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.
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.