Accidental Litter + weird behavior

[Pizzabunbun]

I’ve tried and tried finding a bunny forum that could help me with this but have yet to find one. My bunny Bailey has had an accidental littler of one baby bunny and I don’t reallt trust the baby in the cage with her. I got what I thought were two female bunnies one that was a 4 month bunny (I guess I could understand the mistake since he had not hit maturity when he was with the original owners) and one that was about a year old which is Bailey! About 3 days ago I walked over to see Bailey and there was a lot of fur in a pile in her cage, no baby to be seen so I was concerned. I took her towel out and sure enough there was a baby bunny literally folded into the towel? How that happened I have no idea. I took the baby but her in a box with a heating pad and at night I put the baby in the cage and watched to see what Bailey did. She licked the baby and then started messing witt the shirt I had the baby on, folding it pushing it, digging at it and making the baby just fling around so I quickly grabbed the baby (Riley) and took him back inside. I’ve been holding Bailey over the baby and distracting her by petting her and jtw works for about 49 seconds and then she goes completely wild and stratches the crap out of me which I don’t blame her for it but I just don’t trust the baby in the cage with her becuase baby doesn’t have a nest becuase she didn’t make one and her pulled fur got peed on. She does the dig fold and bury with the baby and the shirt every time. Doesn’t feed the baby becuase I just don’t want to risk leaving the baby in there. The baby also has what I think are white flakes coming off his skin, a lot of them, maybe it’s just that she didn’t clean him when he wasn’t born? But it has got a little worse. If anyone knows of this and has advise on both the skin and feeding/caging situation please tell me, and if not then please tell me a forum that would be good for this situation if you know of one. Thank you!

[jerseygirl]

In the wild, rabbits have their kits in a shallow burrow and will pack the top over with some dirt and leaf litter to cover/hide the entrance after they’ve finished feeding. I wonder if that is what Bailey is doing when she digs and moves the shirt? Perhaps take out the shirt and build a nest using a small box, some shredded paper, paper litter and the fur she pulled. If she covers the baby with that, it will still be able to breathe and wriggle around.

I not sure what the white flakes on the baby’s skin might be..

 If anyone knows of this and has advise on both the skin and feeding/caging situation please tell me, and if not then please tell me a forum that would be good for this situation if you know of one. Thank you!

You could try asking on Rabbits Online. There are members there very experienced with Does and kits. Here is link the the Rabbitry and Showroom section of the forum.http://www.rabbitsonline.net/forumdisplay.php?f=20

[Pizzabunbun]

ive Built her a nest with shredded paper and I pulled some of her fur because it’s still loose, and put it in a box with a heating pad that is wrapped in a towel and when i showed her it she ate the paper, threw the paper and started digging on the towel again. She’s the most picky little sassy cutie ever. I got her to feed the baby this morning by putting the baby on my bed and then I had to put her over the baby till the baby started drinking and then I let go of her and she stayed there and was licking him and stuff which was really cute to watch. So we are making progress.

[Pizzabunbun]

I’ll also go check out rabbits online, but I anyone still had info feel free to tell me in here aswell

[Hazelbunny]

I had two accidental litters (a long story) and my rabbit didn’t seem like a good mom, she jumped thumped and went nuts all the time. But I left her alone and turned out she was a good mom. So maybe leave her alone and check on Riley tomorrow. If he’s skinny and makes noises trying to get somewhere bailey is not feeding him and you need to hand feed him. If the baby looks fat or plump everythings good leave her with her baby and check on them everyday or so.

[jerseygirl]

Did the baby look like it hadn’t been fed? (Belly not round) Is that why you got Bailey to feed her on your bed?
Or you just hadn’t seen her feeding it?
They normally do this when we’re not aware and it’s quick.

These are the 2 articles I normally recommend people read when they find themselves with an accidental litter. You may already be familiar with them.
http://rabbit.org/domestic-baby-bunnies-and-their-mom/
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/surpriselitter.html

[Bunnybuzz]

Hi! So this has never happened to me so I’m not a expert but I did a story about this woman who had a little and didn’t think the mom was feeding them so just going to tell you a little about it.. The mom would also act funny when she was around and would never go in the cage with the baby and always stand a few feet away from it. She got really worried and started researching about it. It turned out that why she was never going to babies and always standing far away was, that in the wild when there are predators always looking for a good little bunny snack, the mom usually wouldn’t always be standing next to the babies feeding them all the time because it would a track attention from predators so it’s an instinct. At night she would go feed and clean the babies make sure they were alright and etc. The woman checked on the babies to make sure they were being fed and cleaned and they were! They had round bellies and healthy skin.

I hope this helps! Let us know how everything works out

[Pizzabunbun]

Thanks for the reply’s! I’ve took the advice and put the baby in the cage, I caught her feeding last night and the babies stomach wasn’t as round as the pictures I’ve seen, but the belly was not sunken as if he was starving. Even when I make her feed him myself when he stops that little belly isn’t as full as the pictures. He is also really small for his breed of bunny, maybe he’s s runt? Can bunnies have premature babies? Or is there something wrong with him?

[LittlePuffyTail]

Only one baby?

[Pizzabunbun]

Okay, i have home from school and checked on Riley. He was very weak and looked bigg and furrier so im thinking he grew, nd didnt get fed after he grew. I too bailey to feed him and he ate for like 30-60 seconds??? and stopped, went to bed and his belly is sunken. I told my mom to grap some either goat milk or kitten milk replacer and idk when she will be home from work. which is better for him? KMR or goat milk? i also read online that putting sugar water in him mouth will wake him up enough to eat, is that true? and would i need to heat up the sugar water or leave it cold? please reply quickly, im really worried about Riley

[Pizzabunbun]

I got goats milk, how much do i feed a day? It said online to do 2 ML/CC every 8 hours and i did more than that and his stomach isnt full? is it supposeed to get full orrrr??? Also when he starts eating better would it be safe to try and get him drinking from Bailey again?

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m sorry you are dealing with this situation. Not a lot of our BB members have experience with litters. Is there any way you can call a vet for advice?

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