QuestionI wasn't expecting my doe to have her babies for a few days, when I went in today to take care of her I found 3 babies on our office floor about 6 feet or so away from hutch. I put them in the breeder box. I only found 3 I can't find anymore. Now 8 hours later when I checked on them one seems to be very cold. Is the mother going to reject them? I don't know how long they where laying on floor this is my lionheads first litter
AnswerDear Angela,
It is critical to get the cold baby warmed up. Use a warm water bottle wrapped in a towel, and to get his blood sugar up, give him a few drops at a time of warm goat milk (you can get this at most large supermarkets these days). This will also help:
www.bio.miami.edu/hare/surpriselitter.html
Since there is no guarantee the mother is feeding the babies, and since one of them is already cold, please read this:
www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html
I think you may need to feed them even if you're not sure of mama yet, because they have been stressed. If mama takes over later, all the better. But right now, they sound as if they need a bit of intervention.
But probably the most important article is this one:
www.bio.miami.edu/hare/breeding.html
I hope this helps.
Dana