My Rabbit Ate Its Babies !

[lilcutey1]

Hellooooo ok i dont know if this is normal or anything but a couple of days ago my rabbit had three babies she killed one and then she ate half of one it wasnt a very nice sight to come home and find it but yeh and then she ate the rest of it but shes kept one baby is it normal for them to eat there babies ?!?!?!?!?!

 

[Ave Maria]

Yuck! That definitely doesn't sound normal to me. But then again, I'm not an expert on these things. I think I read somewhere that if an animal's babies has problems, they'll sometimes eat them. Not sure how much truth there is to that though. Sorry you had to go through such an ordeal.

 

[lilcutey1]

thankyou ! yeh it was pretty grose maybe it thought the babies werent gonna survive ?!?! my cat was pregnant as well and you could actullay feeel all her babies but then one day they were gone but there was no babies to be seeen

 

[Moros]

It's common. Hamsters also eat their young.

 

[Dagna]

It's fairly normal. Many animals will eat their babies if they are unhealthy or sick. it's an instinctual thing as obviously, a sick baby can reduce the other babies chances of survival. They eat them because the smell of a dying/dead animal can draw predators to their den so it's done to protect the rest of them.

 

[Billnew]

Rabbits that don't feel "comfortable" will eat there young. It could be one scare or startled, or it might not be mature enough to be a mother.
Some rabbit mothers are never ready. If you look at rabbit classifieds alot of female rabbit ads include "proven mother", or "virgin" status "unproven" mother.

I went into a pet store that isn't in business anymore, had 6 cages, with parts of baby bunnys and the mother. The worst visit to a pet store, luckily the kids couldn't
see in the cages.

Read up on precautions to take. I do remember these:
1.keep cage in quiet less travelled area.
2.cover cage so rabbit can't see anything outside of cage.(immitates the rabbit hole)
3.provide feed as required but very low stress.
4don't hold the rabbit, I don't remember time line for this.

 

[CeCe]

It's normal. I had a hamster do this once. You're right. It's not a pretty sight. Here's a link that may help.

http://www.debmark.com/rabbits/faq/eatyoung.htm

 

[Gods Girl]

I have heard if you give the rabbit some meat before she has her babys she will not eat them. I have had that happine too. I have mini rex rabbits, I have sold some to a pet store

 

[Chocolate Bunny]

Hello lilcutey1,
I raise show holland lops and when I saw this thread I thought maybe I could help. First, some does (particularly when it is their first litter) will eat their young because they are stressed and feel conditions aren't right to raise them. A few possible reasons for stress have been mentioned but one of the most common is that the buck is left in the same cage with the doe. If that is the case, getting him out of there might very well solve the problem. If he is still in the cage with her he may have also bred her again, in which case you will want to be prepared to give extra care since having another litter when the first kits aren't completely weaned is hard for doe and kits. Is she inside or outside? Does she have a nestbox? If necessary, you could take the nestbox with the kits in it out and only put it back in for them to nurse in the late evening and early morning with you watching so the doe won't hurt them. You could also check out http://www.islandgems.net/ for more on breeding rabbits.

 

[lilcutey1]

she lives outside in the garden in a cage but the thing is shes onli a babi her self shes 5 months old an the doe doesnt live in there with her he lives in a sepertae cage but the thing is she kill two of her babies yeh an kept one so shes now started pulling out her fur to keeep the baby warm thts normal isnt it !??!

 

[SnowDove]

I had mice at one point and they had babies. Then they had another litter and the first litter ate all of the second litter...I was quite distraught at my tender age of 13!!! Lol...we ended up setting them free to reproduce out in a field...complete with plastic home of course! Haha...

 

[lilcutey1]

lol ok sounds goood !!! the first litter ate the second thts a atad bit SICK lol

 

[Gods Girl]

Yes it is normal for rabbits to pull there fur before they have there bunnys

 

[Miss Mayberry]

Rabbits don't have the same maternal instinct that dogs, cats, horses, etcetera do. Is it her first or second litter? She may not realize what she's doing. She may eventually get the hang of it, and realize, "Dude, I'm eating my kids!" But if not, you're not helping anything by breeding her anymore, and probably shouldn't encourage or allow her to reproduce.

Hope it helps--my rabbits never could get the hang of the whole reproducing thing. Like I said, don't allow her to breed after her second or third litter if she continues to eat them.

EDIT: Oh! And yes, it's VERY normal for them to pull their fur out in preparation for their young. They use this fur to make the nest warmer.

 

[lilcutey1]

hello people Erm lil thing lol my other rabbit has now had babies and as far as i know she hasnt eaten any of the babies yet i dunt actully no how many there r either but shes pulled out her fur for them so its got to be some what goood lol : and the other mother who killed her babies actully kept one baby its really cute it ginger and white hehehe

 

[Spyk]

Lol. Abbi !!! thats disgusting !! i tried to tell ya not too look at it but ya didnt listen !!

 

[fieldmouse3]

We had rabbits in one of my science classes in high school, and one day, one of her babies just wasn't there anymore, so yeah, I think it's pretty common.

 

[Karenswalk]

The rabbits that I had growing up would only do that under stress. It is normal. Try to keep the rabbit in a more quiet place. Once we did that it stopped.