How to take care of baby bunnies? Are you in need of some baby rabbit care tips? Well, the average baby rabbit gets nursed for about five minutes daily. Mother rabbits don’t spend much time with their babies and only feed them a few times each day. This is because baby rabbits are fast and can suck to full capacity in a matter of minutes before they lay down to rest. Mother rabbits also do not need to warm their babies as other animals do. Most time, they leave the babies by themselves in the nest for a long time while they go out in search of food.
If you come across baby rabbits in a nest alone by themselves, don’t be quick to make assumptions that they have been abandoned. It could just be their mother is out in the wild and will eventually come back to them. But if this doesn’t happen within a reasonable time frame, you may start considering the option of saving them. Rabbits typically don’t abandon their young. Where there is the long absence of a mother rabbit, it could imply that she has been killed or has died from unexpected circumstances.
In any event, the next option will be to rescue the babies and take them to a safe place where they can be cared for.
This is what will form much of the discussion for this piece. In this article, we are going to be sharing a few tips on how to care for a baby rabbit. We will also be covering the following topics:
- What do you feed a baby rabbit without a mother?
- Do baby rabbits die if you touch them?
- How do you keep baby rabbits alive?
- Do baby rabbits die easily?
Read along to learn all you need to know about taking care of a baby rabbit. Also, check out our Youtube video on baby rabbit care tips.
What Do You Feed a Baby Rabbit Without a Mother?
Baby rabbits are very fragile and sensitive within the first few days of life. At this stage, their mothers are generally responsible for caring for them. The interesting about baby rabbits is that they grow fast and learn to be independent quite early. Mother rabbits don’t spend much time with them, so baby rabbits spend much of their time alone.
An orphan rabbit won’t have a hard time adjusting to the absence of its mother. Feeding a rabbit without a mother is relatively easy and does not require much. What baby rabbits require at this stage is a balanced meal of rich creamy milk daily. An example is Kitten Milk Replacer or KMR. You can get this from most pet stores or vet clinics around.
Rabbit milk is typically high in calorie content; more than most mammals. So before you feed a baby rabbit, consider adding about one tablespoonful of heavy whipped cream to every can of KMR.
Baby rabbits also do not like being fed from conventional baby animal bottles. Use an oral syringe that has been properly sterilized instead. You can find these types of syringes in any local pharmacy.
Now, how you feed will vary from rabbit to rabbit. Things like the size and breed of the rabbit should be considered when making their meal. Proper hygiene must also be strictly adhered to as baby rabbits are extremely sensitive. To prevent bacterial infection in their guts, always add anti-bacteria capsules like Acidophilus to their food before feeding them.
You should feed a baby rabbit approximately two times daily and not more. Only exceed this number for a newly rescued baby rabbit to get as much nutrient into it.
Below are recommended amounts for feeding baby rabbits at different stages:
- One week old: 4 to 5 cc formula
- One – two weeks old: 10 to 15 cc formula
- Two-three weeks old: 15 to 30 cc formula
- Three – six weeks old: 30cc formula
Do Baby Rabbits Die If You Touch Them?
There is a common myth that touching a baby rabbit in the absence of its mother can lead to its death. Worse still, some people believe that if the mother rabbit smells a human scent on her baby, she will immediately kill it. These are mere falsehoods shared out of ignorance. Touching a baby rabbit does not harm it. However, you must be careful when trying to save a baby rabbit.
Before you ever consider saving a baby rabbit, you must properly investigate and be sure that it doesn’t have a mother. There are ways to find out if a group of baby rabbits has been abandoned or orphaned. If you notice that their bellies are round with a white patch indicating that they are filled with milk, then their mom is probably around the corner. Remember that rabbits feed their young just about two times daily and also do not spend much time with them.
Consequently, when baby rabbits appear wrinkly, malnourished, and pale in color, then that’s your cue to act fast. It becomes obvious the mother rabbit isn’t around. But please don’t attempt to feed them by yourself as you could complicate things. Instead, take them immediately to the nearest animal rescue center for rehabilitation.
Other than these, if you happen to spot a stray baby rabbit, the best you can do is place it where the mother can easily find it.
Lastly, always wash and disinfect your hands thoroughly before handling a baby rabbit. They have very weak immune systems and can be seriously infected once harmful bacteria get into their bodies.
How Do You Keep Baby Rabbits Alive?
Your main concern the first time you adopt a baby rabbit is to keep it alive. Baby rabbits are usually fragile and require the most care and attention. You have to provide a conducive and hygienic environment for them. Their food must be properly made and given to them in a timely fashion.
To ensure your baby rabbits remain healthy and alive, you must make sure of the following:
- Build them a house using any household item like an old shoebox. Fill it up with straw, fur, or any other material to create a soft cushioning effect.
- Ensure their nest is properly cleaned daily.
- Always maintain a moderate temperature for them. Baby rabbits do well at room temperature of between 60 to 70F.
- Feed them properly twice a day (early in the morning and late at night).
- Only feed a baby rabbit with goat milk or Kitten Milk Replacer (KMR). Never feed with cow milk or any other kind of milk.
- When feeding a baby rabbit, use an oral syringe to administer their meal in drops.
- Make sure the rabbit is in an upright position before you start to feed it.
- Never overfeed a baby rabbit. Overfeeding can result in a serious intestinal infection which can eventually lead to death.
- Once baby rabbits get to between four and six weeks, you can start weaning them.
- [Optional] You can feed them with adult female droppings gotten from any rehabilitation center. Droppings help line their stomach walls with good bacteria which helps them adapt and digest faster once they start eating solid food.
Do Baby Rabbits Die Easily?
Because of their delicate states, baby rabbits are prone to unexpected deaths. Baby rabbits can die easily for several reasons. Even as ridiculous as its sounds, something as simple as noise can kill a baby rabbit. This is because their body systems lack the right shock absorption and they are also quite jittery. That is why you need to have some baby rabbit care tips at your fingertips.
To understand more on this, below are some of the things that can lead to a baby rabbit’s death.
Heart Attack:
This is one of the major causes of death in baby rabbits. Rabbits are very timid animals and get terrified by any unusual noise. They may think there’s a predator close by and that can tremendously increase their heartbeat rate. When a baby rabbit’s heart rate increases sporadically and gets out of control, it can cause a heart attack which results in death.
Noises that can cause a heart attack in baby rabbits include:
- Firecrackers
- Dog barks
- Car honks
So you must be very careful of the environment where you keep your baby rabbits.
Weak Immune System:
Rabbits born in pet stores or unnatural environments generally have a weaker immune system than those born in the wild. So if you adopt pet rabbits born in any one of such unnatural environments, ensure they remain indoors till they are fully mature. This is because their bodies are yet to build the same immunity as that of a baby rabbit living in the wild. Taking them outdoors can put them at great risk of contracting diseases that can kill them.
Sharp Objects:
A baby rabbit can die from ingesting a foreign sharp object. It is always advised that the environment you keep your baby rabbit in must always be thoroughly cleaned and checked for harmful objects. If a baby rabbit swallows something sharp, it can lead to internal damage that will cause it to bleed from the inside. There is almost no saving for such a rabbit, as death is imminent.
Baby rabbits need a lot of care, just like human infants. Therefore, be ready to give it what it takes before you take in a baby rabbit. No doubt, the baby rabbit care tips in this article will be of help to you.