Sometimes, you may have to care for an orphan baby rabbit. In most cases, because a pet rabbit mother is ill after giving birth, she refuses to care for and nurse her kittens or dies. Then you will have to feed the bunnies. But is feeding a baby rabbit difficult?
Without a doubt, playing the role of a mother to the baby bunnies can be challenging but saving the life of a litter of bunnies or even one bunny is worthwhile. This article will help make the task less stressful for you. You will learn the nitty-gritty of baby rabbit care. In this article, you will get answers to the following questions:
- Is It Hard to Take Care of a Baby Bunny?
- What Do You Feed a Baby Bunny Without a Mother?
- How Do I Feed a Weak Baby Rabbit?
- How Many Hours Should I Feed a Baby Bunny?
- Do Baby Bunnies Drink Water?
Is It Hard to Take Care of a Baby Bunny?
Taking care of baby bunnies is a lot of work. You have to be cautious and attentive to the needs of the kits. While taking care of baby rabbits, you step in as their mother and ensure they are safe and in good health. Firstly, the kits need a nest. So, make a nest in a box with clean towels. Then, make the nest area dark until the kits can open their eyes. Don’t overheat the nest, as doing so could be deadly for them. Hence, if the room temperature is about 18-21 degrees Celsius, don’t provide additional heat.
On the other hand, if the room is cold, place a heating pad set to a lower position in the nest’s corner. That way, the bunnies can move to the colder part of the enclosure when it’s too warm.
You will have to take note of the following every day :
- Examine whether the rabbits are cold or not
- Check the skin if it is blue or wrinkled
- Look for any sign of injury
- Investigate dehydration by pressing the skin at the nape of the neck together.
This ensures the kits are not sick, injured, cold, losing weight, or suffering from dehydration. If you notice any of these, get them to a rabbit-savvy veterinary as fast as possible. A healthy rabbit kit is typically warm, gains weight daily, snuggles with others, and has a round belly.
With these in mind, is feeding a baby rabbit difficult? Your guess is as good as mine.
What Do You Feed a Baby Bunny Without a Mother?
You should provide for the baby rabbits Kitten Milk Replacer(KMR). However, you can use regular goat milk if you cannot get KMR from your local pets store or vet office. To replicate the high-calorie content of rabbit milk, add a tablespoon of hundred percent heavy whipping cream to each can of KMR. Specifically, don’t give your baby bunny regular cow milk or puppy formula.
In addition, to introduce the healthy bacteria to the intestinal tract of the bunnies, mix cecotropes with the KMR. Cecotropes are soft feces stuck together like a bunch of blackberries that rabbits usually eat. One cecotrope each day for four to five days is enough for rabbits less than a week old. With this purpose in mind, you may get cecotrope from a healthy adult rabbit you have at home.
Alternatively, sprinkle a pinch of acidophilus powder (probiotics) in the milk each time you feed the baby bunnies. If you are not sure of the quantity to put in the milk, ask your rabbit vet.
Next is the quantity of milk you need to feed an orphan baby bunny. The amounts listed below are for each feeding. It is safe to feed baby rabbits twice daily(morning and evening). At any rate, It is crucial to the baby bunny’s health that you don’t overfeed.
- New-born – 2.5ml
- One week old-6-7ml
- Two weeks old-12-13ml
- Three to six weeks-15 ml
How Do I Feed a Weak Baby Rabbit?
You can provide a weak baby rabbit with warm kitten formula using a syringe. Most times, rabbit kittens do not nurse from baby animal bottles. It is easiest to use a sterile oral syringe or an eyedropper. You may attach a pet nursing nipple or teat cannula.
How to feed the baby bunny depends on its age. For simplicity, the feeding is divided into two stages; at 10 days old and below and when the rabbit is more than 10 days old. Consequently, you will not find feeding a baby rabbit difficult.
At 10 days old or younger
You can feed a weak baby rabbit younger than 10 days old by following the steps listed below:
- Loosely wrap the baby rabbit in a soft cloth or small towel
- Lay it on your lap or the crook of your arm. Sit or lie on the ground to feed your baby rabbit. This will prevent injury in case the rabbit wiggles and falls from your hands. Make the bunny sit upright.
- Put the syringe filled with milk in the baby’s mouth and allow it to suck at its pace. Point the syringe downward towards the bottom or side of the mouth.
- Though Babies frequently resist suckling at first, don’t force-feed. Put a drop of baby formula on the rabbit’s lips so that it can lick it off.
- Do not squirt the liquid too fast. If you do, too much liquid will get in the rabbit’s lungs, and it will suffocate. So, if the bunny is not suckling willingly, don’t rush.
- After feeding, clean the baby bunny’s mouth with a damp cloth. This is to prevent milk from drying in the fur.
- Next, dip a cotton ball inside warm water and gently rub the genital area with it. Typically, the rabbit does lick the genital of their young ones to stimulate them to defecate. Keep stroking the genitals until the bunny starts to produce stool and urine.
- Examine the color and texture of the stool. Suppose you observe that the feces is brown and gritty instead of soft and greenish-yellow. In that case, it is an indication that the kit is not sufficiently hydrated. Get it to a rabbit vet as soon as possible; it is an emergency.
- Until they open their eyes, handle the baby bunnies as little as possible.
After 10 days old
At about 10 days old, the baby rabbit should be less fragile. Baby bunnies usually open their eyes around this time. So you can be sure the baby bunny is up to ten days old or even older when the eyes open up.
At this point, you can start initiating them to hay and pellets. Put some Timothy, orchard, or alfalfa hay and pellets in the corner of the box where you keep the rabbit and ensure it can get to the food without difficulty. The pellets should be plain, high in fiber, and fresh. Make sure there are no seeds or dried fruits in the pellets.
Rabbits this young don’t need fruits and vegetables. In addition, never leave water for your baby bunny in a deep dish. The bunny can drown in it. Instead, use a clean, shallow container and fill it frequently.
How Many Hours Should I Feed a Baby Bunny?
Domestic rabbits (even wild ones) Only nurse their kittens for a few minutes daily. The little feeding time is sufficient for the kits because rabbit milk is high in calories. Therefore, domestic baby bunnies 10 days old or younger should eat twice daily as a rule of thumb.
Initially, getting the kit to take a sufficient amount of milk may take more feeding time and frequency. In time, it is best to gradually reduce feeding time until you wean the bunny off milk. Weaning is usually between 6 and eight weeks.
Still, it is better to feed a bunny less food than overfeeding it. Too frequent feeding and too much at a time is dangerous. It can cause bloating, pain from gas, and possibly death. As a precaution, check the stomach of the bunny as you are feeding. If it is round, then the stomach is filled, and you should stop giving food.
Do Baby Bunnies Drink Water?
Baby bunnies younger than 2 weeks old do not need water. All they need is their formula (KMR). But from three to four weeks of age, they can start drinking water. Be that as it may, the water should be clean and at room temperature.
The best way to give them water is by using a clean, shallow bowl to avoid the risk of drowning. Yet, as they grow older, you may switch to water bottles. Just ensure the bottles are secured to their enclosure. Also, regularly clean the containers to avoid algae formation.
Conclusions
In the final analysis, Is feeding a rabbit difficult? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on your perception. If you consider the life of the bunnies in your care, it may not be such a daunting task. More so, before you know it, the baby rabbits will become mature enough to feed themselves.