• 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.

URGENT ...BABY BUNS..update sun

B

bunnymadhouse

Wise Old Thumper
Got some babies and mum on way and dont know what to do .

to be brief .
someonre had 2 buns male + female = babies .
saw babies scettered about cage , 1 in dads mouth :cry: :evil:
split babies from adults ..adults still together :roll: :evil:

we are taking mum and babies . Babies are 2 days old and have been away from mum since yesterday .

the owners have been trying to give them cows milk :evil: :roll:

do we
1 ..put babies back with mum ...after first rubbing them with litter from mums corner ...keep a check and suppliment feeds if needed .
of course with this option mum may kill them or totaly abandon them.

or

2....keep them apart and try to hand rear ....we know there is very little chance of success at this age

just want to give them the best chance ...poor things :cry:
 
I think I'd try mum first as that's their best chance. See if you can get old bedding/nest off owner. If not then if the mum is quite placide perhaps you can hold her and let babies suckle?

Goodluck!
Tam
 
No experience with sommat like this but honestly I think they might be better to rub them in the litter & put with Mum. They aren't really gonna stand a chance separate if not been fed properly up to now - & you can alway supplement with that kitty stuff aswell if they are with mum

Only problem is of course - Mum may be pregnant again :(
 
Oh wow, Angie :shock:

I don't what to suggest but I wanted to say good luck :love: :love:

I've never hand reared buns but I helped to hand rear an abandoned kitten last year, it was really hard work! If you decide you have to go down the hand rearing option, let me know if I can help at all :( Sending lots of vibes for you, mum and babies :love:
 
:shock: What a situation to be in!! In my very limited experience of baby seperation from Mum I'd try and get them back with her I believe the sucess rate in hand rearing baby buns is very very small. They only feed once a day so Mum might not really have missed them yet but definately rub them in her scent first especially as she will be in a new surrounding so probably a bit unsure herself. Good Luck!
 
If you rub them in her bedding and make a nest out of her straw for them to go in then she probably will accept them back.Ive put hamster bedding in before to keep them warm but she will probably pull some more fur out anyway. If shes kept mums fur it will be better though .If you do need to feed them goats milk is often used , but also rub their bottoms with warm damp cotton wool to help them poo.Mum would do this when she washes them.
It is obviously best to put them back as she may only feed them once a day but you would have to feed them every four hours day and night and speaking from experience its hard going and the success rate isnt always very high.
Good luck.
 
I have a little bit of expierence in this, so i hope this helps...

First of all, you need to get the babies to smell like mum. Sit mum on your kneee, with the babies, try rubbing the babies gently under the mums chin (this is where her scent glads are) also rubbing some of mums bedding on them is good too!

The mums natural instinct hopfully wouldn't have gone away and she will still be producing milk, so try and sit mum and babies together and keep mum still and see if the babies will go to feed.

Rabbit are as you know prey animals, so they NEVER sit with their babies, as cats and dogs do. This only lead foxes etc...to thier nest (in the wild)
The only time a rabbit goes to see her young, is when it's feeding time, so don't think just because she isn't sitting with them that she has abandonded them.

Rabbit's feed in early in the morning, perhaps about 5-6am and then late at night about 10-12 pm. These are times to look out for, to make sure feeding is taking place.

When the babies are hungry, they chirp, abit like birds..this too helps mum know when to feed the babies.

Try and make a nest for her, just put lots of hay in the sleeping quarters and move the hay into a nice circle and line it with some shredded tissue paper. Place the babies inside the nest and then put mum in the cage to settle them down. Do this AFTER the mum has seen the babies and you've made the babies smell like mum.

I hope this helps abit!?!?

Good luck,
Jeanette x
 
Another tip I've been told is to put a dab of vanilla on the mother's nose. Between that and rubbing the babies with her bedding, the scent problem should be fixed. You'll need to watch her very carefully, though. Sometimes this works, but in one case I heard of a mama rabbit who thought her babies were dead (she flipped the nest box and lost them for a few hours till the owner found it) and refused to care for the babies when they were returned to her.

If the mom won't take them back, you can flip her over and let them feed off of her once a day. It might not be a good idea if she's really stressed. But it wouldn't have the danger of aspiration that bottle feeding has, plus the mother's milk is better for the immune system.
 
the babies are still alive for now .

havent put them back with mum as we learned that there were 6 babies at first and 2 were killed . could have been the other rabbits (have today found out there were 4 altogether in the hutch :evil: ) but darnt risk it .

what we are doing is bringing mum to babies twice a day . she is very calm and letting us lay her on her back and latch the babies on . (oh god its so heartwrenching to see)

in between we are giving them kitten milk because if mum has any milk at all it isnt much.

3 babies are feeding ...but 1 little mite isnt . :cry: :cry:

Angie
 
With the kitten milk are you sprinkling a little pro biotic into it to (something like avipro i think?) Thats what my vet gave me when we were supplementing our mum buns milk as she'd had 10 babies and a couple were very small. It would only need a tiny bit but my vet said it would help stop bloat etc.

Will the one who's not feeding not take anything from the syringe either?

I've really no idea about completely hand rearing baby buns, but my friend did have to hand rear 8 babies from 2 weeks old when the mum bun then had another litter! So they took the older ones away. The majority of them survived so it can be done, but as everyone has said i guess the odds are stacked against them.

Are the babies pooping etc? As christine said they may need stimulating like mum would to make them go.

I'm really sorry I can't be much help, I hope you are successful, it must be so hard for you to watch but without you they wouldn't have any chance at all x x x
 
bunnymadhouse said:
weeing and pooing fine ...all over Traceys hand :lol:
Click to expand...

:lol: When we were handfeeding Harry the kitten we had to rub her tummy with a damp cloth to mimic her mum licking her tummy to encourage her to have a poo after feeding... it was a very messy business! I think she managed to get all of us at some point :shock: :lol:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

H
When can I move baby rabbits?
Replies
4
Views
1K
honeybun90
H
Amy Sanders
New Rabbit Owner
Replies
3
Views
907
Zarla
Zarla
~ILoveMyBunny~
Prognosis on fractured spine vertebrae (thorax area) - update: she's gone
Replies
16
Views
705
bunny momma
bunny momma
Back
Top