Help my Buck is depressed
- Thread starter dburton
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Is he housed with the does, in the same cage?
What is he doing that makes you say he is "depressed"?
What is he doing that makes you say he is "depressed"?
What caused the loss of the doe? Was it something contagious? How is the other doe doing?
Check to see if he is pooping, and if the pellets are the same size and shape as normal.
Sitting in a corner and not eating much are pretty classic symptoms of a gi problem.
The most likely causes would be an abrupt food change, disease, parasites, contaminated food, or stress.
Either way, it's a dangerous situation which can be fatal to your buck. You need to get him eating asap.
Sitting in a corner and not eating much are pretty classic symptoms of a gi problem.
The most likely causes would be an abrupt food change, disease, parasites, contaminated food, or stress.
Either way, it's a dangerous situation which can be fatal to your buck. You need to get him eating asap.
Tempt him with favorite foods? Get him out and exercising in a new/interesting area?
Some animals do grieve for lost mates. The most stunning example of this that I have seen was with my Pilgrim geese. When my favourite, Willow, died, the gander, Patrick, was very sad for days, but he eventually adjusted to it and turned to the other goose, Elsie, for consolation. When we lost Patrick, Elsie was not herself for quite a few days, but she got over it. She is our last goose and now hangs out with the chickens and whoever is outside. She is ten years old and since geese can live to about twenty, I can't start again with goslings... They'd likely outlive me.
Zass's suggestions are good ones. Anything that distracts him from his grief should help. Maybe get a couple of new toys for the cage and get him out and exercising. Try soft music too... Some rabbits love it. Some healthy treats at intervals may also help. Part of his problem may be that his mate is just GONE. At least with my geese, they knew the loved one was dead. They even attended Willow's burial.
Zass's suggestions are good ones. Anything that distracts him from his grief should help. Maybe get a couple of new toys for the cage and get him out and exercising. Try soft music too... Some rabbits love it. Some healthy treats at intervals may also help. Part of his problem may be that his mate is just GONE. At least with my geese, they knew the loved one was dead. They even attended Willow's burial.
MaggieJ":2hafw387 said:
Oh for sure, I had doves and one of my males stopped eating and drinking when I separated him from his mate, even tho their cages were next to each other! The female could care less, but he was about to die. I couldn't see him waste away so I put her back in with him and he drank and ate a ton!!
MaggieJ":2hafw387 said:
Yeah wan't until after I buried his mate did and saw how depressed he was, that I thought I should have let him be with her dead body before I buried her; last he saw her she was alive; not well but alive so guess he is waiting for her to come back...poor guy.
If you work with him, distract him and give him lots of attention, he should come around -- provided that it is just sadness and not an illness of some kind. Next time you have him out of the cage, I suggest you give him a good examination, just in case.
Got him a new girlfriend (two in fact), seemed to be helping him 
Then the other doe decided to get jealous and chase and fight one of the new does. All that running around she landed on my buck (Thunder) and she out weight him a lot. He seemed ok and was getting better. BUT Now we see a lump just under his front leg (is a long hard lump that spans elbow area to foot), he doesn't want to move around again but this time he looks like he is in pain. I just can't win. :x Separated does, but can see and smell each other through cages. Brought Thunder inside to baby him. <br /><br /> -- Mon Nov 07, 2016 12:43 pm -- <br /><br /> Seems was an abscess, was able to drain it and clean him up. Staying inside with us and 6 weeks old babies (from one of the new does we obtained)...they are taking good care of him and he cuddles right up to them..so cute
Then the other doe decided to get jealous and chase and fight one of the new does. All that running around she landed on my buck (Thunder) and she out weight him a lot. He seemed ok and was getting better. BUT Now we see a lump just under his front leg (is a long hard lump that spans elbow area to foot), he doesn't want to move around again but this time he looks like he is in pain. I just can't win. :x Separated does, but can see and smell each other through cages. Brought Thunder inside to baby him. <br /><br /> -- Mon Nov 07, 2016 12:43 pm -- <br /><br /> Seems was an abscess, was able to drain it and clean him up. Staying inside with us and 6 weeks old babies (from one of the new does we obtained)...they are taking good care of him and he cuddles right up to them..so cute
I had the feeling there might be a physical cause, as well as missing the doe. Hopefully now that the abscess is drained it will heal up, but be vigilant. Are you sure it drained? The pus in a rabbit abscess is thick, about the consistency of toothpaste. When one of our does had an abscess, I used hydrogen peroxide 3% to help liquefy the pus. Since then I have heard it is not a great idea because peroxide damages healthy tissue as well, but it did help us to clean it out. We also used Pen G with Procaine in a subcutaneous injection. The doe recovered nicely.
I should perhaps say that usually I would have simply euthanized a rabbit with that kind of an abscess, but Alice was a favourite who had achieved "pet status" by virtue of her personality, so we were willing to put in extra effort to try to heal her.
I should perhaps say that usually I would have simply euthanized a rabbit with that kind of an abscess, but Alice was a favourite who had achieved "pet status" by virtue of her personality, so we were willing to put in extra effort to try to heal her.
KenoshaRabbits
Well-known member
Hi DBurton, sorry for you loss.
How old is he? Has he been neutered?
I don't want to come across as belittling your sorrow or your views on animals; but please reconsider housing him with the new kits. Depending on the breed, the females may be capable of getting pregnant and there could also be territorial issues with any males. While it may be comforting to humanize your rabbits, they are animals and will probably act like rabbits.
Does are territorial and as you saw ,adding two new girlfriends to their habitat resulted in a fight, which resulted in your rabbit getting hurt to a point where other owners would consider putting him down.
And an un-altered buck will act like a buck. And he will try to mate with the females and attack other mature males in his area. I would hate for you to wake up to a dead kit, or a surprise litter.
Just some information to consider, in the end it all depends on how you want to raise your rabbits.
How old is he? Has he been neutered?
I don't want to come across as belittling your sorrow or your views on animals; but please reconsider housing him with the new kits. Depending on the breed, the females may be capable of getting pregnant and there could also be territorial issues with any males. While it may be comforting to humanize your rabbits, they are animals and will probably act like rabbits.
Does are territorial and as you saw ,adding two new girlfriends to their habitat resulted in a fight, which resulted in your rabbit getting hurt to a point where other owners would consider putting him down.
And an un-altered buck will act like a buck. And he will try to mate with the females and attack other mature males in his area. I would hate for you to wake up to a dead kit, or a surprise litter.
Just some information to consider, in the end it all depends on how you want to raise your rabbits.
Kenosha Rabbits makes some valuable observations. I have always found my bucks to be good with kits, but if the kits are older than about 7 weeks, some issues could occur. And in a colony, the kits could always get away from him if they wanted to.
Regarding your original doe and the two newcomers . . . The original doe is NOT jealous, she is territorial -- and understandably so. (How would you feel if two new women moved in and started messing about in your kitchen.) Unless your rabbits are housed in a spacious colony, does should not be housed together, especially when they have not been raised together. Individual cages are safest, although when you have considerable rabbit experience under your belt, you may choose to consider colony raising. It requires a lot more knowledge than you will get in just a year or two of rabbit raising.
Regarding your original doe and the two newcomers . . . The original doe is NOT jealous, she is territorial -- and understandably so. (How would you feel if two new women moved in and started messing about in your kitchen.) Unless your rabbits are housed in a spacious colony, does should not be housed together, especially when they have not been raised together. Individual cages are safest, although when you have considerable rabbit experience under your belt, you may choose to consider colony raising. It requires a lot more knowledge than you will get in just a year or two of rabbit raising.
MaggieJ":1hk13hz7 said:
The physical cause wasn't there when the doe past as I looked him over several times. Came few days after
It did drain but maybe due to his sadness and age it never healed and only got worse so had to put him down as well...two rabbits in a week, not kool. We are now left with his new girlfriends and babies
At least they didn't get attached enough to have this effect them. -- Tue Nov 15, 2016 5:56 pm --
KenoshaRabbits":1hk13hz7 said:
He was not neutered and we were hoping for breeding so that would not have been an issue. As for the kits they are housed separate. The picture is him inside our house with the babies only, not the does. Nor has he been housed with other bucks. This is not my first time raising rabbits.
I never humanize any of my animals, love them yes but not humanize them otherwise I would have spent tons of money on trying to save both the doe and buck I lost.
He was found with the injury before I introduced the new does so was not a result of the new does. I think he got the injury from a wire on cage (which has since been taken care of and all has been checked with a fine toothed comb).
-- Tue Nov 15, 2016 6:03 pm --
MaggieJ":1hk13hz7 said:
I love how folks assume I am new to this...where did that come about? I raised 4-H rabbits for 5 years so think I got some experience under my belt. But I am new to raising them in a colony as I have always kept mine separate. So would like advice on how to make that successful. I understand the territory thing, and I do have a large area outside that is enough space for all 3 does. There are two hutches in the run (one I just added for the new does which they use). The other is Big Girl's (the original doe). Right now I let Big Girl out with the other two during the day and I stop fighting with a water bottle (she only picks on the mamma of the kits); then at night lock Big Girl up in her hutch. They are doing better but not to where I can leave them unattended for long.
dburton":3r78az58 said:
You may not be new to rabbits, dburton, but you're new here and we can only go by what you post. I think what made me think you were somewhat inexperienced was that you would put two new does in a cage with an apparently bonded pair. No slight was intended--we were doing our best to help you based on the information you gave us.
KenoshaRabbits
Well-known member
Hey dburton I think your setup sounds great. If you want more information about colony raising I highly recommend looking at the many posts on here, and if you need something specific the "search" button on the side is a great tool.
To add to MaggieJ's comments, I made the same assumption based on the info provided, thanks for clearing things up.
1) Questions around here tend to be answered towards an assumption of a lower level of experience. I feel these message threads aren't just for the person asking questions, but for everyone. And some future reader (hello future reader) might stumble across this thread and need information like "housing does together could result in territorial fights" even if you don't. If you ask a question about kindling I guarantee someone will throw in a tip like "leave the nest box in there longer, sometimes it can take a doe 35 days to kindle".
2) People around here try to be as helpful as possible, which sometimes means you'll get information you don't really need or already know. Better you have info you already know than not get info you need.
Sorry for your losses. Hopefully there are good replacements among your kits.
Hopefully, things go smoother for you.
To add to MaggieJ's comments, I made the same assumption based on the info provided, thanks for clearing things up.
1) Questions around here tend to be answered towards an assumption of a lower level of experience. I feel these message threads aren't just for the person asking questions, but for everyone. And some future reader (hello future reader) might stumble across this thread and need information like "housing does together could result in territorial fights" even if you don't. If you ask a question about kindling I guarantee someone will throw in a tip like "leave the nest box in there longer, sometimes it can take a doe 35 days to kindle".
2) People around here try to be as helpful as possible, which sometimes means you'll get information you don't really need or already know. Better you have info you already know than not get info you need.
Sorry for your losses. Hopefully there are good replacements among your kits.
Hopefully, things go smoother for you.
