Help me save my baby bunny!!

[Sarah rabbitry]

Hi guys! My doe recently had a litter of 7 baby bunnies. Three weeks later all but 1 died.
She is a bad mother, and I will NOT be letting her try again. The last baby bunny is always trying to hop out of her toat, it’s see through so she has light, and it has a lid. But she always wants out. She’s adorable and I wanna let her out, but I am scared it’ll give her too much exposure and she’ll die a few hours after. Idk. What would you do in a time like this? Let her explore or keep her safe in her cozy box??

 

[JBun]

She's 3 weeks old, this is when they start exploring. You can't keep her confined anymore. Why would she die of exposure? She has a fur coat now right? Is she outdoors alone and it's cold or something? Is she alone, in a cage, is she with mom still, what exactly are her living conditions besides being kept in a tote?

 

[Sarah rabbitry]

She's 3 weeks old, this is when they start exploring. You can't keep her confined anymore. Why would she die of exposure? She has a fur coat now right? Is she outdoors alone and it's cold or something? Is she alone, in a cage, is she with mom still, what exactly are her living conditions besides being kept in a tote?

Her mother stopped taking care of her babies, half of them died. So I took three that were left inside. She is in a quiet bedroom. One of the babies suddenly passed away three days after I took them in, then one week later another passed away. And that was just last night. I kept him in the tote with his sister and made sure to leave them alone, I didn’t want to frighten them. I love them so much that I am so scared to even let them play out of the tote. So one passed away last night and all I have left is one bunny, she scratches on the tote begging to get out, but I’m scared it will cause her to die tonight. Idk, is that weird?? Should I let her out?

 

[Catlyn]

She won't die from a little bit of exploring. It might be hypothermia from being left the only kit, some dietary reasons, or something invisible to the bare eye. If you see and hear her wanting to get out, open up the door window whatever there is, and let her come out. Just silently watch as she explores.

 

[Sarah rabbitry]

She won't die from a little bit of exploring. It might be hypothermia from being left the only kit, some dietary reasons, or something invisible to the bare eye. If you see and hear her wanting to get out, open up the door window whatever there is, and let her come out. Just silently watch as she explores.

Okay! Thank you

do you have anymore tips to help me, I am going to try as hard as possible to keep her alive, and I need all the help I can get.

 

[JBun]

If you've been syringe feeding the babies, syringe feeding carries a high risk of causing aspiration pneumonia and that would be the most likely cause of death of the one that just died. It didn't die from exposure from being indoors in a warm house. So it's the hand feeding that you need to be the most careful and cautious doing.

She needs to be able to explore now. She needs a safe confined area like a cage or blocked off area, with her food, water, and a comfy place for her to snuggle up in, like a pet bed or hidey box with bedding or hay in it. She's too old to be kept confined in a nesting box anymore.

 

[Sarah rabbitry]

Okay, she is a pu

If you've been syringe feeding the babies, syringe feeding carries a high risk of causing aspiration pneumonia and that would be the most likely cause of death of the one that just died. It didn't die from exposure from being indoors in a warm house. So it's the hand feeding that you need to be the most careful and cautious doing.

She needs to be able to explore now. She needs a safe confined area like a cage or blocked off area, with her food, water, and a comfy place for her to snuggle up in, like a pet bed or hidey box with bedding or hay in it. She's too old to be kept confined in a nesting box anymore.

She is a purebred dwarf lionhead, so less than a handful of a bunny. Sooo tiny. What do you mean by hand feeding? I am syringe feeding her atm. She nibbles on pellets and veggies. What should I be feeding her?

 

[Sarah rabbitry]

Now I’m scared to syringe feed her...

 

[JBun]

Hand feeding and syringe feeding, same thing. Just that mom isn't nursing them. You just need to be careful, go slowly and give her time to chew and swallow each little bit of milk. Don't go to fast or force the milk, that's when they can accidentally breath it into their lungs.

If you just started veggies and there are any signs of mushy poop, you should probably not feed them yet. If she has had veggies for several days and she doesn't have mushy poop, it may be ok. But usually when they haven't grown up eating them with their mom, it's best to wait until they're 8-12 weeks old to introduce veggies, because they don't have the proper gut bacteria to handle veggies very well yet. And when they are started, they need to be introduced one at a time and starting in small amounts.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/greens--veggies.html
Usually new baby buns should be started off having free fed grass hay like timothy or orchard, and a good quality pellet. But a good quality grass hay is the best and most important thing for them to start munching on when they start eating solid food. It's the safest and least disruptive to their delicate gut bacteria.

 

[Sarah rabbitry]

Hand feeding and syringe feeding, same thing. Just that mom isn't nursing them. You just need to be careful, go slowly and give her time to chew and swallow each little bit of milk. Don't go to fast or force the milk, that's when they can accidentally breath it into their lungs.

If you just started veggies and there are any signs of mushy poop, you should probably not feed them yet. If she has had veggies for several days and she doesn't have mushy poop, it may be ok. But usually when they haven't grown up eating them with their mom, it's best to wait until they're 8-12 weeks old to introduce veggies, because they don't have the proper gut bacteria to handle veggies very well yet. And when they are started, they need to be introduced one at a time and starting in small amounts.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/greens--veggies.html
Usually new baby buns should be started off having free fed grass hay like timothy or orchard, and a good quality pellet. But a good quality grass hay is the best and most important thing for them to start munching on when they start eating solid food. It's the safest and least disruptive to their delicate gut bacteria.

Thank you so much for this information! I will be changing a lot of things.