Having pet animals is a healthy thing for your mental health. However, raising these animals can be challenging, as they are helpless creatures. A dog or a cat can use their voices to show concern, and it is easier to observe their body language to notice any oddities.
On the contrary, rabbits do not make sounds often. A rabbit will only grunt or scream in extreme pain when it is too late to recover. Due to a rabbit’s different sleeping schedule, it might not be evident for a pet owner to judge whether its precious pet is sleeping or has passed on, especially baby rabbits. So, how to tell if baby rabbits are dead?
Telling if a baby rabbit is dead can be tricky, as they primarily rest with closed eyes. However, a few signs can raise the alarm when the baby rabbit is dead, like body temperature, presence of blood, lack of movement, and many more.
There are many ways you can tell if your precious, fragile baby rabbits have passed away. It will be a sad and challenging sight, as you must handle and check dead animals. However, separating the dead from the living ones is essential to prevent depression and death in the remaining bunnies. Scroll on to learn more about how to handle a dead bunny.
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What Can Cause An Innocent Baby Rabbit To Die?
Baby rabbits are sensitive creatures that require particular circumstances to survive. Many things can be harsh for the precious baby rabbits that might not seem too brutal for you. Environmental factors, living standards, others’ behavior, food source, and many more can either help your baby rabbits thrive or pass away.
Here are some of the key reasons a baby bunny rabbit can die:
Chilly Environment
Adult rabbits can survive a specific drop in the temperature due to their thick fur coat. Even so, many adult rabbits die because of harsh cold weather. Baby rabbits are ten times more fragile than their parents and susceptible to catching a cold.
As baby rabbits have little to no fur on their skin, they do not have a natural tendency to keep themselves warm during cold weather. If the pet owners do not take this seriously, the baby bunnies will succumb to the harsh cold weather and die.
Hunted
Rabbits are prey animals and need protection from wild animals. If you have outdoor bunnies, there is a chance of your bunnies being victims of a predator attack. Baby rabbits are fragile, and the slightest scratch or scare can kill them.
Illness
Bunny rabbits have weak immune systems that constantly require proper meals to boost them. Your rabbits can be prone to catch diseases if they are not vaccinated. Snuffles and other lethal viral respiratory infections are common in nonvaccinated rabbits. If the mother bunny is sick and feeds the litter, the kits will also get sick and die.
Lack of Lactation
Mother rabbit will lactate like human mothers once she gives birth to the litter. There can be circumstances where lactation failure can happen in the mommy bunny. In such a case, the baby rabbits will die unless pet owners intervene and provide external formula.
Malnourishment
If the mother rabbit cannot produce milk, the baby bunnies will suffer from malnourishment and die. Baby bunnies require their mother’s milk to stay warm, grow, and fight disease. Without their mother’s milk, the babies will be weak and die.
Injury
A baby rabbit can have injuries due to various reasons. For instance, the mother rabbit might step on the bunny, the baby bunnies might fight each other, or a predator might attack the litter. An injured baby rabbit will most lightly succumb to its injuries as it will not have a robust immune system to fight off infections.
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Signs Of A Dead Baby Rabbit
Baby rabbits do not move too much after birth, so it can be challenging to know whether they are alive based on their movement alone. However, you can check a couple of things to see if the baby kit is alive or if you should remove it from the litter to prevent the spread of various diseases.
Here are a few signs a dead baby rabbit will exhibit:
The Baby Rabbit Is Cold
Baby rabbits do not have fur on them when they are born. However, their body still contains heat as any other living creature. If the bunny rabbit is dead, it will be cold to the touch. People become cold when they stop receiving proper blood flow or when they are dead. It is the same case with baby rabbits. You can try to warm the bunny in hopes of its survival.
A Blood Pool
A dying baby rabbit will have a bloody pool or blood accumulation in its body parts. The most common body part for a blood pool to form is the baby rabbit’s toenails. However, the pool can also form in other parts of the body.
Sunken Eyes
Baby rabbits, as tiny as they may seem, have a full face and pink color. Sunken eyes are one of the most prominent signs of a dead baby rabbit. Stay alert if you notice that your baby rabbit’s eyes are sunken.
Dehydration Signs
When a kit is dehydrated, it will show wrinkles and dry skin. A baby rabbit will become dehydrated when dead, as the bunny’s kidneys will stop working. Furthermore, there will be salt crystals around the poor animal’s mouth due to kidney failure.
Shrunk Belly
A well-fed baby rabbit will have a round and full belly. A dead baby rabbit will have a caved-in and sunken belly.
Swollen Eyes
When dead, baby rabbits will experience swelling around their eyes as the water in their body will start building up in places.
Bad Smell
Baby kits are small in stature and will start decomposing fast. Check for a dead baby rabbit if you notice a foul smell coming from your rabbit’s nest.
If you think something is wrong with the baby rabbit and worry about its death, you can check for these two signs to confirm. Take the necessary precautions and measures to try to revive the baby rabbit. If that does not happen, dispose of it responsibly.
How To Try And Revive A Dead Bunny?
Touching and trying to revive a dead bunny will be emotionally brutal but necessary. Your precious baby rabbit might not be too far gone. So, here is what you can do:
- Tap your baby rabbit on the shoulder slightly to check for a response. A dead bunny will not respond at all.
- Gently open the dead baby rabbit’s mouth to check for any obstructions. Wipe your finger inside the kit’s mouth to clear out any debris.
- To unblock your baby rabbit’s food pipe, gently place your palm on the kit’s chest near the front legs, and make a sharp move downward. Do this five times to push the food down.
- Try CPR. Cover your baby rabbit’s mouth and nose with a tissue to avoid direct contact. Gently pinch the bunny’s nose and lock your mouth to the animal’s. Breathe into the rabbit’s mouth to spread air in the lungs. Do not blow too hard, just enough to see the chest rise and fall.
- To provide chest compressions to the baby rabbit, place your thumb on the rabbit’s chest. Give the poor bunny 30 compressions with three presses in a second. It will help with oxygenated blood circulation.
- Repeat these until help arrives.
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How To Get Rid Of A Dead Baby Rabbit?
There are two ways you can get rid of a dead baby rabbit to prevent the spread of disease in your home:
Throw The Body Properly
One way to get rid of the dead kit is to throw it away in the trash. However, it would help if you took proper measures to minimize the risk of spreading diseases. Use gloves to pick up the body and put it in a sealable bag. Throw the bag and the gloves in the trash outside your house.
Bury The Kit
Another option is to bury the poor baby bunny. You can bury the kit in your backyard or a pet cemetery. Dig a deep hole in the ground, place the dead kit, and fill the hole with soil. You can use a tiny stone or wood to create a monumental headstone for your precious pet kit.
A Summary Of How To Deal With A Dead Rabbit | |
What To Do | What You Will Need |
Throwing the body | A pair of glovesA sealable bagTrash can outside your house |
Burying the kit | A backyard or pet cemeteryA shovelA deep hole in the groundA pile of sand or soilA stone or wooden headstone |
Final Word
Dead rabbits are sad, but dead baby rabbits are even worse. It is a joyous occasion for a pet owner when a female rabbit gives birth to a healthy litter. However, there can be mishaps that involve stillbirths or diseased kits. In such a case, keep your calm and make the necessary preparations.
The rest of the rabbit crew will nee you. Gently remove the dead kit or kits from the litter to prevent the spread of diseases. Furthermore, contact your vet to check the remaining kits and the mother for any signs of complication to prevent more unexpected deaths.