Two of my 5 day old bunnies are 1/3 of the size of others!

[ltmx]

My Holland lop had a litter of 6 babies on the 19th with what I believe is a Netherland Dwarf. One of the babies seems to have disappeared completely, I've never had a rabbit have babies before, so this is all very new to me. From all of the research I did I'm just going to assume it died and the mother ate it.

Now we're at day 5, three of them are healthy as can be and very adorable, but the other two are much smaller. Specifically one of them. I've looked up a lot about rabbits having peanut babies and at first it didn't seem like one, but now I'm not so sure. The other is slightly bigger, but definitely not looking anywhere near as healthy as the bigger ones. At this point I will take any advice on what I could do here about the little ones. I'd feel extremely guilty if they died and I didn't try anything to save them.



The second small one is on the bottom on the left, it's not nearly as small as the one on the top. I'm just a bit worried about it.

 

[KenoshaRabbits]

The top pink one looks a lot like a peanut. I actually cannot tell which on you think is the second one. The brown one and the bottom left pink one may be runts. It is hard to tell.

Here is a link fyi
http://www.threelittleladiesrabbitry.com/peanuts.php
From the page:
"What many new breeders want to know is what a peanut really looks like. The first noticeable difference is the size. As you can see from the pictures above the normal kit (broken tort on the left) is nearly twice the size of the peanut (black kit on the right). If we were to weight these two bunnies the normal kit would probably weigh three times as much as the peanut.

It is important to remember that size is not the only difference between a peanut and a normal kit. Although it may not quite be as clear in the pictures above, the eyes of a peanut actually bulge out substantially more than that of a normal kit. The normal kits eyes will have a slight bulge, but this is very pronounced in the peanut.

Probably the biggest difference is in the hindquarters. The hindquarters of the peanut are less than half the width of the normal kit. It is clear when you see a peanut that it is very underdeveloped on the outside which is a pretty good indication that there is some underdevelopment internally. "

 

[Marinea]

First of all, welcome to RT. I am sorry that this is your introduction.

I agree that the top wee one looks to be a peanut. If it is, please be prepared for it to pass, no matter what you do. It is not a matter of fault, or bad caretaking, it just happens.

One thing you can do, moreso for the other smaller one, which just may be a runt, or another peanut, is to give the two small ones a separate nursing. Keep the others back and feed one group in the mornings and one at night. This way, the two smaller ones don't have to try to fight their stronger siblings for milk. You can try that for a few days and see how they progress. If they do not improve, you might have to consider putting the peanut down to prevent it starving to death.

Again, I am sorry you are facing this. It is a difficult thing to deal with.

 

[karenl]

We had a litter of 7 popples 9 days ago we also had two smaller babies I just took the 3 biggest out for about 3 morning feeds that was all the little ones needed to catch up still not as big but they are healthy and can fight for milk now the smallest one could possibly just be a runt need to look for other signs not just size. Good luck and welcome

 

[macksmom98]

If you could post closer up and more detailed pics of the smaller one/ones that would help. Its hard to say for sure. I had 2 of very different sizes in my first litter of Hollands, and no peanuts. One just always had a shorter, blockier, build, and the other was always longer. When born the shorter one was less than half as long as the larger one. But peanuts can be a real problem for dwarf breeds, and we would be able to better tell if we could see the head, eyes, and ears more closely.

 

[ltmx]

Hello everyone! Update on the small babies. The bigger one of the two seems to be just fine and getting fed. The smallest that I thought was a peanut looks SO much healthier. I started taking the mom out for separate feedings with it on Tuesday and it's Thursday now and it's already looking so much better. Definitely not getting my hopes up, but I'm happy I was able to do something.

 

[KenoshaRabbits]

Hello everyone! Update on the small babies. The bigger one of the two seems to be just fine and getting fed. The smallest that I thought was a peanut looks SO much healthier. I started taking the mom out for separate feedings with it on Tuesday and it's Thursday now and it's already looking so much better. Definitely not getting my hopes up, but I'm happy I was able to do something.

Hey ltmx thanks for the update.

Are the pictures img 9113 and 9114 of the smallest one? The separate feedings looks like they helped.

I agree with not getting your hopes up. From the initial picture it still looked like a peanut rather than a runt. (Hard to give a definitive answer without being there in person or 50 different pictures) (Although the bulgy eyes give me confidence in the peanut guess). Unfortunately, if it is a peanut it will 100% dies soon. The longest I have heard of one surviving is 2 weeks. It's just a matter of genetics.

But you do the best you can. Do keep up the good work!

 

[ltmx]

Yes those pictures are of the smallest one. I noticed the bulgy eyes too. We'll just have to see.

 

[macksmom98]

Best of luck little guy! I agree that the eyes and even head shape look out of the ordinary, but seeing him thriving and improve is not normal in this situation, so hopefully I am wrong!

 

[karenl]

Just looking at pics I'm almost thinking its not a peanut as I've had ones similar with the semi bulging eyes that have been just fine they eventually grow into their eyes with the peanuts they are totally round and bulgy around the total eye not just the top part as it looks in the pic plus looks like its thriving now with extra feeds peanuts don't tend to thrive they just bearly stay alive. Fingers crossed for the little guy good job too looking after it.

 

[ltmx]

Final update on the possible peanut!



She's much bigger and looking even healthier than before. Thank you all so much for the tips! I don't think she would've made it this far without them.