Hand rearing wildies (Update: new pics added 5-6 weeks old)

Hi everyone i vounteer at a wildlife rescue centre so have attempted hand rearing before with birds and buns and while the various birds have done really well the buns have always died as they are so hard to rear. Some builders on a site accidently dug up a nest of 7 wild buns but 2 were killed by a magpie so the remaining 5 were bought to me. They are about a week old with closed eyes. They are having 3 feeds a day and taking about 5ml each time. I am going to add a probiotic to each feed in the hope that this will help them. Does anyone have any other tips that might help these buns survive?

The best chance would be for them to be adopted by a milk producing female. But she would have to be fully up to date with vaccines before being exposed to them.

Rearing baby buns is sooooo tough. I've recently tried to hand rear a litter of 4 and only 1 survived

Personally I'd feed 4 times per day (every 6 hours).

People have had success with the following formulas for very young babies: Cimicat, Esbilac and Lactol Gold Kitten. However if the babies are slightly older, then goats milk is a good choice and very palatable (the formulas taste nasty...yes I've tried them )

I would guess that quantity would depend on the age of the baby and also the formula. I found that they would take very little (about 3mls per feed) until the eyes opened, and then the quantites increased rapidly.

Hygiene is very important. Make formula up fresh for every feed...do not reheat milk/formula under any circumstances. Also sterilize all feeding equipment, or throw it away and replace with new at every feed.

Feeding equipment is quite a personal choice. It's best to use a bottle or 1ml syringe with a Catac ST1 teat on the end (available to buy over the internet). However I couldn't get my babies to suck properly so I used a 1ml syringe with no teat and depressed the plunger very slowly

Be very careful not to feed them too much in one go...literally one drop at a time because rabbits aspirate fluid into their lungs very easily. Apparently if you suspect one has aspirated fluid, you can sometimes save it by holding it between the palms of your hands above your head, and then rapidly swinging it towards your knees.

Keep them warm, but give them enough room to be able to move away from a heat source.

Hope this helps

Thanks so much for that they are having esbilac about 4-5 ml each feed will def try 4times a day as it's hard getting a good amount in each feed when doing it 3times.

All 5 wildies are still doing fine and feeding well.it's taking over an hour to feed all 5 but is worth it as at the moment they are thriving. Eyes still closed but they are all so fiesty

I've got my fingers and toes crossed for these little ones

What will happen to them if they survive? My little wildie is way too tame to be released...in fact he's probably more tame than my domestic buns because he's been handreared.

If all goes well once weaned they will get limited human contact to keep them as wild as possible and will go into an outside housing where they won't be able to see people

If you're hand rearing them I wouldn't attempt to release them back to the wild. If they are going to be kept as pets I would get them used to human contact rather than avoiding it.

timb0h said:

If you're hand rearing them I wouldn't attempt to release them back to the wild.

Click to expand...

Hand reared wildies adapt perfectly well back in the wild if rehabbed correctly.

Caismeister - You sound as though you are doing a good job with these guys. I have been rearing and releasing orphan wildies for several years now. I use esbilac too, 4 times a day, 4 hours between feeds; no need to feed throughout the night. I use a 1ml syringe with a mikki teat, then progess to a 2ml, then 5ml when they start guzzling! I weigh them daily in the morning to check they are progressing and getting enough feed. Usually by the time their eyes are open, mine are on 8-12ml at a time depending on how well they are feeding. Oh and they will start nibbling on forage at this stage too.

Good luck and I hope they continue to thrive.

Am weighing them everyday and are taking about 5ml each feed 2 are so greedy the other 3not as much but are taking it just slower.

Any chance of some piccies??
Well done... keep up the good work.

Been having trouble with photobucket but will try again later today. This morning 3 have their eyes open 1 has eyes closed and one has one open and one closed.

Here are some pics of the buns one is of what they are living in if anyone who has hand reared before has any ideas of what might be better to house them in as they are getting older let me know

http://geordiegirl564581.tinysites.com

They look great!

You could move them into a cat carrier (you'll need to cover the front grid with finer mesh as they will try to ooze through the gaps). Or you could put a mesh roof over the basket.

Once they start moving about more a rabbit cage but again you need to cover it in finer mesh as they will fit through the gaps.

They start getting energetic once there eyes are open. I'd suggest feeding them sat on the floor or well over a table or something because they start jumping unpredictably (if they aren't already!).

Also they will start nibbling solids in a week ish so I would keep some hay in the bed with them. They mostly mouth it at first then start chewing the softer bits.

Fabulous pics! Can't offer any advice but those pics are a credit to what a good job you're doing!

luvabun said:

Fabulous pics! Can't offer any advice but those pics are a credit to what a good job you're doing!

Click to expand...

Thanks so much it is so time consuming but so worth it already after less than a week they have grown so much and are all so different in their behaviours especially how they feed with some slow and steady and the others guzzling.

If i put them in a carrier do i need to keep them covered up with a towel/blanket? If i put some hay in with them it it best to put it away from where they sleep?

omg they are so beautiful

All I can say is... Squeee!!!!

They are gorgeous. Well done!

They'll sleep happily in a pile of hay though you'll need to change regularly as the poop/wee there too. You could put a blanket over if it's quite an open carrier design, no need if it's mainly solid plastic