borrowing hair was a BIG mistake.

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DanaYares

DanaYares

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I have three does in a colony who all had litters within two weeks of each other. One of the does (Kiwi) didn't build a very good nest so I borrowed some hair from another does (Alice) nest to make up the difference.

Because the borrowed hair had the scent of the Alice on it, Alice thought that Kiwi's nest was hers and defended it as her own.

One evening when Kiwi snuck into her nest, Alice came in and there was a scuffle inside the nest box. One baby was killed, and one suffered a broken back and is not pulling itself around on it's front paws. One broke it's leg.

Lesson learned... Do not borrow hair for another does nest.
 
Awww so sorry you lost a bunny and the others got hurt. That was some scuffle they had! Bad girls! :evil:
I hope they get along from here on out! :)
 
ah that's just too bad.

I borrow hair all over the place without issue, as well as foster kits back and forth and all round. I would not have predicted this happening...

Perhaps it is due to the colony aspect?
 
Oh, I'm so sorry! :(

I haven't had any issues with borrowing fur at all, but I can see now how it could cause confusion in a colony. Never thought about that.
 
I guess there are tricks that you can use in a cage setting that are not safe to use in a colony. I'm glad you posted about this so that others can avoid the same mistake.

If I have a nest that needs more bedding in my colony, I use goose feathers, the soft half-down body feathers. That mean gander that we culled years ago is still busy keeping baby bunnies warm.
 
I would assume in a colony it would be a risk. Rabbits can smell well and do. In a cage, they are alone and know it's only them. They don't have other rabbits in their territory so finding the fur wouldn't be too big of a deal, plus, its just her lone nest, no chance of confusion.
Start saving dryer lint or I can ship you all of mine I've been saving, lol, I don't need it, have a ton of fur.
 
Dryer lint does work well. :) My daughter and I have long hair, and I always worried about it being in the lint and wrapping around little legs and such. Now we hang out all our clothes unless it's raining, so we aren't generating much lint any more.
 
Rabbits live in a smell world.
When touching the new born we would grab a mint leaf and rub on our hands and place it in the nest.
That action would "blind" mother rabbit of our intrusion.
 
Andrei":1rr33j3u said:
Rabbits live in a smell world.
When touching the new born we would grab a mint leaf and rub on our hands and place it in the nest.
That action would "blind" mother rabbit of our intrusion.
Click to expand...

Harmless, but totally unnecessary. Domestic rabbits are so accustomed to their caregiver's scent that they probably don't even notice it. You have your hands in their cage or colony every day feeding them. There is no reason for them to be alarmed by your smell.

I blame "The Beaver" and his friend Old Gus the fireman for the popularization of this myth... but it is probably older than that!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0827853/
 

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