Shanan
Well-Known Member
I have two kits, 12 days old. Both are on mother's milk. But one of them is urinating milky white whereas the other is urinating clear. I am tensed like ... :cry1: Why may this happen?
What is the urine of a 12 day old bunny like?
- Thread starter Shanan
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Gadget
Member
White chalky urine is usually from too much calcium... at their age I wouldn't worry about it. What are you feeding momma?
Shanan
Well-Known Member
Water Spinach, Spinach, Cabbage, Carrots, Potatoes in veggies. Boiled rice and legumes. Fresh grass from garden. Also, some celery sometimes.
I am worried because one of them is having the issue, the other one is fine.
Is mom getting any pellets? If not how is she getting the extra protein needed while nursing? As far as the kit, is it pooping normally?
Shanan
Well-Known Member
:elvis2:
I give her legumes. I bought pellets once. They hate it. Cooked legumes and sprouts. Also, I give her oats.
Yes, the kits are pooping normally. Today morning both of them had milky white urine. And, tonight both of them did clear urine. No idea what's happening. I feared excess calcium in diet so I gave the Mother bunny loads of cabbage today (I read in one website that cabbage is low in calcium). I think because of that the urine was normal tonight.
I give her legumes. I bought pellets once. They hate it. Cooked legumes and sprouts. Also, I give her oats.
Yes, the kits are pooping normally. Today morning both of them had milky white urine. And, tonight both of them did clear urine. No idea what's happening. I feared excess calcium in diet so I gave the Mother bunny loads of cabbage today (I read in one website that cabbage is low in calcium). I think because of that the urine was normal tonight.
Gadget
Member
A lot of the foods you are listing are not healthy/ideal for rabbits, let alone nursing moms.
Shanan
Well-Known Member
Well. Different websites list different things as different. How will I know which one's are correct? We don't get hay here, so I have to include more veggies in their diet as a compensation. I also give them plenty of fresh grass. The adult buns have been healthy so far. Please lemme know where I am going wrong with the foods? I will certainly try and bring in an improvement.
By legumes, I mean lentils. I know peas are harmful and I do not give them peas.
Last edited:
Gadget
Member
Im fairly new to rabbits, so hopefully someone else can help out here... but from what ive seen rice/oats/potatos etc arent supposed to be fed rabbits and carrots/cabbage/spinach etc should be fed sparingly.
All of you responding to this thread need to keep in mind that Shanan is in India(correct?) and will not have the same access to the usual rabbit food stuffs that we have in the US, Canada, Europe, etc. so may have to deviate from what we deem as an appropriate diet for rabbits.
Shanan, the types of foods you are best able to provide for your rabbits in your country may be different from what we in the US can provide for our rabbits. We can only say what the best diet for rabbits is in most circumstances, which is also based on what is commonly available to us in our country to feed. So just do the best you can for your rabbits, and as long as they are a healthy weight and not skinny, as well as having normal fecal poop that is round and not too small or hard, or mushy, then it sounds like your rabbits are doing pretty good on the food you are giving them. You are doing a good job at taking care of your rabbits, especially since you don't have access to the types of rabbit food that we have in the US/Canada.
I can give some suggestions and if you are able to do them great. If not, that's fine too. Just do your best to try and keep your rabbits healthy. So usually the best diet for rabbits is grass and safe plants. So if you are able then offer as much fresh grass(or dried grass and a dish with water) to your rabbit as you possibly can each day. If it is young soft grass, you may need to start with small amounts and gradually increase each day as young soft grass is very rich. Better grass to feed is more mature long stem grass as it's not as rich and has more fiber in it. The majority of a rabbits diet should be grass.
For the other foods, I wouldn't feed potatoes or rice if at all possible. If you need to feed grains, oats are better but in very limited amounts as too much grain can lead to digestive upset. I'm not sure how good lentils are for rabbits, but I think they would be better to feed than rice or potatoes as lentils are lower in starches and higher in protein, which is what the mom rabbit needs while nursing. Sprouted grains should be perfectly fine and quite healthy for your rabbit. Spinach, cabbage, celery, and carrots should be ok as long as your rabbits poop isn't runny or mushy. Usually you shouldn't feed too many carrots as they are quite sugary, and you want to make sure cabbage isn't causing an upset stomach because it sometimes can for some rabbits. But again, just do the best you can. If you want to take a look at this food list, it has a lot of suggestions for safe foods and plants for rabbits.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Food/feeding_en.pdf
As for the baby rabbits urine. You really don't need to worry about it. It is very normal for rabbits to sometimes have milky urine, because this is how they excrete excess dietary calcium. It's normal and it doesn't hurt them at all. The only time it might be a problem is if the rabbits urine is thick, pasty, or gritty, which isn't likely to happen with baby rabbits. The problem with limiting higher calcium foods for the mom is that the mom needs the extra calcium in her diet because she is nursing the babies. If a nursing mother rabbit isn't getting enough calcium, it can lead to low blood calcium, which could be very dangerous for the mom. It's important for nursing moms to have plenty of calcium and protein in their diets so that she will be able to provide the needed nutrients for her babies and have enough for herself as well so she doesn't lose weight and get skinny. This link has pictures of the different types of rabbit urine and what is normal and when there might be a problem.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/generalities/Sludge.htm
Shanan, the types of foods you are best able to provide for your rabbits in your country may be different from what we in the US can provide for our rabbits. We can only say what the best diet for rabbits is in most circumstances, which is also based on what is commonly available to us in our country to feed. So just do the best you can for your rabbits, and as long as they are a healthy weight and not skinny, as well as having normal fecal poop that is round and not too small or hard, or mushy, then it sounds like your rabbits are doing pretty good on the food you are giving them. You are doing a good job at taking care of your rabbits, especially since you don't have access to the types of rabbit food that we have in the US/Canada.
I can give some suggestions and if you are able to do them great. If not, that's fine too. Just do your best to try and keep your rabbits healthy. So usually the best diet for rabbits is grass and safe plants. So if you are able then offer as much fresh grass(or dried grass and a dish with water) to your rabbit as you possibly can each day. If it is young soft grass, you may need to start with small amounts and gradually increase each day as young soft grass is very rich. Better grass to feed is more mature long stem grass as it's not as rich and has more fiber in it. The majority of a rabbits diet should be grass.
For the other foods, I wouldn't feed potatoes or rice if at all possible. If you need to feed grains, oats are better but in very limited amounts as too much grain can lead to digestive upset. I'm not sure how good lentils are for rabbits, but I think they would be better to feed than rice or potatoes as lentils are lower in starches and higher in protein, which is what the mom rabbit needs while nursing. Sprouted grains should be perfectly fine and quite healthy for your rabbit. Spinach, cabbage, celery, and carrots should be ok as long as your rabbits poop isn't runny or mushy. Usually you shouldn't feed too many carrots as they are quite sugary, and you want to make sure cabbage isn't causing an upset stomach because it sometimes can for some rabbits. But again, just do the best you can. If you want to take a look at this food list, it has a lot of suggestions for safe foods and plants for rabbits.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Food/feeding_en.pdf
As for the baby rabbits urine. You really don't need to worry about it. It is very normal for rabbits to sometimes have milky urine, because this is how they excrete excess dietary calcium. It's normal and it doesn't hurt them at all. The only time it might be a problem is if the rabbits urine is thick, pasty, or gritty, which isn't likely to happen with baby rabbits. The problem with limiting higher calcium foods for the mom is that the mom needs the extra calcium in her diet because she is nursing the babies. If a nursing mother rabbit isn't getting enough calcium, it can lead to low blood calcium, which could be very dangerous for the mom. It's important for nursing moms to have plenty of calcium and protein in their diets so that she will be able to provide the needed nutrients for her babies and have enough for herself as well so she doesn't lose weight and get skinny. This link has pictures of the different types of rabbit urine and what is normal and when there might be a problem.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/generalities/Sludge.htm
Shanan
Well-Known Member
Thank you so much, JBun.
I will change the diet accordingly. The mother bun and the dad bun has been pooping and peeing healthy since a year (maybe one or two stomach upsets happened). But one thing though, they NEVER drink water. I force some through a bottle and that's it.
Sounds like your rabbits are doing well then. If they are getting lots of fresh grass and vegetables, then they probably won't need to drink very much water at all because the water is in the fresh grass and vegetables themselves.. Rabbits only really need to drink water if they are eating dry foods, or if the fresh foods don't have quite enough water content to them. All you need to do is make sure your rabbits have water to drink at all times, then if they need water they will drink it as needed. Though if they only have water available in a bottle with a nozzle of some sort, I will suggest instead offering it to them in a dish. Bottles can be hard for rabbits to get enough water from, and the bottles can sometimes get clogged so then the rabbits can't get any water out of it. Rabbits usually drink much better from a dish/bowl. Though if the babies aren't quite 3 weeks old yet, make sure the dish is safely away from them so they can't fall into the water dish.
Shanan
Well-Known Member
The kits stay with me mostly. The momma bunny never allowed us to clip her nails and when I tried to keep the kits with her she stamped on them vigorously and caused them nicks. She is generally gentle when she's feeding them. So, I keep the kits near me and at intervals of 12 hours I bring the mother, put her inside the net box and make sure she can't come out. She kicks the kits at first and settles down after and then starts feeding and grooming them. The kits are at 13 days now.
One thing though I tried keeping the kits with their mother a number of time with the intention of feeding them the cecotropes. They didnot even try eating those. :nono Do I need to force feed them?
The kits are at 13 days now. One thing though I tried keeping the kits with their mother a number of time with the intention of feeding them the cecotropes. They didnot even try eating those. :nono Do I need to force feed them?
Shanan
Well-Known Member
Also, I got some timothy and alfa alfa hay here (FINALLY!!). I have always heard that hay should be unlimited. Can you give me an idea of how many days a 600 gm hay bundle should last for two buns?
RavenousDragon
Well-Known Member
It sort of depends on the rabbits. My two go through that in probably less than a week (we end up throwing a lot of the pieces away that they have decided they didn't like ) and mine don't get nearly as many veggies, so mine need more to get enough food. We honestly buy our hay in (roughly) 20 kg amounts- but that lasts us a while AND I'm lucky enough to have it available to me on a regular basis. Sounds like you are doing a great job with what you have with your buns! Keep it up!!
) and mine don't get nearly as many veggies, so mine need more to get enough food. We honestly buy our hay in (roughly) 20 kg amounts- but that lasts us a while AND I'm lucky enough to have it available to me on a regular basis. Sounds like you are doing a great job with what you have with your buns! Keep it up!!
