Help please! rabbit in labor for over 2 hours!

[MaggieJ]

We're glad to have you here, Beckaboo.

Just let her be, give her the TUMS and see what happens. I would not concern myself unless she is in obvious distress. She may deliver more or she may be finished. Elongated kits are typical when they get stuck. It happens fairly often in first litters. I'd breed her again... likely she will have an easier time next round.

Do not remove the nest box. She has the right instincts making a good nest and if you remove it now she may kindle on the cage floor or in the litter pan. You have to remember that she is a first timer and is operating solely on instinct. Unfortunately, sometimes there is a delay in the instinctive behaviour kicking in with first timers. She did a lot of things right and will likely do better next time.

 

[beccaboo]

Thanks all for your help!

If any other issues arise I know exactly where to come to ask!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

She may have more kits to come, so don't give up on that yet. Some does will have kits over a period of days, but the outcome for the kits is usually poor.

Since she is in your room it will be easy to keep an eye on her for any signs of labor.

If she hasn't shown signs of giving birth after 24 hours, or has only a couple of live kits, I would breed her back sooner than later.

Does are typically very receptive after kindling and usually release a large number of eggs when bred. It will be better for her next time if she has many small kits instead of a couple large ones.

 

[beccaboo]

How soon is too soon to re-breed?

 

[Dood]

You can try re-breeding her right away if she is still fit and hasn't lost any body condition during the pregnancy, watch them closely and don't let him perster her too much.

Actually if she doesn't co-operate and runs or tells the buck off she may not be done having kits. If she lifts for him then she likely only had one kit and is done with labour.

 

[beccaboo]

updates: 3 hours after discovering the dead kit, she is appearing to be having contractions again. I did give her the tums earlier also.

 

[MaggieJ]

Hope all goes smoothly from here! :clover:

 

[TheLittleBunny10]

YAY!
hope she has kits!
:clover: :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover:

 

[skysthelimit]

Actually, breeding her back will induce labor if she still has a kit inside.

 

[beccaboo]

thanks all for the suggestions- unfortunately I do not have access to the buck right now as he belongs to a friend. I have my sister's mini lop but he is almost twice her size.

she didn't have another kit as of yet, but she isn't straining or anything so maybe she is done, though she only ate half of her food from this morning. I will palpate her in the morning if there are still no more kits.<br /><br />__________ Wed Feb 20, 2013 12:12 am __________<br /><br />don't think this is normal but it is now 14 hours since the start of her labor this morning (10 since she delivered the dead kit) and she has only just passed the placenta, which she then left for a few minutes before returning to it and eating it (which I know is normal)- but that amount of time passing is not normal is it?

She's not exactly showing signs of labor right now, but she's still not entirely back to normal and has not eaten much of her pellets today, though she had a couple baby carrots and a dried banana chip.

I gave her the tums about 8 hours ago, should I give her another one before I go to bed?

 

[skysthelimit]

Give her all the tums she will eat, and massage her, you can also induce contractions that way.

Can you feel anything?

 

[beccaboo]

I only gave her one more tums before I went to bed, but she did have another kit while I was asleep. This one appeared to be healthy and was much smaller than the one yesterday but she kindled in the litter pan again so I'm guessing it was born live but then caught a chill.

She's back to normal now, so probably done. I will double check by palpating.

Better luck next time I guess- too bad, both babies had beautiful markings and she built a great nest for a first time mom.

But thank you all for helping!

 

[MaggieJ]

Sorry the outcome wasn't better, but the important thing is that the doe is okay. She will likely do better next time.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Is the litter pan IN the nestbox? or does she actually have a separate nest box? It is hard to tell from the picture.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

So sorry!!!! It happens though. First timers don't always know what to do. Back when I had a large room set up for a colony, one of my does gave birth to each kit in a different spot, no nest...no fur pulled, nothing. I had to walk around and search for them and pray I didn't accidentally step on anybody hidden under the straw and shavings! :x

I bet since she had such a nice nest made, she'll do a lot better next time.

 

[beccaboo]

She did have a separate nest box on the other side of her cage (you can see a bit of the wood in the picture on the left)- she built a nest with pulled fur and all. When she first went into labor, she was in the nest box pushing for a good half hour or so before she probably overheated and hopped out to rest for awhile.

She did have very good instincts overall, the only issue was not actually having the kits in the nest box. She delivered both kits in her litter box and the first kit's placenta (did not see the second kit's placenta), but she did start out in the nest box when the contractions first started.

I went out for a little bit today (gave her another tums before I left), and it looks like she pulled out more fur for her nest while I was gone, so could there still be a baby in there? She seems to be back to normal for the most part though she still hasn't eaten all her food from this morning.

I just tried to palpate her (not exactly an expert on that) and didn't feel anything that resembled a baby bunny skull or anything- it mostly just felt what I'd think a bunny stomach should feel like? her abdomen wasn't distended as it was a few days ago.

I will most definitely breed her again because stuff like this is typical of a first litter, right? and she was a much better first time mom than my mini lop was (she didn't pull any fur for her nest) though she didn't have any problems giving birth. Maybe I will try both again. In fact, the mini lop was bred 2 weeks ago on friday, so I can palpate her then, correct? any tips on that?

__________ Wed Feb 20, 2013 9:55 pm __________

picture of her nest as of a few moments ago- pretty good for a first time momma, no?

I don't know how to flip the picture... but the little blood smear on the right is the "lip" on the front of the nest box- the part that bumps off hitchhiking kits

 

[LeAnn24]

Sorry she lost the 2nd one as well. Better luck for the next one!

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

Looks like she did a pretty good job with the nest. I really think she'll be much better at this next time.

 

[beccaboo]

Thanks everyone!

I'll be sure to start a new thread next time around to let you guys know how it goes