Rex runt baby

[lisaandfluffy]

Hello. I’m getting a baby rex rabbit next weds and I need some advice. She’ll be 6 weeks old this Friday and is still drinking regularly from mom bunny. The people selling her breed them for meat and 4h (I live in a very rural mountain town where most people don’t see rabbits as pets). This little bunny is the runt. She’s been half the size of every bunny in her litter since birth. Despite this she’s growing slowly and steadily and seems active according to the people who have her. I spoke to them and they agreed to let me buy her. They set weds (next, not this coming) as the day I can bring her home. I asked them to keep her until she self weans from moms milk but they said no.
I’ve got my quarantine area set up for her with lots of lovely soft things to cuddle, bunny beds, she’ll have fresh hay and water etc. But is there anything else I should be aware of to take care of a such a tiny baby? I’ll attach a pic of her with her siblings to show the major difference. She’s the tiny one cuddled up with mom rabbit. The owners say she’s always with the mom.
She will be seeing the bunny vet but not until Friday and let me tell you two days feels like forever lol so I want to be armed with as much knowledge as possible on runts and any tips or tricks anyone has learned through experience.
Thus far she has been kept in the typical outdoor above ground wire rabbit pens outside. Other than what I’ve said I have no other info on her.

 

[lisaandfluffy]

…

 

[JBun]

With new rabbits, especially baby rabbits, it's important to start off feeding the exact same foods it's used to as it settles in, before starting to transition to the pellets and other food you want to feed, except if the current food is causing serious digestive problems. Then a diet change may be necessary. There's also the exception of starting the bunny on a good quality grass hay, as good quality grass hay is usually well tolerated and rarely causes digestive problems. So I would recommend starting a good grass hay immediately.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bringing-your-rabbit-home.html
You want to make sure you're given 2 weeks of transition feed from who you're getting the bunny from, of the same brand and variety the rabbit is used to eating. After the rabbit has had a couple days to settle in eating it's usual pellets, then a very gradual transition to the new pellets can be started and gradually changed over the next 2-3 weeks. It's important to closely monitor and ensure the bunny is eating well, as a stressed bunny may stop eating.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/feeding.html
If the bunny didn't grow up eating veggies with the mom rabbit, it's usually recommended to wait until 12 weeks old to start adding any veggies in, gradually and one at a time. I would recommend  not feeding any sugary high carb foods until the bunny is 12 weeks old, due to baby rabbits underdeveloped digestive system and being prone to developing digestive illness from those sugars upsetting their gut microflora. Being recently weaned and the potential stress of a new home, can make them especially prone to this.

Baby rabbit diet

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/greens--veggies.html
Free feed a good quality(never been wet, no mold, no noxious weeds, not too dusty) grass hay, like timothy, orchard, etc. Offer a shallow water dish, even if the bun is used to drinking from a bottle. They drink better and more from a dish, and water bottles ball valves can sometimes get stuck.

Other than diet, managing the bunny's stress levels is extremely important. A very stressed recently weaned bunny, will be more susceptible to stopping eating and getting sick. If the bunny is nervous around people, I would put the bunny in a more quiet area to settle in. I would recommend not picking up the bunny if at all possible, as this can further stress a nervous rabbit. Bunnies can learn to tolerate being picked up, but I would recommend waiting until you have a good bond with your bun, and only pick up when absolutely necessary, unless you have one of those rare buns that actually wants to be held.

If the bunny is scared of people, take it slow and give the bunny the space it needs to settle in and feel comfortable. When you feel the bun is settled enough and/or the bun is used to people and acting interested and curious about you, then you can try to start bonding with your bun, by sitting with your bun in a pen or small area. Then sit there reading, using your phone, etc, and let your bun approach in it's own time.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-with-your-bunny.html
Make sure the bunny is eating and drinking well, and has healthy looking poop, as lack of appetite and abnormal changes in poop, are one of the first and best indicators there is a potential health problem with rabbits. Also it's good to monitor the bunny's body condition, to ensure it's not losing weight.

https://bunssb.org/bunnies/guide-bunny-poops
Monitoring your rabbits weight

With the bunny being a runt, you may want to have your vet do a fecal float test to rule out intestinal parasites as the cause. I knew one girl that had a small slow growing baby bun, that was treated with fenbendazole for parasites, and it started catching up in size to it's siblings after that. Also getting the bun on good quality pellets may help. I had a runt bunny, that caught up in size after I got her and put her on a good diet. So being a runt can sometimes be from a treatable health or diet problem.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Veterinary_emergencies
https://rabbit.org/veterinarians/

 

[Blue eyes]

So do you still have the other rabbit you got about 4 months ago? Are you planning/hoping to bond the two rabbits? Just checking in case you are not aware that rabbits don't always get along. Females can be particularly territorial. If you do still have the other rabbit, she would be about the age when those hormones kick in making things potentially more problematic.