# Wrinkley 2 day old kits



## Guest (Sep 26, 2009)

I have three 2-day old kits (different than the ones with the bruising from my other thread) that are VERY wrinkley. Like, think Shar-Pei puppies! Are they dehydrated? Their tummies are firm and they are active. They pee on me when I pick them up. Momma seems to be doing a good job caring for them. I checked them yesterday morning and they didn't look like this. This morning, when I moved the fur away from the nest, that was the first thing I thought when I saw them: WRINKLES. So, it's very obvious. I very easily pinched some skin on them and then released it to see if it would go back in place, and it did. What should I do, if anything?


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Never seen anything like that myself, Lyndseyrk, but if they are peeing they are not likely dehydrated. Have you had previous litters from this doe?


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

I did a Google image search for *newborn rabbits* and some of them do look wrinkly. It is more noticeable on light-coloured kits. Best picture of wrinkles was at this site, but you have to scroll down a bit to see it:
http://www.xylemsci.ca/thoughts-Feb06.php


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## Guest (Sep 26, 2009)

Yes, that's what they look like, if not even more wrinkley! I've never seen it before either! This is the doe's 2nd litter. I did not have her when she had her first litter. That was well over a year ago. All I know is that she only had 3. This doe was very overweight when I got her. I put her on a major diet and she lost about 2 pounds, and so she has all this loose skin everywhere. I thought all the skin was from the weight loss, but perhaps she was a loose-hided rabbit anyway and passed this onto the babies? 

I don't know! I've learned more about rabbits in the past 3 months than I did in three years when I had them before.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

As long as they are being fed and are peeing, I wouldn't worry about them. But please do post an update now and again in case other people encounter this situation. It would be nice to know if the wrinkles are "normal" for some rabbits or indicative of a problem.


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## Guest (Sep 26, 2009)

Okay, I will. It's been raining here for the past day and no let up in sight. I have outside hutches, so when the rain lets up, I might try to take some pics.


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## arachyd (Feb 1, 2009)

I would also like to know how they develop. Is there a tendency toward having loose skin in any of the breeds?


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Lyndseyrk said:


> It's been raining here for the past day and no let up in sight.


Well, there's your answer. They are shriveling like fingertips kept too long in water. :lookout:

The furless rabbits that Vikav posted about were very wrinkled too.

http://users.tamuk.edu/kfsdl00/operation_fuzz.htm


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

I have wrinkley babies in our liters too sometimes just like you said & in the pictures above. I just thought it was normal for babies rabbits to look like that. Some look like that more than others. We have the same breeding doe's & buck as when we started about a year a 3 months ago.
Ours always seem to grow out fine, never lost any of the little one's yet except for one this summer from the heat, it was in the bottom corner of the nest during one of those heat waves we had & I didn't get enough nesting material out in time. Nothing to do with the wrinkles though.


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## bluebird2o2 (Feb 14, 2007)

My Holland lops have very loose skin compared too my dwarfs.


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## menollyrj (Mar 15, 2006)

I have a doe that routinely has wrinkly babies. She also usually has large litters, and the smaller kits are usually more wrinkly than the larger ones. It freaked me out with her first litter, so I fostered them to another doe, but they didn't get any better, so I thought the second doe wasn't feeding them. Ended up meddling so much that I lost both litters (the wrinkly babies AND the foster-doe's kits). Second time around, I just left them alone. They had plump bellies, but just looked underdeveloped when compared to other does' litters. They grew out of the wrinkly look by the time their eyes were open.

Bottom line, maybe this is normal for her. If their tummies are rounded, they are eating, even though they look malnourished. They'll grow out of it. Resist the urge to intervene!

-Joy


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## Guest (Sep 27, 2009)

I haven't done anything with these kits, just let them be. I did try to get a picture yesterday, but it was in the pouring rain and my batteries were dying in my camera, so it was just a quick shot and ran back into the house. I'll try to post it. 

You may be onto something, Maggie. Yesterday evening and this morning, I noticed my other litter is now wrinkly! Moisture in the air? They are in covered hutches and in the nestbox, so they are dry.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Lyndseyrk said:


> You may be onto something, Maggie. Yesterday evening and this morning, I noticed my other litter is now wrinkly! Moisture in the air? They are in covered hutches and in the nestbox, so they are dry.


 I was kidding...


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## Guest (Sep 27, 2009)




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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

OMG, they are very wrinkly, aren't they? But their tummies are nice and full?


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

goodness. They look like the sausage casing before you stuff it! er..sorry, but that's what they remind me of 

But..they're still alive and moving around? so they must be doing okay. I wonder if there was some sort of bloating nearing the end of gestation, which would have caused the skinto grow/stretch more....I've seen that happen with puppies.(only once and it scared the life out of me)


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## Guest (Sep 27, 2009)

Other than the wrinkles, they seem fine. Now do you see why I was concerned?


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Yes, I do... absolutely... but I'm inclined to think that they are likely okay if they are eating and growing. Hope I'm right.


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## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

Wow those are some amazingly wrinkled kits.
Do come back in a week or two and update this thread to tell us how they're doing.


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## Truckinguy (Mar 8, 2008)

I had a litter of wrinkly babies that I posted about back in July. They seemed to grow out of it in a few days and should be going to freezer camp sometime soon. If they are peeing I doubt that they are dehydrated.


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## Guest (Sep 28, 2009)

Update: This morning both litter appear to be like "normal" babies. WTH? However, I lost one baby last night from the litter of 3. I found it away from the others and uncovered, very cold. Going to assume it got dragged away from the nest part of the nest box (it was all the way in the front corner) and got too cold. While the others were pretty much wrinkle-free, this dead one was still wrinkly. 

I don't get it.


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## ladysown (May 3, 2008)

they look normal to me. some litters i find are more wrinkly then others. as long as they are growing, I don't worry about it. usually resolves itself in 5-9 days.


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

A lot of people may disagree, but if everthing looks OK, I simply check under the fur the first day to see if the doe actually had babies, then don't worry about much except kits getting out on the wire for a week or so. I may take away fur if it is very hot, but only after a couple of day, I may add fur if it is very cold, but otherwise I don't mess with them.

First, it saves me from worring about things I can't control. The only real thing I can do for the first week is check for babies on the wire, there is not much else that could go wrong that I could do anything about anyway at that age. Also, because the have a natural reaction to jump about looking for a meal whenever they feel motion in the nestbox, it tends to get them scattered about. I found that this has worked the best for me.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

O&itw, I used to do the same as you do, but after having a dead kit rotting in the nest on a couple of occasions, I switched to doing a daily check. While most dead kits are found during the first check, occasionally one is lost along the way. I don't want to wait until my nose tells me something is amiss.

By doing a thorough count and check the first day, I know what we are starting with and can spot potential problems such as a weak runt. Daily checks after that are not as thorough, a quick look to make sure everyone is alive and kicking and a quick count to make sure none are missing, since missing usually means dead. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with how you are doing it, just explaining for the newer members why I feel a daily check and count is a good idea.


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## moonkitten (Mar 4, 2005)

MaggieJ said:


> just explaining for the newer members why I feel a daily check and count is a good idea.


I have to agree here. I have a very dependable doe that had a litter of 11 and I checked the first three days, then didn't check again for about 3 days. When I pulled the box, I found a dead kit filled with maggots in the back of the box. It was the grossest thing ever. Fortunately the other 10 kits don't seem to have been harmed by sharing the box with a pile of squirming maggots, but I felt just horrible for having let it go to that point. It's amazing how fast those flies get in there!


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

Checking for dead babies is the main reason I check every few days too. I don't always have time every day (DH is tending the rabbits now). I don't look for full bellies and things like that, only that the correct number of live babies is there, and if not then I do a quick check for the dead one. There have been many times I never do find the dead one, but I have a big pen and if it is not eaten it could have been dragged out and into a corner away from the nest. Though there is usually a smell if that is the case and then I'm looking all over for the source.

What I really hate about "icky" finds is what the dog does once I get them tossed out of the building. 

Cathy


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

MaggieJ said:


> O&itw, I used to do the same as you do, but after having a dead kit rotting in the nest on a couple of occasions, I switched to doing a daily check. While most dead kits are found during the first check, occasionally one is lost along the way. I don't want to wait until my nose tells me something is amiss.
> 
> .


I do stick my nose down by the nestbox twice a day and draw in a breath through my nose. I have a good nose and can smell something wrong long before maggots get involved. I guess I gave the wrong impression in saying I don't worry about them. I pay extra attention... I just keep my hands out of the nestbox unless I have some indication something is wrong. 

For me, I am taking more of a chance of causing a problem messing with the kits unecessarily, than I am simply paying attention. I have always been glad that I have hay on the floor because I have had more than one kit squirm out of my hands and hit the floor over the years, nor do I want to take the chance of "squeezing" them tighter when the start wiggling crazily. I have never had one hurt that way, but there is always a first time. I suspect others have had kits jump out of their hands also.

It mostly comes down to what works best for a given person. But I have see too many others cause real problems messing with the kits (early), showing umpteen kids the babies when they are a day or two old.


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## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

That's one of the negatives about colony raising. You don't know how many were born, and you probably don't know how many died. Some get dragged to the burrow entrance but I'd wager some get left in the back of the burrow. I just don't worry about it because I can't change it. But it's definitely a down side, not knowing how many kits your doe has and what the mortality rate is.


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## vikav (Mar 30, 2009)

MaggieJ said:


> O&itw, I used to do the same as you do, but after having a dead kit rotting in the nest on a couple of occasions, I switched to doing a daily check. While most dead kits are found during the first check, occasionally one is lost along the way. I don't want to wait until my nose tells me something is amiss.
> 
> By doing a thorough count and check the first day, I know what we are starting with and can spot potential problems such as a weak runt. Daily checks after that are not as thorough, a quick look to make sure everyone is alive and kicking and a quick count to make sure none are missing, since missing usually means dead. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with how you are doing it, just explaining for the newer members why I feel a daily check and count is a good idea.


Totally agree with Maggie on that. People that have lots of rabbits may not have too much time for this, so it may not be practical for them, but the people that only have a few buns can do that easily.


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## sumitha (Feb 21, 2021)

Lyndseyrk said:


>


Pls help me :< should i get worried if they're like this? and same as you too, it has been raining here for a past few days. i hope somebody will reply on this (


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Are their bellies full? If the doe is feeding them and they have good plump bellies they should grow out of it.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Your kits are obviously spending way too much time in the bathtub!


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