heart monitor to check for kits

[HANSON301]

Has anyone used a heart monitor to check for kits? like the ones you can get for people?

Lith this:
http://www.target.com/p/graco-prenatal- ... A-13370393

 

[skysthelimit]

It won't work really well, if at all. I have one I tried to use for my dogs. Generally, the heart rates of small mammals is so much faster than baby humans, the baby monitors aren't designed to pick up speeds in that threshold. There is a dog heart monitor, much more sophisticated, and more expense, but it still might not detect heart beats for baby rabbits. I assume there heartbeats are even faster than pups in the uterus.

 

[HANSON301]

how about using a stethoscope?

 

[MamaMandy]

I would think it would be difficult to differentiate between the does heartbeat and any possible babies. You'd be much better off palpating to see if there are any babies. Lots of times I've felt them move so I was able to know they were still alive.

 

[squidpop]

Its an interesting idea, and would be fun to try- but by the time they are big enough to hear the heart beat you could probably feel them by palpating the doe- at around 12 days.

 

[skysthelimit]

Its an interesting idea, and would be fun to try- but by the time they are big enough to hear the heart beat you could probably feel them by palpating the doe- at around 12 days.

Yep. That's what I found out by using it with the dogs. By the time the pups were within the range of the monitor (heartbeat slows down as they grow), I could already feel them moving, and count them individually. But there heartbeat does become nearly indistinguishable from the dam.