Help, rabbit babies not feeding !!

[aylinox]

June 1 my 5 month old rabbit had seven babies. She had made a nest in her cage, but I read that the nest should be somewhere clean and her cage was dirty so I moved them into a new nest in a clean cage for them. At first she would jump on them, but lately she just lays down near them and kind of seems to ignore them. I wanted to make sure she realized her babies were there with her, so I reached my hand into the part of the cage where they are and she would nudge my hand away from them.

I have been checking on the babies every other hour to make sure they are okay. Today I noticed that three babies are really small and feel cold but a little warm, so a lukewarm feeling, another three feel warm and have bigger bellies, and one is cold but sort of has a belly. I'm wondering what could be going on, are they being fed enough or should I intervene and buy the formula that baby bunnies can eat? This is the first time I had baby bunnies, and I just want to make sure they are okay because I am really concerned about the three smaller ones.

I also noticed on Baby #5, (from the pictures below), there is some black marks on them and I am not sure what that could be.


Baby #1

Baby #2

Baby #3

Baby #4

Baby #5


Baby #6

Baby #7

 

[Preitler]

I don't mess around with litters, I check once if there are dead ones in the nest, don't even count them, remove/replace soiled bedding and fur, and leave the nest alone for some days, I would be worried that I would tire the kits (every disturbance is loss of heat and energy), stress the doe and mess up her behaviour that is vagually directed by instincts, first timers have a harder time getting everything right anyway. You can't do much now anyway, handfeeding doesn't have a great success rate at that age.

There is the possibility to feed them on the doe, like putting those that need it on a towel between your legs, and hold the doe over them. Didn't work for me because the doe wasn't used to be handled and kept fighting, injuring one kit, I got better results with taking the fatties out.

When you are sure some got fed at least twice you can take them out for one feeding so the others get a better chance at the milkbar, but it's important to keep them warm. Their digestion doesn't work if they are too cold.

Is there enough fur in the nest? They should be well covered, not visible from the outside. If not, you can use drier lint, cotton wool, or such to insulate the nest. You could also pluck fur from the does breast and belly, if it doesn't stress her out, it should come off quite easily.

 

[irishgal@heart3]

They are so cute! Looks like you got some very good advise from Preitler, knows more than I do. Good Luck, keep us updated please. Love to see them.

 

[JBun]

The dark spots on the skin could be bruising from the mom stepping on them, or even from the birthing process. Don't worry about mom paying attention to them, mom buns normally ignore the babies except for feeding, once or twice a day. If you haven't already, I would provide a nest box filled with hay and lined with the moms fur, for the babies. This can be as simple as a cardboard box high enough to keep the babies in but low enough for mom to hop in to feed. This helps keep the babies contained and from wandering away from the group(missing out on nursing time, and getting chilled) when it's time for mom to come feed. If there continues to be a danger of the mom injuring them, I would remove the nest box with the babies and only return the babies in the morning and evening for feeding time.

The ones with the fat bellies managed to eat. The ones that are wrinkly need to eat. I would hold mom(have someone help if possible) and either bring the wrinkly babies up underneath through your legs to feed, or carefully flip her over and lay them on her belly to feed. This has to be done very carefully as if mom struggles or kicks out, she could severely injure the babies. I would do this on the floor or near the floor with cushioning underneath if possible, so that if mom struggles and a baby falls, it won't fall very far.

If you absolutely cannot get the wrinkly babies to feed from the mom and feel like waiting will risk their lives, hand feeding is possible but very risky because of the high likelihood of aspiration occurring. So it's really the last resort. I would start with plain children's pedialyte, to help get their electrolytes up as they are likely weak and dehydrated. Then for the formula I prefer 3 parts powdered kmr, 3 parts warm sterile water, 1 part cream(non sweetened), and a pinch of benebac plus probiotics. Or if you can get the fox valley feeding formula(amazon). The babies need to be warm to eat. If they are chilled then I would carefully rewarm them against my skin or using a warm pack, but not too hot and overheat.
https://www.2ndchance.info/bunnies.htm (formula info)
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html
https://www.cottontails-rescue.org.uk/health/hand-rearing/

https://flashsplace.webs.com/accidentallitters.htm