Another Chewed Litter

I had a litter of seven born on Monday, one dead and half eaten, two missing both ears and one missing one ear. They seemed a little cool so I took the nest box inside, cleaned out some of the bloody straw, removed the dead kit and put the heating pad in the nest box for a couple of hours before taking them back outside to the colony.

The next morning when I went out to do chores I found two more dead and half eaten and the others cool again so I brought the nest box in again, cleaned out the dead ones, put the heating pad in again and left them in the house for the day to warm up.

When I got home that evening I put the nest box back out in the colony again. In the morning one kit was dead but not eaten, two others were ok and one was small but still alive. I removed the dead kit, covered the others up and crossed my fingers.

In the morning the two bigger kits were fat and sassy with full bellies and the smaller kits was dehydrated and barely moving. I put it down so it didn't suffer any more.

The two remaining kits are fat and wiggly but both have no ears. The doe made a great nest and full of fur. This is the same doe that had the chewed up litter a few weeks ago. Maybe she is an overgroomer but I'll give her one more chance to have another litter and see what happens. If it's chewed up too I might put her in the freezer. I don't know if it's rats as I"ve never had them here before but I"ll have to give the colony a good once over and tighten it up. This is new territory for me, I"ve had quite a few dead kits be half eaten but never had live kits be chewed up before.

So sorry, Truckinguy!

The missing ears, I would definitely figure that's the doe. Chewed live kits? Possibly, but I'd suspect rats.

The kits that were chewed were dead when I found them. I"m hoping they were dead before they were chewed up. Would I see any other signs of rats if they were around? I'm going out to clean out the colony this afternoon so I'll keep an eye out for different size poop and check for any holes gnawed in the walls.

Rat poop is several times bigger than mouse poop and it is often very dark and almost shiny. You can also look for oily rub marks on walls and around possible openings. You should definitely check for these things, but it sounds as though your doe may be an over-zealous cleaner of newborns. With the ones that were dead, she may have just been cleaning up, but so many incidents of missing ears sounds to me like the doe. If it happens a third time, I'd consider culling her.

Rat poop is about the same size as a bunny berry, but is elongated, not spherical.

If you have rat poison out, you may see it in green.

Thank you, I will keep a lookout. No poison around here, too many other creatures that could get into it.

I think it is the doe too so I'll wait to see what her next litter looks like. I have three litters out there now of various ages so I have enough replacements available if necessary.

__________ Mon Feb 02, 2015 10:16 am __________

Quick update on this litter: there is one left. Both remaining kits were fat and sassy and doing well but a couple of days ago I came home and found one kit in the middle of the colony frozen buck solid and one hind foot eaten off. I brought it into the house and thawed it out but it was gone. It had a big belly on it so I assume it was just fed and ended up wandering out of the nest box.

The last kit is fat and doing well but has no ears. It has opened it's eyes and has full fur now so I am hopeful it will survive, even in the cold temps. The doe made a great nest and pulled a lot of fur so it is warm and safe in there.

Such are the ups and downs of raising critters.

Hi there,

Do you have any other Doe's with litters around the same age that you could foster the last kit onto?. I had one particular doe that always had half eaten babies (all dead), but there was also a kit in her last litter where she chewed off one of it's ears and one front leg (naturally I ended the kits suffering). I fostered the remaining kits onto a suitable Doe and put the original Doe to sleep as that was the fourth time she had half eaten/damaged kits.

Unfortunately the last kit didn't make it. It seemed to have stopped eating and then just died in the straw. Not sure what it died from but the doe has since had another litter that I posted about recently that was chewed up some. Five of eight survived but she will be put down as soon as this litter is weaned.

I'm sorry for your losses.

Truckinguy":3aa9te7h said:

Unfortunately the last kit didn't make it. It seemed to have stopped eating and then just died in the straw. Not sure what it died from but the doe has since had another litter that I posted about recently that was chewed up some. Five of eight survived but she will be put down as soon as this litter is weaned.

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Are you saying that the doe had a second litter just a week or so after the first?? :shock:

Syberchick70":p2lyanzq said:

Truckinguy":p2lyanzq said:

Unfortunately the last kit didn't make it. It seemed to have stopped eating and then just died in the straw. Not sure what it died from but the doe has since had another litter that I posted about recently that was chewed up some. Five of eight survived but she will be put down as soon as this litter is weaned.

Click to expand...

Are you saying that the doe had a second litter just a week or so after the first?? :shock:

Click to expand...

No, two separate does. I should be more clear in my posting. Sorry.