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5 week old bunnies removed from mum

BlueRexBoy

Young Bun
I am picking up two 5 and a half week old buns tomorrow. The lady who bred them has rehomed their mum so I am getting them tomorrow. Will they be ok? I thought it was 8 weeks. They are eating well I have been informed. Any advice greatly appreciated. Thank you
 
8 weeks would be better if they can stay with their mum longer. have you asked why they are leaving so young?

Foodwise I would find out what they are on and stick to that. They will need a lot as they are young and growing
 
Definatly WAY to young, 8 weeks is the minimum for most people, but 10 week sor older is more ideal.....She doesn't sound like a good breeder, more like a fortune finder.....

Someone should help soon with advice on what to do, definatly get the babies though if you are willing to look after them properly :) they may need a little extra work though.
 
That sounds like a lady who doesn't give a flying about her animals :|

Ideally it's best not to remove them until they are 8 weeks, but they may be better off in your care given that they won't have mum wherever they are.
 
She had quite a lot of rexes and bred all her does but then was suprised she couldn't sell them. She advertised them for money, which is when I bought and paid for one, then she advertised them for free so she said I could have a second for nothing.
The mother has been rehomed as she wanted rid of them all. I jsut found out now the mother has gone.
I am an experienced rabbit owner so am willing and able to care for them correctly, I just need a few pointers to enable me to do that. DH said they will be better with me if they are without their mother, bless them.
I think there are 4 in total, I'm tempted to take all 4 and rehome 2 at a later date. Not sure if this is a good idea?
Thank you for your help so far:)
 
She had quite a lot of rexes and bred all her does but then was suprised she couldn't sell them. She advertised them for money, which is when I bought and paid for one, then she advertised them for free so she said I could have a second for nothing.
The mother has been rehomed as she wanted rid of them all. I jsut found out now the mother has gone.
I am an experienced rabbit owner so am willing and able to care for them correctly, I just need a few pointers to enable me to do that. DH said they will be better with me if they are without their mother, bless them.
I think there are 4 in total, I'm tempted to take all 4 and rehome 2 at a later date. Not sure if this is a good idea?
Thank you for your help so far:)

Personally I would take them all if I could for fear of what would happen to them if I didn't. Even if all I did was make sure they were well looked after until I could find them proper homes..
 
they will probably need supplementary feeding with a powdered cats milk and avipro mix - their stomachs will almost undoubtedly not be adapted to pellets etc - though hopefully she will have provided hay (though she sounds pretty awful so may not have done).
 
:( One good thing out of this is that she wants "rid of them all". Hopefully she's realised that there's no money to be made in breeding rabbits and has called it a day.

good on you for taking a couple of these furballs on board and wanting to do the best for them. I look forward to progress reports and sorry I have no advice for the babbas. Hopefully you'll get the advice you need on here :)
 
Thats what I'm thinking but I need to consider what age will they need to be seperated to prevent breeding? I have a 7ft hutch on the patio and a huge run, but my spare cage is an indoor guinea pig one only 3ft long which I use for post spey/castration observation and illness, not really big enough for buns. They are mini rexes. Also DH will go mad if I come home with more than 2.
 
Good grief, well at least you are taking them on and doing your best.

I think it's quite likely that any bunny taken so young will develop stomach issues in the future as the whole point of mum feeding them until 8 weeks is to give them all they need to do well after that point. We've definitely seen bunnies that haven't been weened correctly not getting the right gut bacteria which has been problematic in the future. So, I agree with Parsnip bun about suplementary feeding and possibly a pro biotic (although I'd take advice from a bunny savvy vet on that one).

I hope they thrive in your care and we look forward to photos.:D
 
:( One good thing out of this is that she wants "rid of them all". Hopefully she's realised that there's no money to be made in breeding rabbits and has called it a day.

good on you for taking a couple of these furballs on board and wanting to do the best for them. I look forward to progress reports and sorry I have no advice for the babbas. Hopefully you'll get the advice you need on here :)

I'd definitely get them vet-checked as soon as they come to you. Breeders wanting to "get rid" of stock worries me a bit. :?
 
I separated my (accidental) babies at 11 weeks (we were pushing it a bit there) and popped them back together as soon as the boys were done at 14 weeks. We kept them within sight sound and smell of each other in that 3 weeks.

They are now 4.5 months and the girls are still all together (with the boys) and we have had no fights etc yet - we will spay the girls at 5 -6 months so watching carefully to make sure no spats in the meantime.

PS such young babies as these rexes will have very little chance of survival if taken by an inexperienced person or kept as singles - they still need the comfort and heat of all their brothers and sisters (and their mum for reall feed:()
 
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they will probably need supplementary feeding with a powdered cats milk and avipro mix - their stomachs will almost undoubtedly not be adapted to pellets etc - though hopefully she will have provided hay (though she sounds pretty awful so may not have done).

Well, when I viewed them there wasn't much hay, just a big bowl of museli mix:shock:

Where can I get this milk from? Can I buy both fro the supermarket or do I need to go to the vet for it. I assume I put it in a water bottle for them to help themselves?

She fed the previous litters greens and said she had to wash their bums as they had messy bums. Oh dear. I should have walked away I know, but now these buns are being given away and I know about them and can't turn a blind eye.
 
Personally I would be worried about supplementing feeding given that their gut is an adult one. Supplementing the wrong thing can make them iller (nearly lost one of mine when she was supplemented). After a rabbit is four weeks they have an adult gut and can do fine without supplements. I have only ever given pellets and loads of good quality hay, and sometimes some oats- which are easy and kind on the tummy.

That is only my personal opinion, not a recomendation.
 
Personally I would be worried about supplementing feeding given that their gut is an adult one. Supplementing the wrong thing can make them iller (nearly lost one of mine when she was supplemented). After a rabbit is four weeks they have an adult gut and can do fine without supplements. I have only ever given pellets and loads of good quality hay, and sometimes some oats- which are easy and kind on the tummy.

That is only my personal opinion, not a recomendation.

probably depends on whether they have properly weaned - my lot were still greedy for mums milk at 12 weeks:shock: alongside the pellets and hay.

We fed our abandoned wildie cat milk and avipro until he was 5 weeks - when he voluntarily stopped.
 
:( One good thing out of this is that she wants "rid of them all". Hopefully she's realised that there's no money to be made in breeding rabbits and has called it a day.

QUOTE]
She said that. They are demolishing their breeding blocks so they won't be tempted to get anymore.
 
probably depends on whether they have properly weaned - my lot were still greedy for mums milk at 12 weeks:shock: alongside the pellets and hay.

We fed our abandoned wildie cat milk and avipro until he was 5 weeks - when he voluntarily stopped.

I'm not sure. The ones I had definitely were not weaned properly. In this case these have been without mum's milk for a significant period of time already and will have adjusted to that, so re-adding something so 'dodgy' back in could potentially cause problems, even re-adding mum's milk back in at a point when they have been without it can be dodgy.

That was my concern, that's all, and only my opinion. The OP can make the choice based on different opinions and options :)
 
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