help please baby sickk !!

yokairis · Nov 22, 2012

hi, my 6 week old holland lop buck doesnt want to eat at all nor drink. i got him two days ago the first day i got him he was fine and was eating normally, but the second day i notice that he wasnt eating and grinding his teeth a lot, and also that he had diarrhea. i for fed him with a syringe and gave him a little bit of activia like his breeder told me and gave him water. right after i gave him the activia he started pooping normally, he has no diarrhea but he still doesnt want to eat i dont know what to do since im very new to this. please help what should i do? is he okay? maybe is stress because is a new home? :?

JBun · Nov 22, 2012

It may be from stress, but it can still be potentially fatal. Is he still grinding his teeth? Have you been feeding the same kind of food that he had at the breeders? Changing food can sometimes cause problems. Do you feed him hay? Sometimes they will still eat hay even when they won't eat their pellets. Normally you don't feed babies veggies but you need to try and entice him to eat. You could try a small piece of green leaf lettuce or a sprig of cilantro. You could also try a just a few rolled oats. If you can't get him to eat and he has stopped pooping for several hours, you need to get him to the vet immediately. Rabbits develop GI stasis which can kill them. If he is grinding his teeth, he is in pain from something. It could be from developing gas, which will cause a rabbit to stop eating. You could try giving simethicone (infant gas relief liquid). The adult dose is 1cc every hour for 3 hours and every 3-8 hours as needed after. So maybe 0.2cc's for your baby. You could also try syringe feeding him some food. You can make a pellet mash by soaking his pellets and mashing them up. You need a syringe with a large opening for this. You can also get plain canned pumpkin (not the pie filling kind), and syringe feed that. He really needs food to keep his gut moving. It's not good for them to stop eating for long. He also needs to stay hydrated. If he's not drinking then you need to syringe him water too. Do it very slowly into the side of his mouth so that he doesn't accidentally aspirate any of the liquid.

iLuvMyLilBuns · Nov 22, 2012

I got my bunny Lila when she was 5 weeks old and it was a long car trip and stressful for her. She didn't eat for the first day or so but she was fine after that I'm guessing your bun is in a situation like mine was. Don't get too worried because he might just be stressed. If he doesn't start eating in the next day or so a visit to the vet may be needed

Thumperina · Nov 23, 2012

Aren't 6 or 5 weeks old babies supposed to be eating mama's milk? (I don't mean just milk of course)

I hope he get well soon and starts to eat. Sorry for no advise.

Kipcha · Nov 23, 2012

Thumperina wrote:

Aren't 6 or 5 weeks old babies supposed to be eating mama's milk? (I don't mean just milk of course)

Babies can be weaned around 6 weeks, but it is recommended you wait until closer to 8 weeks.

What have you been feeding? I would not recommend forcefeeding more yogurt, I cannot see that helping the problem. It is simply adding a new food into the mix and with a baby this young, I would not do it.

Also, cut out any veggies or fruits ASAP.

Is he still grinding his teeth? Tooth grinding is a sign of pain.

A baby with diarrhea can be very serious and needs to be dealt with quickly.

Here is a page in the library to read on, it has tons of info - http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11935&forum_id=10

I would definitely do your best to get him eating and prevent dehydration.

Honestly, I would recommend getting him to a vet. Teeth grinding is never a good sign