• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.
  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Is she neglecting her babies -urgent help please

deb

Young Bun
My lionhead had her babies at 12.30 today and she has not nursed them, or seems to be at all interested in them. I know they do not nurse all the time, but i am finding it very hard just waiting know they might be starving to death.
 
You shouldn't really have to worry about nursing right away. Rabbits nurse their kits for only a short period of time a day, and most times they do it at night. Also, they do tend to stay away from their kits because in the wild they dont want to bring attention to their newly born babies, incase predators are around.

Just keep a close eye on them, and keep us updated :D
 
they dont usualy feed in the day and spend most of the day watching them at a safe distance my lionhead had her babies a couple of days ago there 11 days old now and all doing fine. she will nurse them during the night and early morning when she feels safe to go into them.
 
I did check them a few hours ago counted about 7, all seemed well then.
How long will they live without a feed?
 
deb said:
I did check them a few hours ago counted about 7, all seemed well then.
How long will they live without a feed?

they wont but trust me she will feed them tonight when its safe! you could not hand feed 7 kits if she did decide not to but if she made a nest she will!

eve x
 
Rabbits only feed their young for 5-10 minutes once a day (or night). So the chances are you may never spot her actually feeding them. Have a look tommorow morning and you should see they have nice round bellies where they're been feeding.

Tam
 
Tamsin said:
Rabbits only feed their young for 5-10 minutes once a day (or night). So the chances are you may never spot her actually feeding them. Have a look tommorow morning and you should see they have nice round bellies where they're been feeding.

Tam

dont thinks its that long tam a couple of miniutes only as her milk is very rich! well thats what i read a few time anyway!
 
Well she has to do the clean up the other end too ;) I imagine it varies with the age as the bigger they get the more milk they'll take. As new borns your right, she could quite conceivably feed them in just a couple of minutes.

Tam
 
Tamsin said:
Well she has to do the clean up the other end too ;) I imagine it varies with the age as the bigger they get the more milk they'll take. As new borns your right, she could quite conceivably feed them in just a couple of minutes.

Tam

she does that whilst feed them :shock: :wink: :wink:
 
I read a paper on does & feeding the other day Frequency of nursing in domestic rabbits under different housing conditions, D. Selzer, K. Lange, St. Hoy

The conclusions were: the average total duration of nursing per days was 245.6 seconds. Average nursings per day was 1.26. And 80% of nursing occured within the first two hours after dusk.

Tam
 
Back
Top