Babies need help

[lionheaddaddy]

My mother bunny is drying up and refusing to feed after three days of successful nursing one by one on her back with the two ppl approach. My husband and I feed them once a day at night by rubbing the belly and taking one baby at a time to nurse for three to five minutes. Babies are doing well and looking full and active and are being kept warm. Should we be making her feed them more than once per day??

 

[Hyatt101]

I'd say once per day is good, as long as they get enough. Rabbits only nurse in the early morning and late night....

 

[lionheaddaddy]

I did just discover her feeding them on her own for the first time. I am now hopeful that she will start taking care of them
Thank you for your reply

 

[Hyatt101]

That's great! Good luck (and maybe you can post pictures of the babies when they're old enough!?)

 

[lionheaddaddy]

I did just discover her feeding them on her own for the first time. I am now hopeful that she will start taking care of them
Thank you for your reply

 

[lionheaddaddy]

Yes we will, they are 4 days old now starting to show color, and very sweet

 

[lionheaddaddy]

Pellets and Timothy grass hay are mothers main source of mothers food now along with carrots and she seems to love broccoli right now and romaine but does anyone know which veggies give her the best milk and less irritation while nursing. She was cranky last night after eating tomatoes and I wanted to give her banana. She took some bites but then seem irritated. She is a very calm and loving rabbit. I found this behaviour to be out of character for her.

 

[fuzz16]

she needs to be on an 18% alfalfa based pellet while nursing and babies will start eating it at 3-4 weeks old.

do not give her broccoli or romaine. broccoli will make her gassy and will eventually kill her because they cant release the gas bubbles. i dont think tomatoes are good either. carrots are high in sugar and not good in excess.

i would say for now just free feed the pellets and hay and stop veggies/fruit for now because it could end up giving her diereha and effecting her health.

she sees you as a threat and is protecting her nest from you. let her be a mom and do not interfere. generally, the first few litters dont make it.

you didnt mention how old this doe is, either. how old is she?

 

[lionheaddaddy]

We rescued her from the pet store where she was cuddling with what looked to be her twin. The staff knew she was preowned but did not know her age. I asked if she was pregnant they said no, she was. And had 4 babies a week after she came to live with us. We did not interfere and she ignored all four babies and they died cold and hungry. I was crushed. Three months later we gave her ti e to settle in and allowed mating with our lionhead male, mookie. She allowed the forced nursing the first three nights and seemed even relaxed and thankful for the help and attention and special treats and affection but last night was irregularly irritable. I figured it was the veggies, but she is sooooo hungry and loves eating a variety of veggies and fruit. I will stop the veggies and fruit as you suggested because I had a feeling that was the problem. Our pellets are high quality so that with alfalfa hay and water should be sufficient?

Ps thanks

 

[Hyatt101]

Yep! Sounds good!

 

[majorv]

I agree, just stick with the pellets and hay for now. Nursing does need more protein to sustain the little ones. If you have some timothy or grass hay you could mix it with alfalfa, too.

 

[JBun]

She should get unlimited pellets and hay. Momma buns eat alot of food and need the all the extra calories they can get. I agree that some of the veggies you are feeding her may be upsetting her stomach. I would hold off on fruit too. Green leafy veggies are usually ok unless she starts getting soft poops. I wouldn't suddenly just switch her to alfalfa hay only. Keep feeding her the timothy and just start adding a little alfalfa too.

 

[lionheaddaddy]

Thanks to everyone who talked me through this, momma bun got some time with her hubby today. he got to run around and her inside the cage top over the carpet. So he cannot touch her, just to socialize, they enjoyed this and her stools are starting to harden up now. Going to check the bellies of the 8 kits soon and make sure but I think she will continue feeding them now that she nursed the whole litter on her own this morning

 

[Nancy McClelland]

ray: Pictures?

 

[lionheaddaddy]

This will be the first night without making the mother feed the babies and the first night not putting the hot water bottle under the nest box. They are 5 days old and have had been fed at least 5 times. If she doesn't feed them tonight will they survive til morning ?

 

[lionheaddaddy]

Can't sleep thinking about it

 

[JBun]

As long as they stay warm, they should probably be ok, but check them in the morning and make sure they have nice full bellies from being fed.

 

[KittyKatMe]

If they look full now, then they should be OK until morning

 

[lionheaddaddy]

Ok they look pretty good, my question is, if she skips a feeding or two will her milk start to dry up?

 

[Hyatt101]

Hm... I don't THINK so, but not positive.