Baby bunny

[It’s-just-kris]

Hey, so I got a baby bunny around 4 or 5 weeks old and I want to make sure I give it the best care I can for how young she was given to me. She stays inside no matter what. She eats romaine lettuce, I have alfalfa hay, young rabbit pellets and two dishes of water for her but she only seems to eat the lettuce and occasionally the pellets. She wasn’t in the best of care where I got her from, so I’m taking her to the vet tomorrow to make sure she is okay. Any tips on how to keep her a healthy weight, and diet? Should I be giving her some sort of formula to supplement for how young she is? How much I should be holding her? Ways to make sure she’s warm enough? I’m not entirely new to having a rabbit, I have a three year old but I’ve never had one this young and I am so scared of messing up somewhere. Any suggestions?

 

[Mariam+Theo]

First, remove the lettuce. She shouldn't have that until she is 5 months. What brand pellets? Is the main ingredient in the pellet is Alfalfa hay? I would swap the alfalfa hay that you have for her, out for Timothy Hay or Orchard hay. It is ok to hold her, but remember that rabbits should be able to come to you. Not many rabbits like being held, so allow her to crawl into your arms if she wants to. If she is inside she should stay warm. What does her cage look like?
She is so cute!

 

[AVIE]

Stinking cute!

 

[JBun]

No, don't necessarily remove the lettuce. If that is primarily what she is choosing to eat now and hardly any pellets, you don't want to remove her main food source for now. I had a baby bun that wasn't weaned properly from it's mom, and the only food she would eat at first was dark leafy lettuce, and a lot of it, because that's what the previous owners had insanely weaned her on instead of regular rabbit food and hay.

First, are the pellets you are feeding the same exact brand and type she was getting in her previous home? If not, that may be why she isn't eating these new ones very well, and I would suggest getting and feeding her the exact same pellets she was getting before. Rabbits can be very picky about food changes, and it's also not a good idea to be changing a rabbits type of food suddenly, particularly recently weaned baby rabbits who have a very sensitive digestive system and are prone to developing harmful digestive illnesses. Do you know any other foods the previous owners were feeding her, like a grass hay instead of alfalfa?

If you don't know what pellets she was getting and can't find out, or what you are feeding now are the exact same as she was getting before, then when she was weaned from the mom, do you know if she was for sure eating pellets and hay well? If the previous owners didn't wean her properly and make sure she was eating solid food well before you got her, that could be the problem you are having.

Also, baby rabbits this young often don't mind being held and may even like it as it simulates snuggling with their siblings. So if she is used to people and seems comfortable with you holding her and isn't scared, I would continue to spend time with her and hold her. It actually may be very comforting to her and help her not feel so stressed in a new home. But only if she isn't acting scared or fearful. If she will fall asleep in your arms or on your lap, she isn't scared.

 

[It’s-just-kris]

No, don't necessarily remove the lettuce. If that is primarily what she is choosing to eat now and hardly any pellets, you don't want to remove her main food source for now. I had a baby bun that wasn't weaned properly from it's mom, and the only food she would eat at first was dark leafy lettuce, and a lot of it, because that's what the previous owners had insanely weaned her on instead of regular rabbit food and hay.

First, are the pellets you are feeding the same exact brand and type she was getting in her previous home? If not, that may be why she isn't eating these new ones very well, and I would suggest getting and feeding her the exact same pellets she was getting before. Rabbits can be very picky about food changes, and it's also not a good idea to be changing a rabbits type of food suddenly, particularly recently weaned baby rabbits who have a very sensitive digestive system and are prone to developing harmful digestive illnesses. Do you know any other foods the previous owners were feeding her, like a grass hay instead of alfalfa?

If you don't know what pellets she was getting and can't find out, or what you are feeding now are the exact same as she was getting before, then when she was weaned from the mom, do you know if she was for sure eating pellets and hay well? If the previous owners didn't wean her properly and make sure she was eating solid food well before you got her, that could be the problem you are having.

Also, baby rabbits this young often don't mind being held and may even like it as it simulates snuggling with their siblings. So if she is used to people and seems comfortable with you holding her and isn't scared, I would continue to spend time with her and hold her. It actually may be very comforting to her and help her not feel so stressed in a new home. But only if she isn't acting scared or fearful. If she will fall asleep in your arms or on your lap, she isn't scared.

I have the same food as the previous owner but I don’t know for sure if she was properly weaned, my vet just called and told me that she’s only about 2 or 3 weeks old which scares me because the lady I got her from said differently. She eats the dark leafy lettuce and spinach as well I haven’t really introduced any other veggies other then that. And she is always sleeping on me weather it me in my hoodie or on my lap, she doesn’t mind being touched or handled what’s so ever. I just didn’t know if you could over handle a baby and it possibly get sick from it. The vet says she’s very healthy and she seems to be doing just fine with what we have been doing

 

[Preitler]

Definitly not 2 weeks old, really looks more like 4-5 weeks.

 

[JBun]

I agree, though I would say closer to 4 weeks.

So you have a couple options here. If she is doing well with the lettuce and it's not causing mushy poop,, you can continue feeding it. But you may have to feed a lot of it, if you can't get her eating any other foods.

First I would try a grass hay like timothy or orchard, but try and get a bag that has softer leafier stems and not as much hard crunchy stems as those might be too hard for her to chew. If she won't eat the grass hay, you could try picking fresh grass from outside. You just have to make sure it hasn't been sprayed with poisons(herbicides, pesticides) and that it isn't somewhere it would have been peed on by other animals, and isn't from a busy roadway. You may have better luck with her eating the fresh grass over dried hay since it's softer and more like the lettuce she's already been eating.

If she won't eat grass or hay, it's possible to continue with the lettuce and greens, it's just not ideal as it takes a lot of them to fill up a rabbit, even a baby, plus you have to provide a salt and mineral lick as the lettuce makes them pee a lot and you don't want their electrolytes getting off balance. And if she isn't used to being fed greens from her previous home, it does pose a risk of upsetting her digestion by adding new foods that she isn't used to from her mother. So any signs of mushy, pasty, or watery poop, the greens will probably need to be stopped immediately, or whatever green seems to be causing it.

But greens can be a temporary measure until you can get her eating pellets and hay/grass. The baby bunny that I had to feed green/red leaf lettuce to, that's all she would eat for the first week because that's what she was fed when with her mom and was weaned on. She was eating a whole head a day with me. She was only 4 weeks old too, and it was tough to get her eating other foods, but she did gradually start nibbling on pellets and hay after that first week(grass wasn't an option at the time). But then she didn't know how to drink water, so I couldn't take her off lettuce until I got her drinking. Which I actually had to put her with an older calm rabbit, to teach her how to drink. Hopefully it won't be as difficult with your baby.

The other option would be to put her back on formula(3 parts kmr powder, 3 parts water, 1 part heavy cream). But that isn't necessarily ideal either as it's not something her gut is used to and it could cause digestive upset. But if you can't get her eating pellets and hay/grass, and if the greens are causing issues, formula may be your only option.

If you can get her eating grass hay or fresh grass, that is what I would go with. If she will eat the fresh grass and it's nice and not contaminated, that's the ideal thing for her to be eating anyways, that or grass hay, but I'm not sure she will be inclined to eat hay.

 

[JBun]

And I wouldn't worry about handling her being an issue. Rarely is handling a baby going to cause health problems. There aren't many diseases that cross over from us to them. The main thing that can affect us and them, is herpes simplex virus, or cold sores, and that can be deadly to them. Also if cats are present, rabbits can contract toxoplasmosis from their feces. So as long as cold sores aren't a problem with you and you don't have cats, there shouldn't be an issue. I handled my new babies since the time they were born, but I did always wash my hands first. Washing hands is always a good practice.