Baby rabbits

[irishbunny]

paul2641 wrote:

LADS I brought suki up to see would see let them suckle(I am all bitten and scratched up) Anyway we spent a good 15 min at it.The one missing an ear latched onto a nipple and sucked, I don't know did s/he get anything. Bad news is that the one with the bruising wouldn't go near the nipple he went on it for a second and pulled away. I am not going to give the supplement to them from 8.00am to 12.00am tomarrow so they will be hungry for mommas milk. Is this good?

That's good that one of them suckled, I would give your idea a try anyway, someone might come on and say not to but I think it's ok. The one that didn't latch on might have something wrong with it, didn't you say it had internal bruising? How is it doing when your hand feeding?

 

[paul2641]

irishbunny wrote:

paul2641 wrote:

LADS I brought suki up to see would see let them suckle(I am all bitten and scratched up) Anyway we spent a good 15 min at it.The one missing an ear latched onto a nipple and sucked, I don't know did s/he get anything. Bad news is that the one with the bruising wouldn't go near the nipple he went on it for a second and pulled away. I am not going to give the supplement to them from 8.00am to 12.00am tomarrow so they will be hungry for mommas milk. Is this good?

That's good that one of them suckled, I would give your idea a try anyway, someone might come on and say not to but I think it's ok. The one that didn't latch on might have something wrong with it, didn't you say it had internal bruising? How is it doing when your hand feeding?

It's doing great when I bottle feed it. I hope these last to survive I've already lost 4. I'm now spending some quality time with sukura(my baby). I don't see anything to bad with not bottle feeding them for a few hours it's only missing 1 meal. Ohh and polly I'm defo going to get them to suckle again.

 

[irishbunny]

Looks like your trying to patch everything up which is good, spending quality time with all your rabbits is good, try it with Suki too, I bet shes not aggresive outside of her cage. Princess bites me when I put my hand in her cage and attacks my leg when I go in her run, it's just a territorial thing and don't be surprised if Sukura starts acting liking Suki, alot of does are that way once they are mature. Her beingaggresive is nothing personal towards you, it's just her hormones and instincts and if you do start breeding, your going to meet alotmore does just like her.

Outside of her territory, me and Princess have a great relationship, I groom her and she grooms me, rabbits can pick things up and if your sending negative vibes towards Suki, she'll know, it would make a whole lot more difference if you treated her with respect, like I do with Princess. You just have to accept that Suki is the way she is and so are many more un-spayed does.

 

[polly]

Good luck Paul I hope it works out and these 2 survive for you.

 

[Baby Juliet]

I find it very hard to get a rabbit out the front door of a cage but have no problem getting hold of the back and picking rabbit out the top door.

Keep trying to get the mother to nurse but only a few minutes twice a day. I usually keep the kits in a box seperate from the mom. Each day I put mom in the nest box. When she's finished she goes outdoors again. This way I know the kits are getting fed. If they are together it's unlikely you'll time it so you see them feeding.

You might have tried too hard and stressed the mom. If you left her alone and just try once or twice a day to get her to feed she may be less bitchy. Either she'll let the kits feed or not.

When I had my first rabbit I harrass her all day because well meaning people said they needed company. Some rabbits need quiet time to themselves and don't really want constant human contact. If your mother or girl friend were to hug you every hour you'll probably find it pretty annoying.

 

[paul2641]

Were exactly do you rub them to get them to go toilet?, Is it the stomach? It just came to me what I thought to be bruising could be just the markings of a charley seeing as the mother is a charley.They have really round heads. I just fed them again on the supplement. And I will feed them again in 3 hours.

 

[PepnFluff]

Get a tissue orcotton ball and dip it in warm water then on the babies privates rub them gently with which should stimulate them to go pees and poops the mum usually licks them to make them go but this just replicates it.

 

[Happi Bun]

Just remember overfeeding is a leading cause of death with orphaned babies and it results in fatal intestinal disease.

To answer your question I will post a section from the HRS website:

After each feeding it is important to make the bunny defecate and urinate (until their eyes are open) to keep the intestinal tract and urinary system running smoothly. Use a cotton ball moistened with warm water and gently stroke the anal area until the bunny starts producing stool and urine and keep stroking until the bunny stops. You are reproducing the behavior of the mother rabbit who would lick her young to stimulate them to go to the bathroom and to keep the nest clean.

You should really check it out, it answers all questions regarding hand rearing baby rabbits. What you should and should not do, etc.

http://www.rabbit.org/care/orphan.html

 

[BlueGiants]

I'm so sorry I missed all this! (Darn computer problems!) I'm sorry your doe has given you so much trouble. As Peg said, not all rabbits make good pets. And first time momma's can get so confused. You need to have patience and understanding.

Paul, moisten a cotton ball in warm water and gently stroke their belly and privates. Have patience, you may need to do it for a few minutes, until they figure out what their supposed to do. The cotton ball will turn yellow if they "go". I would also recommend using a clean cotton ball dipped in warm water to clean their faces. Formula usually is sticky and can cause skin problems if not cleaned up.

Even thought the formula is not as good as mother's milk, I wouldn't feed more than every 6 hours (4 times a day).

paul2641 wrote:

I read just there that If I have to hand rear the babies I shouldadd the chain poos (if any of my rabbits have them) and add them into the formula shoud I do this?

Don't worry about that for now. You will want to try doing that when they are about 3 weeks old, and you will want to use the soft, "grape cluster" cecotropes from a healthy doe. (Even from momma, if you can.)

 

[Starlight Rabbitry]

Can you post pictures of the babies? Especially the "bruised" one. They could indeed be markings.

Sharon

 

[irishbunny]

How are the babies and Suki today?

 

[paul2641]

Momma was very good today. She has let me feed the babies off her twice, the reason I fed them twice off her was because there getting very little only suckling for a minute at A time. I really think it's just a marking because the father roger has them on kis body too. I'm also still bottle feeding just not as much. And I am rubbing there stomachs with a hot cotten swab. I don't always do It till they go but they have weed and pood.

 

[paul2641]

irishbunny wrote:

How are the babies and Suki today?

Still have 2 left. One is a better eater then the other(one with half an ear) the other one with full ears is a bit of a wiggler but doesn't really eat.

 

[Becca]

Look Paul, I'm sorry for before I was a bit snappy last night with everyone and anybody that got in my way LOL!

Soooo Good luck with the other 2 babies and Suki, keep us updated

 

[paul2641]

Hi I was wondering when I go back to school. Will this set up be ok to feed the babies.

5 in the morning by mother

6.50 in the morning by mother

and then next feed

5pm my mother

is that gap too much if so I'll find someone to feed them inbetween

 

[paul2641]

Becca wrote:

Look Paul, I'm sorry for before I was a bit snappy last night with everyone and anybody that got in my way LOL!

Soooo Good luck with the other 2 babies and Suki, keep us updated

OMG Becca don't worry. I did say stupid things.

 

[irishbunny]

If you feed them off their mother all the time and no hand feedingthen you'll only have to do it 2-3 times a day, like they would if they were with their mother full time. Lot's of breeders do that in the winter, they take the babies in and just bring them out twice a day to be fed. If it's possible to feed them just off their mother you'd get alot more sleep and the babies would get a way higher chance of survivel. How are you getting on with feeding from the doe?

 

[paul2641]

irishbunny wrote:

If you feed them off their mother all the time and no hand feedingthen you'll only have to do it 2-3 times a day, like they would if they were with their mother full time. Lot's of breeders do that in the winter, they take the babies in and just bring them out twice a day to be fed. If it's possible to feed them just off their mother you'd get alot more sleep and the babies would get a way higher chance of survivel. How are you getting on with feeding from the doe?

It's going good, But they won't stay on themother for more then 2 min.

 

[TinysMom]

It doesn't take long for babies to nurse - as long as they have ping pong bellies - they are getting fed.

 

[paul2641]

TinysMom wrote:

It doesn't take long for babies to nurse - as long as they have ping pong bellies - they are getting fed.

The bellies arn't really skinny but not to big, Is that ok?