The case of the Disappearing Bunnies..

[Oceanrose]

I have my rabbits next to my house, (running alongside it). One side is the house, and a 6' cedar fence. One side is a lean to with a roof, and the remaining sides are either cedar fence, or wire fence with dense trees on the opposite side.

The cages are about 3' off the ground, and supported on fence posts.

I have not had a problem with predators until 3 weeks ago. I had a litter of English Angoras born, and one disappeared. I honestly thought it had died, and mom had gotten rid of it. 2 days later, another one was gone. And 2 days later one of the biggest in the litter was gone. I moved them, and another litter that was beside them (and had been untouched) into the house.

10 days ago, I had another litter born. I took the box in at night for the first several days, and then started leaving them out because momma was being a pain about feeding them. I had another litter born, 5 days ago, and all was fine till yesterday. When I counted babies - one gone. Litters are coming back in at night again, but what in the world am I dealing with?

Rabbits don't seem upset, one disappeared on a night I left my dogs out there, so it's nothing big enough for them to worry about. It has to be going through 1X2 wire, and fetching them OUT of the boxes, they are typically deep. No bite marks on other babies, or chewed legs/feet etc.

I set rat traps, but so far have caught nothing. I am going to reset them with chicken livers instead of peanut butter. Any other ideas? Someone suggested a snake. We only have Garter snakes around here, I suppose one could theoretically be big enough to eat a baby bunny, but it seems like a stretch, I've never seen one over 2 or 3 slim feet.

Any ideas?

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

I think it is a rat.. Set a camera if you can

 

[Marinea]

From experience I can tell you that rats CAN get through 1x2 wire, and CAN climb wooden posts. I would suggest some baby saver wire. That seems to keep them out.

Sorry for your losses.

 

[Miss M]

Yes, it does sound like a rat. If you had other snakes there, then maybe a snake. But if garter snakes are it, then it's probably a rat.

You can cover your 1x2 wire with 1x1/2 wire or hardware cloth. They can chew through hardware cloth, but they'd be more likely to find a meal that's easier to get to.

 

[AmysMacdog]

Sorry you are having this trouble, its terrible to have something taking the kits.
I agree with rats or maybe a snake sneaking in there at night.
Hope you can figure it out and put a stop to it. Losing babies that way sucks!

 

[MaggieJ]

Rats can get through anything larger than 1"x1" and I've seen them carry off live chicks. They are nasty little predators.

A weasel is another possibility, but a rat is most likely. Can you use poison in secure bait boxes? If you have pets or poultry you will have to be careful that they don't eat the dead or dying rats. Traps are safer, but it often takes awhile to find a good bait. Chicken livers might work well. Sardines are great for weasels and mink. I found dried dates pretty good for rats. They tend to go for something they can smell at a bit of a distance and the dates were easy to pack into those little bait cups in such a way that they can't steal the bait.

 

[Desert Rose Rabbits]

When I was breeding rats, I had a Houdini Rat. She managed to get out of stuff smaller than 1x1. We ended up having to put hardwire cloth (the really, really tiny stuff) all around the outside of her cage, and then we bent some of the hardwire cloth over the area where wire sections met. This was the ONLY thing that worked for keeping her locked up. Never seen it happen before, or since. So, Baby Saver Wire may not be enough if it IS rats and they're very determined and young/small enough.

 

[willie]

get yourself a deer trail camera and set it up and i am sure you will find the culprit. Good luck