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Help needed! Baby rabbit.

parsnipbun said:
I have recently had both baby domestics and baby wildie (hand reared)

Your little one looks about 3 week , is definitely domestic and needs to have milk substitute as well as beginning on hay and small amounts grass. (small amounts)

You can also scatter some small junior pellets in the cage and see if s/he shows any interest. But vey few as do not want to upset stomach (which is easily done)

The substitute milk: the best is Esiblac or any other feline substitute - we made this up double strength as rabbit milk is so very rich. This means the rabbit gets the nutrients needed without having to swallow more liquid than they have room for and getting swollen stomach.

Add to this double strength feed a pinch of AVIPRO which is a gut flora enhancer to enable them to cope with the hay and grass - without this they will not be able to make the switch and will get fatal diarrhoea.

You can use a 1mm syringe with a very very small teat on the end (which you can buy online - will look up where from as forgotten).

It is essential that they have feeds regularly every few hours (not as in the wild once a day).

The biggest threat is aspiration of the feed if it is given too quickly or the syringe forced down and that they are weighed regularly to note progress which should be regular daily weight gain..

Raising a tiny one is very hard and often meets with sadness even with very experienced people and I would recommend that you do seriously think of getting advice or even passing the little one to someone who has experience unless you have raised others.


The keys are:
the cat milk dry mix made up strong
the AVIPRO
regular feeds and weight noting
Only an experineced feeding person to do the feeds otherwise aspiration will follow
A warm snugglesafe for baby to snuggle on all day
Click to expand...

I will see if the pet store has any esiblac, if not will lactol do for now? Will also see if I can get AVIPRO and junior pellet. Any particular brand best?

He seems to be feeding ok at the moment, sneezes up bubbles occasionally but i stop straigh away and wipe the excess milk off and wait for him to clear it, though that is getting better. Only had one incident of bubbles this morning! I guess it's partly the ay I'm feeding him and partly him getting used to the syringe compare to a mothers teat?

Thanks for your brilliant advice :D
 
Apologies for double posting and, indeed, triple posting!

Ok, 9am feed done, he has also been weighed. 129 grams pre feed, 132g post feed. Took down another 6ml. Gonna go out into the garden in a second and find some dried grass.

Here's a question, will I need to stimulate him to go to the toilet? Also how long will he need to be on milk for? If I can get him to use a water bottle, can I put kitten milk in that for him to drink from?
 
Mothball said:
Apologies for double posting and, indeed, triple posting!

Ok, 9am feed done, he has also been weighed. 129 grams pre feed, 132g post feed. Took down another 6ml. Gonna go out into the garden in a second and find some dried grass.

Here's a question, will I need to stimulate him to go to the toilet? Also how long will he need to be on milk for? If I can get him to use a water bottle, can I put kitten milk in that for him to drink from?
Click to expand...

my gracie took a waterbottle at 4 weeks but this was with Matilda 'teaching' her i supose so may take ur bun longer x
 
emmiiee said:
my gracie took a waterbottle at 4 weeks but this was with Matilda 'teaching' her i supose so may take ur bun longer x
Click to expand...

I guess I'll just have to persevere! :D

Mothball is very active this morning. I've discovered that making kissy sounds suddenyl makes him perk up and he goes mental and starts trying to hop around everywhere which is funny to watch!
 
Mothball said:
I guess I'll just have to persevere! :D

Mothball is very active this morning. I've discovered that making kissy sounds suddenyl makes him perk up and he goes mental and starts trying to hop around everywhere which is funny to watch!
Click to expand...

yes Gracie LOVES kissy sounds!!! she will sit still for hours as long as you do it! I also used to 'clean' her or simulate cleaning her! would put my lips over my teeth and pretend to clean her! she used to fall asleep whilst i was doing it! x
 
Hehe Mothball will fall asleep on his back if you stroke from his nose to between his ears veeeery gently. This is all new and brilliant to me, I've never had rabbits before :D
 
Avipro may need t be ordered from a vet - although they may have it in.

Is he sneezing up bubble from his nose - if so then he is getting fluid down the wrong way which will eventually lead to aspiration pneumonia - sorry to sound so bullying about this but it really is the commonest cause of death in had reared baby bunnies (within about 48 hours of the fluid on the chest) and you have to be more careful about going very very slowly with the fluid.

Use the smallest syringe possible (1mm is available from vets) and a very very very small teat on the end . .

Nothing like the huge kitten teats and enormous bottles that come with the box of cat milk feed.

I am racking my brains for the name of the teat makers . . ask a vet but specify the very smallest teats.

Failing that just the 1mm syringe. It takes ages to give the feed but is the safest way. Sneezing bubbles up is a very bad sign
 
I no most young need to be stimulated to pass urine, but I do not know if it applies to rabbits. The way to do it is get a slightly damp soft cloth with warm water, then gentle rub down the area to stimulate the water works :) Someone might be able to tell you if it is neccissary though. Well done btw :)
 
LauryStevens said:
I no most young need to be stimulated to pass urine, but I do not know if it applies to rabbits. The way to do it is get a slightly damp soft cloth with warm water, then gentle rub down the area to stimulate the water works :) Someone might be able to tell you if it is neccissary though. Well done btw :)
Click to expand...

Baby rabbits do not need this after the first few days - this one is too old to need it.

(sorry - forgot that bit in the other reply)
 
parsnipbun said:
Avipro may need t be ordered from a vet - although they may have it in.

Is he sneezing up bubble from his nose - if so then he is getting fluid down the wrong way which will eventually lead to aspiration pneumonia - sorry to sound so bullying about this but it really is the commonest cause of death in had reared baby bunnies (within about 48 hours of the fluid on the chest) and you have to be more careful about going very very slowly with the fluid.

Use the smallest syringe possible (1mm is available from vets) and a very very very small teat on the end . .

Nothing like the huge kitten teats and enormous bottles that come with the box of cat milk feed.

I am racking my brains for the name of the teat makers . . ask a vet but specify the very smallest teats.

Failing that just the 1mm syringe. It takes ages to give the feed but is the safest way. Sneezing bubbles up is a very bad sign
Click to expand...

Ok that I didn't know, so thankyou for the heads up :) Just fed him now and no bubbles were sneezed so hopefully I've got it right. Will be as careful as possible from now on, though he seems to have taken to licking milk, so i may just dropper it onto my finger and let him lick it off. Might take a while but it's worth it to make him not ill.
 
mikki mothering teats - just stick them on the end of a 1mm syringe - do not use the syringe that comes with the teats
 
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