My rabbit died over night

Question
My very young rabbit (2 months) died some time between 3:30am and 11:00am today he was a very active and friendly rabbit and he shared a large cage with my older rabbit (5-6 months) and they were best buds. When I got home from work at 2:30am I let them out of their cage to let them get some energy out and he was runnin around giving me attention and was perfectly normal. I put them back in around 3:30am so i could go to bed and gave them fresh food and water. When I woke up at around 11:00am i went to the cage to say good morning and my young rabbit was on his side dead. My older one who shares the cage with him shows no signs of illness or change. I am so confused on how my bun died. Any information would be great.

Thank you for your time.
~Brock

Answer
Hi Brock,

sorry to hear about your little guy dying.

I can't tell you why he died.  You'd need a vet to do a necropsy on him to possibly get a cause of death.

I can tell you that diet may have been a factor.  If he was eating the same diet an adult rabbit was, it may have been too much for his young gi tract to handle.  They aren't able to eat greens and fruits at such a young age.  The 8-14 week timeframe in a rabbit's life is a touchy one as they can come down with mucoid enteritis (from greens and fruits) that can kill them.

To know fo sure, you'd need to take him to a vet and have him examined.  I am glad your other rabbit appears okay, but if he hasn't been in to the vet for his annual exam yet, it may be a good time to get him in for his checkup.  Rabbits need at the very least an annual exam, just like cats and dogs.

If you don't have a good rabbit vet (not all are) start here:

www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

and find a House Rabbit Society-recommended vet near you.

Lee