Ginger n' Cupcake

My sister actually took the following 3 pictures of my Lop female, Ginger a couple of days ago. 

She was trying to get it so you could see her one baby snuggled up, sleeping underneath her chin :)

However...yesterday morning I went out to take care of all the bunnies.  I noticed she was propped up, looking inside the nesting box with all her babies.  I then left (we were working a yard sale at a local Church) and came back a few hours later to find her in the exact same position. 

I checked her out to see if she was alright.  I immediately knew she was bloated.  I gave her dandelions and lemon balm. Lemon balm is good for bloated bunnies and dandelions are very medicinal and can cure almost anything wrong with a sick bunny.  I did NOT try my pure pumpkin, although I wish I had.  However, she didn't seem blocked up, just bloated.  So sadly, she died during the nighttime. 

This morning I went out and was trying to come up with a plan for her babies.  They're at an age when it's hard to put them in with different mothers.  And the only moms who had babies the same age were Cupcake and Dadooshka.  Dadooshka has 11 and has enough trouble keeping them all fed, so I couldn't give the babies to her.  And even though Cupcake is working on her biggest litter (5), that I didn't want to burden her with more.

That being said, I didn't want to nurse them up myself, because when they drink a formula, they don't grow up as strong and healthy as when they just drink their mother's milk.  Plus, it's really hard feeding multiple baby bunnies multiple times a day and still keep them healthy and clean like the mother would.  So in the end, I decided I'd try and put them in with Cupcake...

I used some fur that she had ripped out to keep her babies warm when they were younger, and rubbed each of Ginger's babies all over with it so they would have her scent.

Needless to say, she's now a mother of 9 little Lops.

I was really worried because of how old they are that she would notice and attack them.  But she's such a good female.  I also misted her with some watered down Thieves, to help confuse her with the scents.

All the little lops were then able to nurse and get something to eat.

They went right to Cupcake like she was their own mother :)

I really loved Ginger's colors and her personality.  I have no idea why she suddenly bloated.  She didn't eat anything unusual or anything.  

If one of her babies that looked like Ginger end up being a female, I think I'll keep it.

All the little babies are getting along very well.  They were snuggling together within minutes!

I'm really glad I have Cupcake.

And luckily, this week the babies should begin weening, so she shouldn't have to worry about nursing too much.

It's nice too, since the babies all look different so I can tell how Ginger's do as time progresses.

But in the meantime, I'm just so thankful Cupcake's taken the babies in as her own.