How to tell if the babies are peeing and pooping?

[sweet_buns]

We had to hold the mum down to allow one of the bubs to feed as it doesn't look like it's been getting any milk and i was trying to stimulate it to make it do it's business for about a minute but it didn't do anything. Is that because it only just got a good feed when we held the mum down so it hadn't had time to digest it yet? If so, should i get it back out and try again in a few hours or will it go on its own? It's only 1 day old, will be 2 days in about 8hrs.

EDIT: Forgot to also ask how can i tell if the rest of the babies are doing their business? There's a horrible smell that is always present when i visit breeders which i never smell with my rabbits normally, is that their pee and poo im smelling?

 

[woahlookitsme]

It might be. Rabbit urine has a very strong smell. In fact were driving to Kentucky for a big show and I'm already smelling urine in the car after one night of driving.

As for the babies I'm not sure how you can tell but what you should do is get a paper towel damp with warn water and gently rub their groins. This stimulates them to pee. I haven't had luck with hand rearing kits so I don't know how often it needs to be done but if they don't go the first time try again in 30minutes to 1hour

 

[JBun]

It could be the little baby hadn't eaten from mom yet, and that's why it wouldn't pee. Did it seem to eat well when you helped it? Usually mom is supposed to be doing the job of getting them to pee, but I worried with my one batch of babies, that she may not be doing a thorough job, so every morning after I was sure she had already fed them, I would check them all to make sure they all ate and had nice plump bellies, then I would take a cotton swab and dip it in warm water, and gently rub their belly/genital area, and within a minute or two they would pee. Just be ready cause it comes shooting out sometimes.

I agree that it's most likely the urine you were smelling. Urine has a really strong ammonia smell. And the more rabbits, the stronger the smell. If you only have a few rabbits, and keep their cages cleaned out a lot, then that's why you may not have the same problem. The kind of rabbit food you feed can also affect it to some degree.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We used cotton balls and warm water to stimulate.

 

[sweet_buns]

Thanks guys. Unfortunately the little one did not make it. =(