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HELP FATTEN UP OUR WILD BUNNY

bunnymadhouse

Wise Old Thumper
Marlene has told me that Adele might be able to help with this but if anyone has any ideas please chip in.
We have a wild bunny in our rescue. We hand reared her and she is now about 5 months old . She doesnt eat much and although she is lively and seems happy she is very small and skinny. We are worried about the coming winter .Any ideas to help fatten her up.
Angie
 
Angie...I am sure when this is picked up you will get advice. I only got my wild bunny to 16 days but I know Adele has done it very sucessfully and also another member but at the moment I can't remember who....sorry!!
 
Hiya Angie :) we had the same problem with Poppy our wild wabbit baby!.
I decided to worm her (being a wild thing) and she gained weight thereafter..just a thought, but wild bunnies often have worms.
You do not always see these in the droppings as they are too high up in the digestive system.

As for feeding up, well we have started this routine with our elderly Sanctaury bunnies now ready for the Winter.
usual feed, but add ONE teaspoon finely rolled oats once a day (or twice a day in the coldest weather) and one teaspoon baby food (with the dried food, and oats) potato and carrot is good.
The Baby food helps the oats go through the system else the bunnies get constipated if they eat more than a teaspoon (ish).
Weetabix is okay for some bunnies, but we found it was too high fibre for some of our bunnies and made them bloated and unwell, so introduce anything new very slowly and carefully.
You could add some probiotics, eg, avipro in the drinking water as this will help stop the bunny getting an upset tummy with any dietary change.

Wild bunnies do tend to be on the skinny side, it took Hazel(our other wild rabbit orphan) five years to fill out, and he is now a well rounded wild bunny, but still incredibly lively.
He sleeps all day and comes out all night!!..does your doe have a similar routine :?: I would be interested to compare them :)

Best wishes
Adele
 
I have a guinea pig that is really tiny and I gave him some probiotics to help his digestive system. He is now starting to grow and gain weight so you might like to try that too :D
 
hi

that's interesting re the worming - the breeder I got the guinea pigs off also breeds rabbits and she says she regularly worms them and the guins with panacur - once every quarter as you would for cats.

There is a type of worm called redworm which horses get from pasture - I guess a bunny could get it from hay - it causes symptoms which could be confused with gut stasis - anyone got any experience of this?
 
Thanks everyone for your ideas . have got avipro use it a lot in buns who are unwell or upset but didnt think of useing it for sweetpea will try that asap. going to buy some rolled oats today too. i ve also got some panacur as blueberry muffin had worms last year .does anyone know if it goes off once opened? (its been open a while) I might just ring the vets and get some more .
Adele...yes Sweatpea does spend most of the day asleep and then becomes lively. She is actualy at my sisters (we split the rescue bunnies between us) I n the evening she loves to go inside to play with Traceys house bun Scampy. They are best friends and parteners in crime.
Do you ever wonder if your wild buns are happy Adele. Tracey often worries that its cruel to keep her but we re sure she wouldnt survive on her own.
Marlene .. thanks for giving me the idea to ask for help .
Angie
 
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