mom and babies.. or at least rabbit and babies

[Flashy]

To be quite honest, in my inexperienced opinion, I would not bottle feed. Bunnies can be weaned at this age, and I would worry that bottle feeding would cause more problems than it would solve. I would push pellets and hay and obviously water. It's good that one kit is eating, hopefully you will see the other one eating soon.

How is mum with the kits?

 

[betsy]

she is interested but distant.. she will let them come by her.. and yet is by herself at times.. she is never mean to them or aggressive toward them even when i handle them.. so that is good i guess.

 

[gentle giants]

No, do NOT try to bottle feed them, especially not at this age. If the mom wasn't feeding them, they wouldn't have lived this long. When I bring in new rescue rabbits, unless they need medical care I leave them alone as much as possible for the first coupleof days to let them settle in. Whne you do start to handle them, do it gradually. Start just by touching them a little as they move around, and move up slowly from there to picking them up. If you jsut go in there and grab onto them all you will do is make them more afraid.

Rabbit rescue and care is very different from caring for cats and dogs, partly because a rabbit is a prey animal and therefore thinks and acts very differently from a predator like a cat. You may not ever see the mother rabbit nurse, because it is her instinct to hide when she does this.

 

[Blaze_Amita]

at that age, i would just monitor them make sure they don't drop weight and just let them get used to being held and handle them, flip them over, check their teeth(all once they get more used to you) and just keep moving them towards being more calm.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I would start them on pellets. At seven weaks they should be being weaned, and it sounds like maybe they already are

Emily

Edited for misspelled words.

 

[betsy]

happy to report they are doing well so far, thanks for all the advise... the only possible problem would be semi soft sticky poo... not even sure who it is.. would assume from the size that it is mom.. not runny just not round poo... should i worry or is it just the food change.. should i give her anything or just leave well enough alone... thanks guys for all the help.. I am loving having baby bunnies.

 

[Flashy]

Is it excess cecals? It might just be she is gorging on the unlimited food; that's what Sandy did when she had a litter.

Is mum producing regular normla poo too?

 

[betsy]

when she first came and a few times after I have found normal poo too.. just mid day yesterday there was mushy stuff too.. will have to get down there today, I have only been up for half and hour..i'm being lazy.. lol

 

[DeniseJP]

I was going to guess 3-4 weeks myself - they have that "baby bunny look" of snuggling together... my older kits would be out of the box and bustling around at 7 weeks - these kits do not look that old.

All are gorgeous!

Good advice given here.

Denise

 

[betsy]

ok.. can I ask another question? sorry to be a pest.. poo is pretty much normal again..
with the babies , is there a way to pet them to help them relax.. they are so jumpy.. is there a noise or grooming movement I can do to try to mimic mom to help them relax... I know they see me as a bad guy.. just want them to have a good experience.. but they are sooo gosh darn tiny.. thanks..
Betsy

 

[massie777]

just when you are holding the babies hold them real close to your body and just keep petting over and over. thats how i get my babies to start liking to be petted. sometimes it takes them a little while to get used to it. they are also still really young and you will see when they get older that they will get more used to you and more friendly.

 

[BlueGiants]

Have patience. They have been through a lot in their short life. You have to be the third home they've been through in 3-4 weeks! Give them a few more days to settle down. I agree they are not 7 weeks old...

Besides pellets, you can also give the a bowl of dry oatmeal (plain cooking type Quaker Oats). Or mix it in with the pellets. As mentioned, do not bottle feed them. If momma weaned them, or is starting to wean them, reintroducing formula can throw their gut (digestive tract) out of balance.

Thank you for taking them in. It's so nice to know they are in a good home.