One of my baby buns has died.

I just checked on my 9 day old baby buns this morning and one of them as died. They all seemed to be healthy and feeding well, does anyone know why this might of happened or what i can do to make sure the rest of the buns survive. I thought they were doing really well. x

Oh how sad

Did the baby look any smaller or less developed than the others, as in every litter there is usually a runt and they have a smaller rate of survival than the others, especially in a larger litter with a young mum.

Do the others look OK, are they moving about, warm with full looking tummies....

The one that died was still in the nest, had a full tummy and was the same size as the rest. { there was 5 altogether} It is the mums first time but she seemed to be doing so well. Do you think the other bunnies will be ok? I don't think it had been dead long, it was still warm but this could be because the other babies were on top of it. Thanks for your reply. x

Sadly it is probably just one of those things, there could be any number of problems the baby may have had which would show no outward signs, such as a genetic problem with its heart for example.

If the others look lively, well fed and otherwise OK, and the baby that had died shows no signs of bites or other damage Mum may have caused it is highly unlikely to be anything she did....or that you did for that matter.

I would just remove the baby and continue monitoring the others as you have been. Also, have you started to up Mum's food intake, as she will be needing more to produce milk for her growing kits now.

Thanks. Yes i have increased mums food she seems to be eating alot so i just make sure she is never without and she has lots of fresh water. Hope the other buns will be ok, fingers crossed. Also what is the best way to dispose of the body? x

If you can bury the little one somewhere in the garden and maybe put a large stone or something over the spot for a few weeks to deter predators I would do that.

Fingers crossed the others continue to thrive, it sounds like you are doing a great job with them.

Have yout thought about getting Dad neutered ready for when the babies have been rehomed so that eventually he and Mum can go back together....

Sorry to hear that. You and mother bun are doing really well. RIP wee one.

Did think of getting dad neutered but would he still be wanting to mount her all the time? x

The urge to mount gets less as time goes on, so the earlier you get him done the calmer he will be once the babies are weaned, as his hormonal urges will start to wane. Mum would need a spey as well, or it may be her who ends up doing the mounting!

Ok thanks for the advice, how long do i have to wait for mum to be spey as she has just had her babies? x ps. thanks for helping me out. x

Oh I'm really sorry Nature is designed to weedle out the weakest and we can't do anything about that. You're clearly doing a great job with them I'm looking forward to seeing pics when they are ready to face the camera

smudge@floppy wrote:Ok thanks for the advice, how long do i have to wait for mum to be spey as she has just had her babies? x ps. thanks for helping me out. x

I'm actually not too sure about this, as I have never had it done myself, but I expect one of the rescuers will know, maybe ask Snowy by PM. Also, no need to keep thanking us, you're more than welcome to our advice.

Hi, so sorry to hear about your baby bun, as the others have said, it just happens, sadly that's nature for you, it's happened to me in the past when I have had pregnant girls arrived and they have given birth here, they have had everything they need but then a baby will die and it's really sad when it happens but I firmly beleive that it's nature, please don't blame yourself.

As for having mummy neutered, she can't be done whilst she is feeding her babies, so I would wait until they are 10 - 12 weeks old and then she should be able to be done then.

I took Martha and her 4 babies in to the rescue in January, the babies were born on 30th November but were very small as they had not been looked after properly and were quite thin, none of them had enough food, so we left it as long as we could, Martha was speyed last Thursday along with one of her daughters Eva and then her other daughter Imogen and her two sons Pedro and Beau will all be neutered next Tuesday, they all still live together in a group, I wouldn't normally recommend you wait this long because there is a chance of the boys making mummy pregnant and in extreme cases making the daughters pregnant too, but these were all very under nourished and under developed.

Please, please can I tell you that if you have daddy neuterd then you cannot put him back in with mummy for 6 weeks because he will still be fertile and could still make her pregnant again, he can only go back in with her if she has been neutered.

I hope all goes well for the other babies, I am sure you are doing everything you can for them and good luck

Sorry to hear about the baby bun , hope you are ok.

Sooz advice about getting them neutered and spayed is very very good advice. The buns will be happier when they are able to snuggle together after they have been neutered.

Sending nose rubs for all the bunnies and a big hug for you. Sounds like you are doing a great job of looking after them all.

Katie x x