Hand-raising kits Help needed

Hi all

Im in need of help, my rabbit had 3 babies on Xmas eve 2012 sadly one was still born, the others we're doing fine until the mother started to eat their ears (vet said this is normal..?) the noise that was coming from the kits was horrible, so I looked on the Internet and saw a post about removing the kits, so I did as I couldn't bare to see or hear it, the two kits are fine one has one ear missing and the other both, I took them vets and the vet was very rude didn't seem caring and said to leave them and only advice he gave me was to bathe the wounds, I could not leave them to die as they both have fight in them and I'm willing to fight for them, I've been putting the kits onto the doe so they can feed, the trouble is the mother is not interested in them and I'm worried as when I tried to feed them off the mother this morning they didn't seem to get much, any help about other food replacement or how many times to feed them would be helpful, also I have them in a warm room wrapped in a towel,hay and tissue, unfortunately as its Xmas nowhere is open to by nesting for them until tomorrow

Ginge,firstly hello and welcome to RU.:thumb:

I'm sorry I've no personal experience with kits, but I've no doubt that someone else with experience will be along very soon.

Best of luck.:thumb:

Just a thought, perhaps add more detail in your title, ........ urgent.....advice regarding new kits needed please.

Hope so

Thank you

Good luck with your wee kits. I too am a complete novice but hope someone comes along sop to assist.

Perhaps you could ask someone to go to Tesco or Asda to buy cheap bag of hay to nest in unti shops are all open again..

The very best of luck
Fee xxx

Letting them feed off mum is their very best chance ..

try to keep things calm for them all when doing it . find a comfy position for mum and gently help them find a nipple . move them to different ones if they seem to not be getting anything .
stress may make the milk dry up ... but feeding more often to stimulate miolk production may help .. I would go for short feeds 3 times a day ...dropping down to 2 feeds once milk is more plentiful .

you could feed cimicat to top them up ... but tbh i wouldnt do this at this stage ..bunnies raised on this are far more prone to bloat and babies with bloat often die quickly .

Thank you all, I have put hay in with them,

OMG:shock: I really wish you luck. Hope all works out for you.

If you change the title to mention that you're handraising kits then you may get more help

Thank you

Sending some vibes to the poor kits. Is mam bun on her own? Usually inexperienced mothers will over groom kits or chew them, it can also be stress. I do hope you find some good advice. I have never had experience hand raising kits but I have heard it can be very difficult. Best of luck to you.

Hi she's on her own

Where are you in the UK - you may be close to someone who can help and has experience in hand rearing?

We used puppy powdered milk made up double strength and fed small amounts with a syringe and teat every 2 hours. But if you can get some of mothers milk it will be so much better for them

Hi I'm in Leicester yeah my partners looking now thank you

Ginge said:

Hi I'm in Leicester yeah my partners looking now thank you

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Have you tried putting a slightly saggy towel/blanket over your lap. Then put the doe on your lap and spread your legs a little bit whilst holding her. Her nipples/tummy are then exposed over the towel area. Then insert the two kits into the 'hammock' area created by the towel. They should then be able to latch on and feed. Hold her so she feels comfortable and also cannot kick out.

This often works better than holding her upside down as she should be more comfortable. It is also the natural position for the kits to feed.

If she is really not having it then you will have to give up and hand feed. to do this one would use a special wildlife teat (a very very small teat NOT the ones that come with kitten food).

If you feel that you cannot find or have no confidence with hand rearing these my partner (who has hand reared a 9 day old wildie) is prepared to take these little ones on - but obviously it is very very difficult so that we cannot guarentee at all the outcome.

Two days is ver very young to be brought up on artificial feed.

We have used double strength powdered puppy milk and the very special teat. We do have both os these with us - thugh the puppy milk is slightly out of date so we would get new tomorrow. My partner is pretty amazing as a bunny nurse if you want us to give it our best. We also have heated pads etc etc.

We are in Cambridge if you would like us to try and take over? We can meet you part way by car - but obviously as I say we could only do our best and it is a very small percentage that would survive from 2 days. You may feel it is better they stay with you and you keep trying with the doe for feed. Do you think she actually has any milk???

They will NOT be able to eat any solid feed at present so not hay etc.

Please PM if you want us to try and help out

Getting them to feed from mum is best, they won't feed as successfully as they would naturally but you can help make up for it by holding them to her more frequently (they'd naturally only feed 1-2 times per day) but you can hold them more frequently. They'll also get better at it over a few days.

If you can't get hold of anything to feed them eg substitute milk, then just give water as that will keep them hydrated until you can which is the most important thing. You can use a 1ml syringe or eye dropper and go really slow, they'll only take a tiny amount at first. Use water that's been boiled and cooled.

You may be able to get goats milk from the supermarket if you can get powdered replacer.

Tamsin said:

Getting them to feed from mum is best, they won't feed as successfully as they would naturally but you can help make up for it by holding them to her more frequently (they'd naturally only feed 1-2 times per day) but you can hold them more frequently. They'll also get better at it over a few days.

If you can't get hold of anything to feed them eg substitute milk, then just give water as that will keep them hydrated until you can which is the most important thing. You can use a 1ml syringe or eye dropper and go really slow, they'll only take a tiny amount at first. Use water that's been boiled and cooled.

You may be able to get goats milk from the supermarket if you can get powdered replacer.

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ooh yes forgot to say that