normal ones fill up the palm of my hand and the smaller one is about half the size. He's not hopping around yet and the other two are starting to do so... We tried to put the mom on her back and have him nurse that way.. He would dig around, find a nipple, suckle once, and go to sleep. The other thing we were thinking it could be is a premie from another litter.


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## lelanatty (Feb 4, 2011)

*khaelbee wrote: *


> Please stop worrying about the fact that she might be pregnant again... we have plenty of people to adopt babies... I would just like my general questions answered. She is considerably bigger than the dwarf, but he's still pretty young and I'm wondering if that contributed to this... We were also wondering if he's just smaller because he got the dwarf traits. I don't have a picture of them side by side but the two normal ones fill up the palm of my hand and the smaller one is about half the size. He's not hopping around yet and the other two are starting to do so... We tried to put the mom on her back and have him nurse that way.. He would dig around, find a nipple, suckle once, and go to sleep. The other thing we were thinking it could be is a premie from another litter.



I think the part abut separating them was just helpful advice, but I do understand your position, and I would like to apologize for the judgmental comment made before. We are generally discouraged by our mods and by forum policy to make comments like that.

Do you know how much she weighs and how much the dwarf weighs?

I'm not sure if getting dwarf characteristics or the buck being young would cause this kind of problem.

As for him bring a premie, that is not very likely either. It is extremely rare for a rabbit to be able to carry two litters of different ages at the same time.

Also, if he isn't nursing actively when you put him onto his mother, there may not be much hope for him. I am not sure if you could get him to bottle feed if he is not acting hungry and trying to nurse by himself.


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## khaelbee (Feb 4, 2011)

I think bottle feeding will be our last hurrah at some point this weekend if his condition doesn't improve. I was ready for the fact that not all of the bunnies were going to make it... I'll be sad if this little guy doesn't make it but I know its life (I know it sounds terrible, but it does happen)

Sammy, the doe is about the size of a loaf of bread when she's laying down with her feet kicked out behind her (like she commonly does). Max is probably 2 pounds... he's not a very big guy.


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## lelanatty (Feb 4, 2011)

I understand, I have lost many babies and it is always sad, but there isn't much we can do.

Maybe try to feed him on his mom again in a few hours to see if he is more hungry then.

Best of luck with your baby.


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## khaelbee (Feb 5, 2011)

If he doesn't have a full belly this morning when we go check were going to try kmr from bottle... If that doesn't work I think well just let hi go peacefully in the warmth of his siblings. Poor guy I feel so bad for him


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## Nancy McClelland (Feb 5, 2011)

ray:


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## khaelbee (Feb 5, 2011)

We have a semi verdict and it's good news! He drank some milk! It wasnt much but we put a teeny bitty drop on his face and he sucked it into his mouth and swallowed it... So we kept going until he stopped swallowing. Once he was done he flipped himself over onto his belly and started squirming around A's if he already felt better. I have a picture of him right next to one of the other babies but it's on my iPhone... Not sure how to stick it on here from my phone


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## mistyjr (Feb 5, 2011)

He might be a peanut/ runt. Im sorry. You can hold momma and let him get extra feeding. I had to do this with my runt baby. He was much smaller then hes other siblings. 


I just lost my 2 sable point babies and they were less then 2 weeks old.


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## khaelbee (Feb 5, 2011)

We tried holding him to her belly (she was on her back and we put him on her belly) an he found a nipple but he wouldn't eat. His belly still looked empty this morning but he ate a good amount of kmr. It wasn't much but for his weight it was quite a bit... We will see what happebs


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## khaelbee (Feb 5, 2011)

I just found the instructions online for how to do it... Here's hoping it works.


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## khaelbee (Feb 5, 2011)

We lost our little man today but we still have 2 healthy and strong kits


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## maxysmummy (Feb 5, 2011)

khaelbee wrote:


> Please stop worrying about the fact that she might be pregnant again... we have plenty of people to adopt babies... I would just like my general questions answered. She is considerably bigger than the dwarf, but he's still pretty young and I'm wondering if that contributed to this... We were also wondering if he's just smaller because he got the dwarf traits. I don't have a picture of them side by side but the two normal ones fill up the palm of my hand and the smaller one is about half the size. He's not hopping around yet and the other two are starting to do so... We tried to put the mom on her back and have him nurse that way.. He would dig around, find a nipple, suckle once, and go to sleep. The other thing we were thinking it could be is a premie from another litter.



i'm sorry if i offended hun, it's just there are so many bunnies that need homes as it is so most of the breeders and bunny owners on here will only encourage intentional breedings to produce pedigree purebred rabbits over just breeding for the sake of it. 

If you want more buns, perhaps buy from a reputable breeder so you can be sure your bun is in tip top health with no birth defects or underlying issues, or rescue some buns from your local rabbit rescue or humane society, because i know there are hundreds out there in desperate need of loving homes.


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## khaelbee (Feb 5, 2011)

We rescued our female... My boyfriend found her in a cage in the parking lot at work... No food and a little water. So we brought her home and gave her a warm place to sleep at night... And the male we got from a pet store... And were outplacing all of our kits with families, not just dumpin them into a pet store where they might sit for ages or they might turn into food.


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## maxysmummy (Feb 5, 2011)

khaelbee wrote:


> We rescued our female... My boyfriend found her in a cage in the parking lot at work... No food and a little water. So we brought her home and gave her a warm place to sleep at night... And the male we got from a pet store... And were outplacing all of our kits with families, not just dumpin them into a pet store where they might sit for ages or they might turn into food.



Good on you hun, rescuing is the way to go

we have a billion baby rabbits on our hands at the moment (by a billion i mean four) because we rescued a doe from "death row" that was already pregnant 

so if you need any help/moral support/advice from someone who's been in a very similar position to yourself dont hesitate to ask. 

:biggrin:


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## lelanatty (Feb 5, 2011)

Sorry about the little guy and I will be looking forward to updates on how the other two are growing


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## khaelbee (Feb 6, 2011)

I'll have more Pictures soon of the babies... Their eyes should be opening any day now!!!


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## Violet23 (Feb 6, 2011)

uh oh, i am predicting some cuteness overload here!


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## Sweetie (Feb 7, 2011)

So sorry about your little guy. It looks like he got the fatal dwarf gene. You said that the dad is a dwarf and the mom is the size of a loaf when she is laying down, I think that you have two dwarf breeds and the little guy got the fatal dwarf gene (double dwarf gene). 

I am so sorry for your loss of the little guy, he is really cute.


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## khaelbee (Feb 8, 2011)

And here begins the cuteness overload... Their eyes opened today!


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Feb 10, 2011)

*khaelbee wrote: *


> Please stop worrying about the fact that she might be pregnant again... we have plenty of people to adopt babies...


Regardless, it's not very responsible to keep them together, no matter how many homes you think you might have lined up. It's also hard on the mother to keep bearing litter after litter, one right after the next. 

From the pictures in your other post, I'm assuming they're still together, so do be prepared for another litter within the next couple weeks. 
Please separate them, and get adequate housing to separate the babies when they're old enough to be weaned. 

Emily


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## khaelbee (Feb 10, 2011)

They have homes so once they are old enough to be weaned they will go to their new owners. But thanks for your concern


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## khaelbee (Feb 14, 2011)

we just went out to check on the babies, and to our surprise they were no longer in their nest! they were running around their hutch, playing with mama and each other. we were also surprised to see that daddy is just as involved as mama! one of the baby buns got cold and nuzzled up under daddy's belly in between his legs, and daddy washed baby and let baby lay there and get warm. we're so excited to see this!


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## Nancy McClelland (Feb 15, 2011)

Sorry to hear of the little ones passing and glad to hear everyone else is fine.


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## irishbunny (Feb 15, 2011)

Would you consider taking the male out now, since she will be due to give birth again soon? Then will be pregnant all over again? Having litter, after litter, after litter is extremely hard on the body and can lead to a shortened life and/or bad general condition and health. Plus current litters have to seperated from the parents younger then desired.

I know you have more then enough homes lined up but often times people say they will take one, but when the time comes they decide not to. Have you got spare cages ready for keeping the Dad and babies you haven't managed to rehome in?

Also, when the next litter of babies come she may start attacking the babies she has now and also the Father. I'm suprised she hasn't started attacking him already. They can get very nasty.

The babies are very cute, congrats!


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Feb 15, 2011)

Daddy bunny should not be in with Mama and babies. Mama is probably already pregnant again, and in a few weeks, if Daddy is still in there, babies can end up pregnant as well, which is definitely worse than mama getting pregnant right after delivery. 

I'm also surprised that they haven't been fighting, but perhaps they are and you're just not noticing it? 

Please, remove the buck from the cage, and separate your rabbits! 

Emily


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## khaelbee (Feb 15, 2011)

We have a separate cage that we can put dad in and had planned to for a couple weeks. I definitely appreciate the heads up on them fighting. We havent seen any evidence of it yet and last night max and Sammy were washing the babies and max was playing with them.


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Feb 16, 2011)

*khaelbee wrote: *


> We have a separate cage* that we can put da*d in and had planned to for a couple weeks. I definitely appreciate the heads up on them fighting. We havent seen any evidence of it yet and last night max and Sammy were washing the babies and max was playing with them.


It's not a matter of can you, it's a matter of you need too.  
I'd separate them RIGHT away.  

Emily


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## khaelbee (Feb 16, 2011)

The babies are now 3 weeks old and running around the hutch. Are they old enough to separate from mama or not quite yet?


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## lelanatty (Feb 16, 2011)

Definitely not. They need to stay with their mother until they are 8 weeks old, ideally.


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## khaelbee (Feb 16, 2011)

Ok I'm going to take dad out today then


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## khaelbee (Feb 21, 2011)

We are roughly 4-4 1/2 weeks old (our hooman can't keep up with how long its been... so pardon any inconsistencies)...

We eat big bunny food now... and we LOVE oatmeal





we went running around the back yard today for the first time





then i heard a funny noise!





our hooman said it was just a "gardener"... then we found a jungle!





my brother liked to eat the grass... i just enjoyed laying in the jungle!


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## lelanatty (Feb 21, 2011)

They are very cute. They definitely got their dad's type, they look just like little ND's


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## khaelbee (Feb 21, 2011)

Yes they do lol... Stubby little snouts with squatty ears. I love the spot on the white ones nose too


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