what are the odds that a doe has only one baby on her first go around ? she is a darwf and he is a california...
ok i know i should have them in a cage . the yard is secure and the dog watches over her \"herd\"..I have NEVER seen any stray cats in the yard due to the dog. the baby was discovered at my back porch door...unharmed . I have made sure the doe is feeding her baby , and that my cat cant \"get\" to the baby. could it be that since the buck is so big and the doe is so small that she only had one ? I have experanced new mama cats not knowing what/where/how to tend to young...could it be that the doe had her young if more than one in more than one place?(ive seen a cat deliver all over the house except in the nesting box) If the cat brought it to the porch , why hasnt she gone back to the nest to \"get\" the others if the doe did have more than one? OH what a mess...I have let the doe out of her cage every five hours to tend to the others if there are others..then recage her to tend to the ONE i do know about. the one is pink and very fat...i have even helped show her to stimulate the baby to go potty...any thoughts about a single baby? Pease ive been punishing myself for this since yesterday at 2. ...and have made an appt for buck to be clipped/nutered
Yes, it is quite possible that she only had one living birth -but if they are outside it is also quite possible she had others someplace else. Generally, a dwarf will have a smaller litter.
She will not go get them like a cat. It is a survival instinct of rabbits not to \'rescue\' their babies -once they are out of the nest -that\'s it.
I suggest keeping the baby and Momma separate -have you looked to find anymore? Also quite possible the cat already got them. Ask the cat or the dog -the dog would eat them, too.
I know people keep their rabbits in the yard, and I have ever, too and thats how mine ended up having 6 babies. But for the safety of the rabbit you should consider keeping them in a cage all the time. Maybe have a play yard to let them stretch their legs when you\'re home.
Good Luck with the new baby -sounds healthy if its plump.
I know this may sound gross but maybe an option if you \'really\' want to know if there are others -check the dog & the cat\'s stool.
The other day my cat pooped a mouse!
well I have one more place to look; under a heavy wood pile. The cage I have the baby in is 2ft wide by 3 1/2long by 2 ft deep. inside the cage is an \"igloo\" style \"house\" and nesting material i bought at a pet store for \"rodents\"(had a pic of a rabbit and mouse on bag) . I read that the mama feeds the baby 2 x\'s a day ...baby gorges itself then mama leaves til next feeding. I put mama in cage with baby around 11:30 last nite and left her there til 5:00 am this morning . she hopped straight to the wood pile. so today i will move the wood pile and look. If I find young ones i will move them to the cage; or nesting materials ie: hay, hair and no bunnies I will know the cat got to them .I have exhausted all other possible hiding places. This cat is the DUMBEST cat I have ever had..unless it ate first then brought the last one to me...I have left that cat in a tree for days thinking he can get down on his own only to get the ladder to retrieve it on day 3. the baby is doing great ...pink and very fat. ive made sure it goes potty before i put the mama in with it. time to get to that wood pile
thanks for the feedback.
Why are you making sure it goes potty? Just curious.
If the rabbit is going straight for the woodpile that could mean they are in there, or she \'had\' a nest in there -or she\'s just safest in there. I\'m curious as to why also the baby was found on your doorstep -maybe the cat got to the nest already. I wouldn\'t think the rabbit would have a baby on the doorstep knowing she had created a nest under the woodpile. Oh well - move that woodpile and let us know what ya found!
Good Luck.
Ok , all I found under the wood pile was dust, dirt ,and bugs. no bunny fur, no straw, no nest. not any nest any where in the yard..maybe since it is her first baby she didnt know to make one. surley the cage is big enough for her to be in there with the baby since the baby is actually in the \"igloo\"house part ...Now i need to engineer an exersise area and attach it to the cage .
as to making sure it potties; its what i read ya have to do either before it eats or after. Im thinking she had the baby by a stack of ladders where she had been hanging out , and the stack is by the porch door.I have 4 birds on the porch . i keep dog , cat , bird , and bunny food on the porch. the door has a cat/dog door. I have some impatient rabbits , cause in the morning there they are on the porch helping themselves to whatever tidbits the birds have dropped.(food is kept up off the floor because they will get into the food)
appt made for mr. bunny for thursday. do not want a bunny ranch
It is quite possible with only kit she didn\'t realize and had it right there. Thats why keeping rabbits -apart and in a cage is so important -it sure makes dilemmas like this easier to solve and take care of.
As far as making sure the kit \'goes\' before or after it\'s fed -I\'m sorry but I never heard that before. Maybe you can share with us the source of the information so I can understand that statement better. Maybe someone else on the list would have an idea why?
In any case, good luck with the healthy one you have. Momma should be able to take care it all by herself.
sure will Lorelei, its
http://www.rabbit.org/care/orphan.html
even though there was NO visible bites to the baby it started having a really hard time breathing so I took it to my bunny vet and after the examine he concluded the baby\'s chest had been crushed. baby was ethanized. daddy bunny has appt for nutering tomorrow.
I am under the impression that the site is geared for orphaned kits. If there is no mother.
A mother rabbit will do that on her own. I never heard of doing it to a litter of my own. It\'s a natural thing.
Sorry you lost the kit. The Mother could have stepped on it and crushed its chest cavity -if it was in the nest.
Thats too bad.
