How To Tell If Baby Rabbits Are Dead [What To Do About It]

Not sure how to tell if baby rabbits are dead?

If things went according to plan when raising rabbits they would be always born in a nest, out of the way of momma’s huge feet, and all warm and cozy…

Buuuut that has only happened MAYBE 25% of the time. I am constantly moving babies putting them in the right spot or moving the nest out of the way of where momma tends to land when she jumps in the nesting box.

So if you are constantly having issues just know that it’s not you. Sometimes things just go wrong even though you did your best.

How To Tell If Baby Rabbits Are Dead From Being Cold

This is just about the only thing you are going to be able to bring a rabbit back from. There are several other reasons a kit (baby rabbit) may die that I will explain later.

If the kit looks dead from being cold is possibly resuscitable (wow that’s a big word) the kit will feel cool and be stiff. If the kit is cold, limp, and with no movement whatsoever after a few minutes of trying to warm it up, then it’s too late to bring it back. 

Here are the best ways to warm a baby rabbit that looks dead.

DO NOT use a heat lamp like you use for chicks. These put off too much heat and you will cook the kit. 

Once the kits feel warm to the touch (you may not get them 100% back to normal) but moving and mostly warm is good enough to put them back in the nest. Being with their siblings is what keeps them warm the best.

But if they are still cold to the touch you don’t want to put them back in the nest quite yet because the other kits may move away from them and not keep them warm.

If you want to bring the whole nest inside to keep an eye on them for a bit you can do this too. Your doe only goes in the nest to feed them so keeping the baby rabbits for an hour or two won’t hurt anything.

how long does it take to revive a baby rabbit?

If your kit (baby rabbit) is cold you should start to see movement in 5 minutes or less if there is going to be any chance of survival.

How To Know If The Kit Is Warm Enough to go back with the litter

When I am warming up a kit I will often have it in a deep basket with rags in it. Then put the kit under a rag to keep it warm. Then I will put it in our smallest room with the space heater to get the room up to 75-80 degrees.

I want to be able to touch the kit without feeling a chill on its skin. If it can hold that for about 30 minutes without any type of heat source on it then I will put it back out with the rest of the litter.

How Cold Can They Handle

For newborn litters, if it is above 45 degrees at night they will be fine if they stay under the fur. BUT if they wander out of the nest they need to be found within 30 minutes or they will die.

If you have a decent size litter and they have fur but don’t have their eyes open they can handle just at freezing temps. 

If it starts to get below 30 degrees I would bring them into a warmer (but not as warm as your house, the change will be too much of a shock) area like a garage. This is one reason why I am extra careful about the time of year my does are bred.

Watch my litter planning system here.

will a momma rabbit remove a dead baby from the nest?

The short answer is no, you have to be the one to remove it from the nest box. It is unhealthy for the kits to leave that in the box and if it is mid-summer could lead to maggots being hatched out in the nest box.

The rest of the kits may move to the other side of their nest box because the kit is cold and it is part of their survival instinct.

Another gross warning. Sometimes a doe may eat a dead kit for a number of different reasons. So be warned that can happen too. But all in all it is best to just get the dead kit out of the box and keep the environment clean.

what does a dead rabbit look like

If the kit has just died it may be stiff. But if it has been gone for more than 12 hrs or so it might be floppy when you pick it up and somewhat flat.

Other Reasons Your Baby Rabbit Might Be Dead

Raising rabbits is not an easy thing. Momma rabbits don’t always do their job and things just go wrong. 

• Baby rabbits might not be getting fed.
• The kit got stepped on. 
• They wandered out of the nest and got cold.
• GRAPHIC WARNING ——————————- The doe ate all of part of the kit. Yes, this happens more than I would like to admit. The reasons are just a guess. But often there is something wrong with the kit or the doe gets a screw loose. If your doe does it more than once I would not keep breeding her. It can be a bad habit you don’t want to pass on to feature generations.

How To Tell If Baby Rabbits Are Dead From Not Getting Fed

The kit will start to get wrinkles across the back like in the image below. The stomach will start to look flat and eventually, the kit will become extremely skinny.

It will take about 3 days before the baby will die. So this will leave you some warning and time to fix the problem. But it is best to help feed the kit if you think it is not getting fed rather than wait until the last minute.

You should be able to hand feed the kit so make sure to read this post if you think you are losing kits this way.

How To Tell If Your Baby Rabbit Died From Getting Stepped On

I have big rabbits so this happens quite often.

If the kit has been stepped on it will often be outside the nest (the hole that the momma made but still inside the nesting box) and be soft and playable from below the ribs. You may even see some discoloration (blue/green in color) in the midsection indicating internal bleeding. 

If you are having trouble with this read this post I have on what to do if your mother rabbit is stepping on her babies. 

Losing rabbits sucks. Flat out. This can be a big reason I see people give up raising them. But do your best to not let your heart get attached until they are closer to 10-14days old. I know this can be hard and honestly, it takes years of experience and a lot of losses before you can keep going and not let it break your day to pieces.

It takes time to learn to protect your heart but it is so worth it. Nothing good comes without the hard parts.