Baby bunny Bitten what to do

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Oceanrose

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So I royally screwed up by trying to foster babies into this one litter. I took them back out, and they were ok, but now the mom has bitten one of her own pretty badly. There is a bite with a chunk missing on the back, and bites by by hind legs. The other baby has a scratch but no bite. I'm not sure if she was try to move them, or just being horrible or what.

I took the nestbox out but I'm unsure what to do. Should I clean the bitemarks and put antibiotic ointment on, or just leave them alone for a bit? I know babies can recover from serious injuries, but ouch!

Then, do you think i should return them to mom to feed, or should I try fostering them onto another litter? I'm not sure if the injury will upset another mom. The only litter I have that I could foster them onto, is also out of a first timer..

They are fed. Guess this should be a lesson, most does will accept fosters, but some will not :angry: and there's no way to tell unless you try..
 
Poor baby! Poor you, too, with her reacting so badly! She must be a ball of nerves right now. :(

As for the bitten baby, if you put ointment on it, the fur from the nest will stick to it... which will likely happen in any case, and I remember someone having that happen. They were advised to leave it alone, and the kit did heal even with the fur in the wound.

If you have any Vetericyn or Bluekote, you can use that. If not, I suppose ointment is better than nothing. Rinse the wounds with Betadine and water prior to treatment if there is any debris in them. If the wounds are extensive, pull out the Superglue and pull the edges of the wounds together and glue them together as best as you can.

As for fostering, if you remove the nest and put the fosters in there for a little while before replacing the nest they will all smell the same and the doe will have no idea what happened.

I would keep the nest out of the doe's cage until this evening, so she has time to get her head together. Give her an opportunity to feed them, and then pull the box again. I would do this for the next couple of days, or until you think they will be safe with her.

Best of luck! I hope things will go more smoothly for you both. :)
 
That's what I'd done :p She just evidently is a drama queen.

The bite looks clean and not too deep. I cleaned with betadine and we'll see. Hopefully she'll feed them tonight and relax a bit. Definitely not leaving them in with her for awhile!
 
My poor daughter Queenpup has been superglued a few times, and I never left an opening for drainage.
 
Maybe it would just depend how deep it is? I would just leave a tiny space in the corner for any liquid to drain out of.

----

My mommy said I'm wrong :p
 
Probably a good idea. :) It is hard to get the edges to align perfectly in any case, especially if it is a ragged wound.
 
No help on the baby bunny issue, however in 10 years of fostering I never had a doe reject a baby because it wasn't hers.
Don't know what precautions you took, but I always fostered in the morning after their feeding. Put a drop or two of vet rx or campho phenique on the does nose and sprinkle a few drops in the nest - it doesn't have to be on the babies but won't hurt if it is.
By the time Mama gets her nose all cleaned off everything around will all smell the same. Mama's can't count and just feeds whoever is there.

Maybe try this in the future if you need to foster other babies...?

Campho Phenique is excellent for sore hocks too, by the way.
 
Baby bunny is looking good, the biggest cut is scabbed up and not looking red.

I've never had a doe reject babies before either, though I've heard an occasional story from someone else. BUT each rabbit is different, and I definitely won't try it with her again, though I have 2 other litters with fostered babies in them that are doing just fine. Fostered in the exact same way. People used to say to put vanilla on the babies, and the mom's nose too, maybe just to cover the ones who act like this :).

When I feed I'll take the babies out and hopefully she'll feed them. Then they'll come back inside and we'll repeat tomorrow morning.<br /><br />__________ Fri Apr 12, 2013 10:15 pm __________<br /><br />Hmm, I took babies out to feed, little brat attacked them again. She did sit and let them nurse when I held her. I am going to try again in the morning. I'm gone tomorrow, and now a little freaked about fostering again, but these guys may end up going in with Chica who has 5, including 2 fosters already. Pearl will get one more chance, since maybe this was my error, but anything weird next time and she'll go to a fiber home. She is gorgeous but we don't play these games here.
 
i had a doe once who if you removed her kits she wouldn't take her kits back. So I learned to remove HER from the cage. Examine the kits in the box. Leave her in a small cage for a while and then put her back into her cage. She'd be so annoyed at being removed from her that she'd leave her kits alone.

She didn't stay long.....
 
ladysown":tkaq1qgl said:
i had a doe once who if you removed her kits she wouldn't take her kits back. So I learned to remove HER from the cage. Examine the kits in the box. Leave her in a small cage for a while and then put her back into her cage. She'd be so annoyed at being removed from her that she'd leave her kits alone.

She didn't stay long.....
Click to expand...


good suggestion.

Isis has proven to be the same. She would attack the nest every time i put it in for the first week. If I pick up one of her kits, and put it back, she attacks me and the kit. i put one foster in yesterday, I rubbed her nose with wintergreen, then gave her something to eat so she would leave the nest alone. When I put the other two in tonight, I will take her out before I put them in. I did not enjoy this experience, and she will get one more try and she goes away.
 
So the plot thickens.. Babies are fostered to the other mom as of last night and doing fine. Pearl continued to growl and freak every time she was around them. This morning with the other litter they are warm fat toasty babies.

However, Pearl still wasn't acting right so I took her out and palpated. There is at least one more undelivered baby (kicking away too..) She still had hay in her cage, and I returned the nest box to her but she's just hanging out eating hay. I'll try giving her some herbs, I have raspberry bushes, and some lavender. She also did nurse those babies a few times, which it'd seem like it would stimulate contractions.
 
She had it this morning, looked normal, was dead and chewed up when I found it. I can't feel any more, and she seems back to normal. 2 fostered babies are doing good. I will probably place her in a fiber home. She is a love, gorgeous, registered, has a leg, but I'm not going to keep her and breed her if she's going to struggle with either the kindling, or just be a rotten mom.
 
If this was her first, second, or third pregnancy, I would give her one more chance in my rabbitry ... it seems she did have cause for her recent behavior IMHO.
 
We will see Annclaire, I probably am being too harsh. Kindling issues really bother me. Satin Angoras are a meat breed too, and mothering, kindling etc all play into that with me. I guess it all could have been a fluke, a small litter for some reason so a harder time kindling, and then the aggression due to the undelivered kit.. I know in a small litter there are fewer hormone released, so therefore a higher probability of issues with deliver. I won't be breeding anyone for a month due to upcoming travel, so I'll decide based on what's going on then, and how I feel about it all. I just have a lot of nice does who are good moms, and haven't had any issues. Makes it harder to give even a 2nd chance to the doe who does.
 
I hear you ... got a doe on litter #2 ... first litter born well, but little fur pulled. Had them going 5 days and left them overnight with mom because it was supposed to be in the 50s ... next morning, all chilled and dead ... my fault :( Second litter born while I was crashed after a 14 hour drive :( Lucky I went out an hour early to feed and water: 1 stuck kit DOA, 3 chilled at front of nestbox, one snug and warm in the back of the nestbox. Lost 2, saved 2, 4 days old today. She has just about pulled herself nekkid this time LOL I fostered 2 smaller Silver Fox babies to keep the 2 EAs warm ... one more try to kindle successfully and she is getting bred tomorrow.
 

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