Found 3 dead babies

jcatblum · #1 04/04/11, 09:49 AM

So Saturday night I went to the auction, picked up a doe for $5. Kids had wanted a pet, so I figured why not.

Today I go out, rabbit gets up & I find 3 ice cold dead babies. Took the doe locked her up in the top of the hutch with hay, water & food. I don't know if she is all done or not, but I am going to leave her up there for the day & see what happens.

Anything else I shoudl do for her?

MaggieJ · #2 04/04/11, 10:06 AM

She should be fine. Chances are she is a young doe that was left too long with her siblings and the pregnancy was "unplanned". If she hasn't kindled any more by tonight, I'd let her out into the main cage again.

jcatblum · #3 04/04/11, 02:02 PM

I checked on her, she has at least 1 more, it looks pretty lifeless. Still has the cord attached & is laying in the box with her. I am going to give her some time with it, since she doesn't appear in stress. When I open up the hutch she let me pet on her & she seems to look good.

I seriously was only wanting a pet bunny for my DD, didn't expect to be going through this 2 days later!

houndlover · #4 04/04/11, 02:41 PM

If she didn't pull hair, she probably didn't have a clue what was going on. She's likely very young. She'll be fine with a little TLC.

jcatblum · #5 04/05/11, 08:06 AM

By dark last night we had a total of 4 1/2 dead kits. I can't prove she ate one, but it was only a head & the front legs. I am so thankful my DD was away at grandmas for the week! This would not have went over well! The doe seemed calm all day. Last night I opened up the door so she could go down to get fresh grass & air, but she never went down stairs.

Should I try to bath the doe, or use a warm wet rag to wash her up? I don't want to do anything to stress her out further, but don't want to leave her all dirty either!

MaggieJ · #6 04/05/11, 08:15 AM

She should clean herself up just fine without your help. Don't be alarmed if the ate part of a kit. It is normal behaviour for a doe to clean up the nest area by eating any dead kits.

jcatblum · #7 04/05/11, 04:14 PM

Well now the doe is dead. Honestly she never looked in distress, I will empty the hutch and sanitize it. So sad we lost her.

shanzone2001 · #8 04/05/11, 04:20 PM

Wow. I am so sorry. This was way more than you had signed up for!

MaggieJ · #9 04/05/11, 04:29 PM

That is a shame... and totally unexpected. Don't blame yourself. If she did not seem in distress, there was no reason to expect such a sad turn of events.