Soo Confused

by Rachael
(Mead OK)

Snow's baby ... she refused it

Snow's baby ... she refused it

It's been awhile since I'd had rabbits and recently started again. I bred Snow and Pepper a week apart and Snow had one baby yesterday day 31 and Pepper won't reach day 31 until Sat Feb 7th in a few days... snow still has babies in her kicking and moving I know they can hold labor up to 24 hours.... I tried giving her tums but she won't eat them.


I woke this morning to a big surprise. Pepper had 10 healthy full babies in her cage... there is a fairly big size puddle of blood under her cage but she isn't bleeding now... I'm worried about them both....

Snow is 5 or 6 years old. I was led to believe she was 3 when I got her... She has hard white nasty smelling stuff coming from her vent but no swelling or redness... Any information and help would be appreciated.

***** Karen Sez *****

Well, I have good news and (probably) very bad news.

Pepper and her babies will likely be fine. 10 kits is usually a lot for a doe to raise - get her some black oil sunflower seeds (marketed as bird feed) and give her 1-2 tablespoons per day while she is lactating and until the kits are 4 weeks old. It will help her make more milk.

What you say about Snow is very concerning. No rabbit should be having hard white stuff coming from her vent. I am almost certain this is due to a bacterial infection that has spread throughout her reproductive tract. All the swelling and redness is inside her where you can't see it, but you can be sure it is there. No wonder she rejected the kit - she is in no condition to care for it, and if she kindles any other live kits, she is likely to reject them as well.

Additionally, these kits might be coated with infective organisms, and should not be fostered to another doe. Hand-rearing them is an option, although they themselves have an elevated risk of succumbing to infection. Also, you'll have to be extremely careful to not carry those germs on your hands or clothes to your healthy doe Pepper and her litter.

Were this my doe, I would euthanize her because she is probably insurmountably sick. Sorry! If this is hard for you to do, your vet can confirm a diagnosis and then advise you of your best follow-up choices. The vet can also put her down for you.

Hopefully you'll be able to replace Snow with a young, healthy doe that will serve well as a brood doe for several more years.

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