baby bunny advice needed

[black_jack]

Fluffyif u read this before u read the pm I am so sorry.



Today I went out to a farm myfriend said was advertising baby bunnies. The idea being thatif i saw them i would not want them and therefor would not wanna spendthe whole wknd pining over them.

Got to the farm and hubbywouldnt get out the car so i went up and asked to see them.The owner went and fetched these two babies that were too young to sexand the fur is so shabby im sure its not been long since they grewit.

Anyway i fell in love as ireally didnt expect them to be so small I said i would speak to hubbyand almost burst into tears in the car.

Anyway I went back to get oneasked what it was fed on and was told rabbit mix and carrots but nolettuce.... that didnt really helps so i have mixed a bit if oat treatin with burgess hill for tonight and will pick up some wagg in themorning to try and wean him off.

My big concern is that iforgot to ask how old this baby is? She is smaller than apaper plate, i will send pics but didnt want to disturb hertonight. Is there a chance that they have sold her tooyoung?

When are u meant to sell themand what should i do about the food?

Is there anything i needto monitor a baby for? All our rabbits came from the pet shopat about 3-5 months old and i dont want to disrespect the seller butI'm not sure the living conditions were all that.

I have Jack and Hetti in thesame room but the new baby is in hettis old indoor hutch with fencingaround the hutch so they dont jump on it and scare him/her.She/he seems to be feeding on hay and the mix i have made and looks tohave had a drink but no obvious poops yet?

Any advice desperatelyneeded i know i have 2 young buns but never had one this youngbefore.

 

[Bramble Briar86]

Mothers can wean their babies as early as threeweeks. When i saw that Bramble was refusing to let them nurse aroundthree weeks i took the Kits out and put them in a seperate cage. But,weeks later, i've seperated them into two sexed cages and i still won'tsplit those up, they need the interaction. I'd say the earliest youcould sell them is somewhere around seven weeks.

Ellie

 

Arg I amso angry with the seller ,He should have showed you thebag of feed he was feeding outfor one thing andanother babies shouldnt be sold offbefore 8 weeks old , If this one isshabby coated most likely its too youngor poor quality feed,or both ,. I have seenbabies in pet stores at 4 weeksand I usually will blow a gasket, watchto be sure it is eatingdrinking and pooping peeing , if itisnt you will have to use a softtissue or towel to stimulateit into pottyingwatch the consistency ,be sure it is solidnot moosh and watery . Im notsure where you are at what the lawis but here in manystates it is Illegal to sell kits under8 weeks old .

also watch for itbeing huddled up in a cornerand going off its feed , Ifit does you will befacing stasis , ( GI ) not funnot a pretty site to have todeal with , You may wantto let ithave a small blanketor wash cloth to snuggleupin to maintain bodytemperature . Keep us postedand scream for help if you needtoo please ,

Black Jack Im not mad at youyou did a good thingin taking the baby I haveconfidence in your ability to bringhim along , feel free toPm if need be .

 

[black_jack]

gypsy wrote:

Arg I amso angry with the seller ,He should have showed you thebag of feed he was feeding outfor one thing andanother babies shouldnt be sold offbefore 8 weeks old , If this one isshabby coated most likely its too youngor poor quality feed,or both ,. I have seenbabies in pet stores at 4 weeksand I usually will blow a gasket, watchto be sure it is eatingdrinking and pooping peeing , if itisnt you will have to use a softtissue or towel to stimulateit into pottyingwatch the consistency ,be sure it is solidnot moosh and watery . Im notsure where you are at what the lawis but here in manystates it is Illegal to sell kits under8 weeks old .

also watch for itbeing huddled up in a cornerand going off its feed , Ifit does you will befacing stasis , ( GI ) not funnot a pretty site to have todeal with , You may wantto let ithave a small blanketor wash cloth to snuggleupin to maintain bodytemperature . Keep us postedand scream for help if you needtoo please ,

Black Jack Im not mad at youyou did a good thingin taking the baby I haveconfidence in your ability to bringhim along , feel free toPm if need be .

gypsy,

Your reply was so sweet thankyou so much. At the moment little legs is running around thehutch, nibbled on some watercress i put in as it seems to enjoy greens,its having a go at the feed i have put together im not sure aboutdroppings or anything though.

When I spoke to the owner isaid i'd come to look at the baby bunnies (the sign read babbybunnines) she said wait there and i'll go fetch them.

I don't know what I wasexpecting... yeah i do. I was expecting to be shown to ahutch/pen to look at the babies with their mum and told that they werereally expensive so that i could not possibly ownone.

In reality... the lady ownerand her son carried them out in their hands he had a sandwhich in hishand at the same time as carrying little legs and said could someonehold this so i took one of the buns and knew then whatever plans i hadof walking away empty handed were gone nearly cried when i was tellinghubby.

I asked what it was being fedon and she said rabbit mix carrots..i dont know if it was a mix of vegor feed was silly of me not to ask really.. kick myself for not askingso many questions. The fur is very fine, not sure what agethey grow fur?

Will post a pick tomorrow atthe moment little legs is very active and the room he/she is in isquite warm so not sure what to put in their forsnuggles?

 

[black_jack]

forgot to add i wasnt even given a box! Had tocarry little legs on my lap but i cuddled her to my chest and put theseat belt around my waist. There is still a baby there but ihope she will be okay there is no way i could have taken 2

 

[black_jack]

gypsy wrote:

Black Jack Im not mad at youyou did a good thingin taking the baby I haveconfidence in your ability to bringhim along , feel free toPm if need be .

I dont feel i did a good thing, i forgot important questions, the onlycomfort i take is that i know that i have a knowledge of rabbits sohe's come to someone who can do the best they can to look after him.

In the past the same place has advertised dogs so im hoping they know what they are doing.

Couldnt believe there was no cardboard box though..i probably did the wrong thing carrying it... im a selfish moo if anything

 

[rabbitgirl]

gypsy wrote:

If this one is shabbycoated most likely its too young or poorquality feed, or both ,.

Another explanation for a shabby looking coat is that between 4-5 wks.their fur type starts to change. The outer guard hairs are stiffer andcoarser, but they still have baby down underneath, and it looks a bitscruffy because the guard hairs are pretty sparse still. You didn'tmention breed, but I noticed it in my baby Pals around then (maybe abit later).

Rose

 

[naturestee]

Black jack, congrats on the new bun! You mayfeel like you did a bad thing but I think most of us have donesomething similar. It's called bunny love at first site. That's how Igot Mocha- we saw her and fell head over heels. We dashed home to getpermission from the landlord, and James dashed back into townimmediately and snapped her right up. Sometimes you just have no choicein the matter.

You might want to be a little careful of the greens. If the little one isn't used to them she may get runny poo.

Any idea on breed? Mocha can still sit on a paper plate, no problem. Ifit's a medium or small breed, she might be 8 weeks or so.

 

[black_jack]

she looks alot like hetti who we think is a minilop? The ears are up though so not sure if they will drop or if she isa cross breed. I have only given her a little watercress butshe seems to really enjoy it. Just nipping out now to get hersome wagg and a food bowl as she is eating off the paper plate at themoment.

Is it worth me getting some of the carrott juice to add to her water? its meant to give them energy?

The fur is very fine and u can see skin under it i will post pics just dont want to scare him/her.

Thanks for all the advice, i fell in love with both babies and then just had to choose so fingers crossed