Condo Cleaning

Day 3 (1/13/12):

Woke to discover the weak one has died (he was a black/grey, very tiny, and slightly deformed. We coulda guessed that he was gonna die, actually, just based on his appearance). He was (once again) away from the rest of the pack. For just a few seconds, I felt really sad. 'Poor thing!'

(Learning opportunity for the kids about sickness, death, and survival of the fittest.)

The other kits looked as if they hadn’t been fed. Well, except for one. The fat one had somehow jumped out of the nest, and found Mama. He was plump and curled up in the far corner of the condo (opposite of the nest). I guess he saw the dead one and was like "you guys can wait here, but I'm going out and finding me some milk!"

I thought Mama was feeding them overnight (or at dawn) when everything was quiet and calm. Why hadn’t see fed them? I checked her food dish, and it was empty. Maybe she only feeds them when she feels like there’s a steady food supply. The house was a bit cool overnight. Maybe the kits weren’t motivated to nurse?

So we do a thorough cleaning of the cage with a dilute bleach mixture on the bottom. Then a vinegar mixture on everything else. We switched out the nest, from a card-board box, to a plastic container. New towels (there isn’t much of Mama's fur left to use). Refilled the food, water, and hay. I placed a heat pad halfway under the nest, so the kits can regulate their body temperature by moving either towards, or away from, the heat.

Before placing the rabbits back in the cage, we held Mama over the kits in their new nest. The kits were able to nurse for a few minutes. After about 5 minutes, none of the kits continued to attempt to nurse. However, their bellies weren’t particularly “plump.”

Did they get anything? Maybe Mama isn’t producing milk? Maybe her teat is infected? Maybe the fur is too dense?

We ultimately decide to just put all of them back into the condo and rest. Decrease the stress and change the energy level from frantic and worried, to calm and confident. Confident that Mama Rabbit is a good Mama, and knows what to do.

***

Later in the evening the kits appear plump. Hmm…maybe their feeding time is mid day? There were 2 that didn’t appear as plump…and they were buried under a towel. Perhaps they missed the mid-day feeding because they were “lost.” It cannot be good for the kits to trap each other under small towels. Suffocation is not the concern, because the towels are small, and not air tight. But, if the kits cannot ‘find’ their way to the teat in time to eat for being ‘buried’ under a towel…that’s not a good situation either. So, I take the small towels out (and leave just the 2 towels lining the nest (with the heat pad).

***

“Mommy? Can I have the big pink one with black splotches?”

After explaining to the kids that kits cannot be chosen just yet as we do not know which (if any) are going to live. Additionally, we explained that it is important to choose your friends, partners, spouses pet based on personality (this is a pet blog, right?) with a possible consideration for gender, so housing can be assessed. Choosing a (pet) companion based solely on size or color is not good practice. Invariably you’ll end up with a bunny (or partner) with a disagreeable personality, who may bite and hurt you, or perhaps won’t be cuddly or playful. When you base your decision for companionship on superficiality you will not find a compatible soul match.

So wait. Wait until you get to KNOW the personality of the person bunnies, THEN choose based on something more substantial.

I think they understand that this applies to people too.