Help!

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

I just lost a 2 week old bunny. He was super skinny, urinating a lot, and had a big bald patch under his chin. Tonight I have the other buns and another one has a bald patch under its chin. It's very healthy, but I'm worried theres some connection.

 

[Marinea]

Sorry about the loss of the kit. Can you post a pic of the other, showing under it's chin? And maybe give some more details- is it out of the nest box, is it active, skinny?

 

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

It's not really active, but I'm not worried about that. Hes super lazy. And it is NOT skinny by a long shot lol but yeah their favorite trick is getting out of the nestbox. Sorry about the bad pic

 

[Miss M]

That's an odd one... I can't find anything for it except stuff that would apply to older bunnies (like dewlap infection, lol).

I'm sorry you lost the other kit! I hope someone has some ideas for this one.

 

[akane]

They should be out of the nest box now. They should be eating and drinking adult food in some amount. When it's colder they might hang out in the box until 4 weeks while sometimes still coming out for some food and water. That's when you can lose kits. During warm weather though it's normal for them to be running around right after their eyes open at 10 days. Are they still only nursing? Do you have a water bowl or bottle? Any salt or mineral supplements?

 

[Zass]

Any chance that wetness is caused by drooling from heat distress?

 

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

They are pretty much out of the nestbox. Im leaving it in the hutch until theyre 3 weeks old though. Theyve started eating hay, but not quite pellets and water yet. They know how to get to the bottom level of the hutch, and they love to harass the dam lol they seem fine, maybe they were just scratching too much or something. And @ Zass, the wetness from the kit this morning is urine. It was on its rear and no where else that the wetness was. And I know its urine coz it peed on me when I was trying to help him :angry:

 

[akane]

Baby rabbits pee giant puddles when stimulated so it may not be an abnormal amount. Even the few day old ones have made large puddles requiring multiple paper towels to dry up. Missing hair is often a wetness problem. If they were drinking from a dish or the bottle dripping down their faces it might dry around the time you go out there but get wet enough, often enough to cause some hair loss. Especially since they then sometimes rub those areas with their paws until dry. Matted or bare patches on the paws frequently accompanies heat distress, respiratory infections, or the simple excess exposure to plain water. Just water exposure is not much of a health issue and shouldn't cause death. They could also be rubbing on a feeder if it's not at a good height for them. I've had rabbits take the fur off their face in patches or strips from rubbing the feeder and it can take many months to grow back in. If you have salt or mineral mix they may over indulge and drink and pee more to flush the excess out of the system. Also unlikely to be enough of an issue to cause death though.

 

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

Ok. Thank you. The buns are all doing good, they were all out of the nestbox thisvmorning when I checked on them. And because its so hot, we've been bringing them in the house all day and taking them back out when it gets cooler.