Cleaning Nest Box and Popple Bums

[Cali]

Flower's babies are looking good to me so far, but I noticed yesterday she is starting to potty in the nest box. I also noticed a couple of the popples have pee on them, and one or two have irritated looking back legs. I'm going to bring them inside and clean them up but wanted to see if I could get some advice on that. I was planning on warm water and a cotton ball to clean up their bellies and "tender bits" if ya will.
How about the nest box? I WANT to just pull everything out, but I know they should have her hair in there with them for extra warmth aside from just hay.

 

[skysthelimit]

Empty the box and try to save as much fur as possible.
How old are they? I empty the box around 10 days, I do not put any fur back in it, just lots of hay.

 

[Cali]

They were born the first. Thank you! I will save as much clean hair as possible

 

[MaggieJ]

There are substitutes for fur that work quite well: teased cotton batting or cotton balls, dryer lint, even feathers from a pillow. Save what fur you can, but for the parts that are badly soiled, I would try to replace them with one of the above. Along with lots of hay, it should be enough to keep them snug.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Some does will potty in the box if it is too big. She should only have a couple of inches clearance in front of and behind her.

You can also try to pull more fur from the doe's sides, belly, and thighs. You can also wash the soiled fur with a little dish soap or shampoo, rinse well and let it dry thoroughly, and then put it back in the nest.

 

[Cali]

Thank you guys, I got it cleaned out and they're back snuggled in nice and warm. There was a lot of clean fur left. Good to know I can use cotton balls and such, I like that idea.

Some does will potty in the box if it is too big. She should only have a couple of inches clearance in front of and behind her.

I don't think the box is too big for her, I was actually worried it would be too small when I saw her in it.. She doesn't seem to have much clearance when she's in there.

This kit is the smallest, didn't seem as well fed as the others, and had a very irritated/poopy bum. I wiped them all down and this one pooped (yellow and somewhat runny- is this normal?) several times in the short amount of time they were inside (even when not holding it/wiping it). I took a pic to show the irritated area after cleaning:

Was it just irritated from being dirty? I'm going to pull them all out again tomorrow and look them over, also as this one seemed skinny compared to its siblings I went ahead and flipped Flower and let it nurse for a while, after which it did look better..

Here are the other five!

<br /><br />__________ Sun Jan 06, 2013 3:56 pm __________<br /><br />Ugh! She has peed on them again. I guess she thinks the nest box is a litter box.

Should I take the box away from her and just bring the kits out to her to feed?

 

[Miss M]

Should I take the box away from her and just bring the kits out to her to feed?

That is what I would do. Sorry she's doing this! Is this her first litter? I can't remember. If it is, maybe she'll get it right the next time. :clover:

 

[AnnClaire]

Actually, it may not be the doe peeing ... the babies have to output all that milk that makes such big tummies and it could very well be them that are peeing on each other

 

[Cali]

Should I take the box away from her and just bring the kits out to her to feed?

That is what I would do. Sorry she's doing this! Is this her first litter? I can't remember. If it is, maybe she'll get it right the next time. :clover:

It is her first, so hopefully she'll do better next time. She doesn't have the best temperament so if she does this with her next litter I might replace her. Poor babies have what I can really only describe as urine scalding?

Should I flip her and feed them like that or give her the whole box when I bring them out to her? She has been doing a good job of keeping them pretty well fed, but I'm not sure when she feeds them. Also, at what age should I try putting them back in with her at, if at all?

ually, it may not be the doe peeing ... the babies have to output all that milk that makes such big tummies and it could very well be them that are peeing on each other

I think its her, because she is definitely pooping in the box. Maybe it's both!

 

[AmysMacdog]

Poor little things! I had a doe do this before and yes I did bring them in and take them out to momma to be fed. My doe was a good mom as long as the nestbox wasn't in the cage and she had a hopper feeder b/c she would use the food bowl too. Maybe they have privacy issues! Ha ha

 

[Miss M]

Just put the whole box in, and pull it out when she's finished feeding them. It's unlikely that she would choose that moment to pee.

Is it possible the box is in her pee corner?

Some bunny berries from the mom in there are normal, but not the urine.

The babies do pee, of course, but the only times I have pulled them out and had them be wet or icky were times something was wrong.

 

[Cali]

Poor little things! I had a doe do this before and yes I did bring them in and take them out to momma to be fed.

Thank you! That's what I'll do. Did you ever put them back in with her 24/7?

Just put the whole box in, and pull it out when she's finished feeding them. It's unlikely that she would choose that moment to pee.

Is it possible the box is in her pee corner?

Thank you! You know, I hadn't thought of that.. She had them the 1st, and she didn't start peeing on them until the 4th, so I would think not but maybe I should try putting them in a different corner?

 

[AmysMacdog]

Yes when the bunnies are moving around more she won't be able to pee directly on them but I continued to bring them in so she wouldn't continue to soil the box. Hopefully moving the box will solve you problem. With mine it didn't. She was an awesome girl,personality plus, but pottied in her bowls, nestboxes no matter what! So she ended up with a water bottle, a hopper feeder and when she had babies, I kept them in until about 2 weeks old then they stayed out and then I had to dump the nestbox everyday. for about a week then I took it out. I'm happy to say her daughters didn't do that

 

[Miss M]

She had them the 1st, and she didn't start peeing on them until the 4th

That's odd... but I would tend to agree with you, it sounds like it's not in her pee corner. You'd think if it was, she'd have been peeing on them all along. I'd probably just keep them in, and take them out morning and evening for feedings.

 

[Cali]

Thanks again y'all. Hopefully they'll stay cleaner.

However, I notice they have diarrhea, which is probably some of the mess! (definitely pee as well, but these were very mushy poop butts).
I can't imagine diarrhea is normal for this age? Is there something I can do for them?