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BonniesMomma

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, Michigan, USA
Hi. I have a rabbit, Bonnie, who had five bunnies about seven days ago. Bonnie is attacking them and not feeding them. One has already died, and one is getting close. I bought some KMR and only one of them will eat. I've tried about three times and they are not eating. What should I do???
 
First off, you can't leave the mom in with the babies, you should bring her to them twice a day for feeding and then take her away. Hold her over the babies, give her a treat to distract her. They don't eat for very long.

Can you do that?


sas :clover:
 
Really try to get them to eat the mother's milk, the KRF isn't very good for them. Other formulas are somewhat better, but the mother's milk is really necessary for survival and long-term health.

Make sure she is lactating properly and that her teats aren't inflamed, leaky or a brownish color.

Is she a first time mom? What breed is she?


sas :?
 
Her teats look normal, and yes shes a first time mother. When i bought her in May the breeder didnt say what kind she was. But shes small, all black, with medium sized ears if that helps..
 
I am no bunny expert BUT I do work with a small rescue where we get babies in that are days old that are taken from mamma and then solds as pocket pets :( Anyways, the lady who runs the rescue has me feed the babies 2 times a day with a syringe (I think it is a 3 CC syringe with no needle) and we mix KMR http://www.bizrate.com/cat-supplies/kmr-kitten-milk-replacement/ powdered form and we mix it with one scoop milk powder to 2 scoops warm water. The milk should be warm to touch but not hot. We give them as much as they will take 2 times a day. If I remember correctly she likes to give them about 12 CC's or so each feeding (but I could be wrong on this amount). We also use a warm heating disc to keep them warm. A SnuggleSafe is what we use and put it on one side of the cage where the babies are. Just make sure they can get off of it if need be.
As for feeding, often times they do not want to eat at frist bc they do not like the syringe but if you position it correctly they usually take. I try to put it towards the side of the mouth and insert there first if they won't take it when I put it up to them from the front of the mouth. Also, I do not know how big they are but the way we hold them while feeding is where there back is against my belley and my hand (palm area) supports their tummy. I position their front paws in between my finger. They really like feeling secure so I am always seated when feeding them. I will get a camera and take a pic for you. Hang tight.
 
If their is any way you can distract the mom to allow those babies to nurse from her 2 times perday it is WAY beter than to try to make your own formula.
There is a formular out there using KMR but there is another formula that is much better; i just need to find out.
 
If a lactating mother is available, then I would make every attempt to get the babies to feed from her. Hand feeding is very hard and many baby rabbits do not make it when hand fed. Even if you can get the babies by for another week or two with mom feeding under close supervision, they will be much, much better off than if they get no more of mom's milk.

Put all the babies in a nesting box. Put an inch or two of shavings or soft bedding in the bottom, then put lots of hay on top tightly compacted. Make a fist sized hole in the middle and put the babies with any fur or other nesting materials in the hole.

Then, once the babies are in the nest box, put mom directly over them with her belly centered over the babies. Give her some yummy treats and keep distracted from the babies (pet her and try to keep her calm). Do this three times a day to get her milk flowing nicely and to get her used to the babies nursing. Once she figures out that it helps relieve the pressure in her mammary glands she should start doing it willingly.

How exactly is she attacking the babies? Is she biting them and making them bleed? Is she getting annoyed with them when they come out of the nest box? What exactly is she doing to be aggressive towards the babies?

It may be that the babies need to be keep away from mom except at feeding times when you closely supervise her.

If you are not allowing her to clean the babies while feeding them because you fear she will hurt them, then you need to clean them yourself after nursing. Use a cotton ball and warm water to gently clean their privates and try to get them to pee or poop.

If you absolutely cannot get mom to sit still and nurse the babies while sitting on top, you can try to flip her over and hold one baby at a time to her nipples. You should do this with two people though, one to hold mom and one to hold the baby, because one strong wiggle or kick from mom can send a baby flying. Do not worry if the babies go franticly from one nipple to another, that is normal and they are getting milk, they just like to switch around to different nipples.

Also, if the babies have not eaten in a day or more, then you should worry about hydrating them first. Use some unflavoured pedialyte and feed that to them to get them perked up again so they can try nursing from mom. Dehydrated babies will not suckle.

--Dawn
 
I tried putting her in with the babies, but she bit me and went after them. They ate some this morning, now their resting. When she attacks them she bites, scratches, there is one baby with no foot on its back leg, one is so bad im afraid it wont make it. Its everytime she is able to get to them, and i dont know why.
 
Wow, that is really unfortunate. I have never heard of a rabbit being this aggressive with her babies.

Is there any way you could have someone help you so that she can be held and babies put to her nipples? Even with just one feeding a day from mom, the babies would do so much better. The person holding mom should perhaps be wearing long sleeves and some leather gloves.

Make sure they stay hydrated. Give them some plain unflavoured pedialyte, as much as they will take. A dehydrated baby will not suckle or eat very well. Keeping their hydration up is almost more important than getting food to them. Hydrate first, food second.

-Dawn
 
Suppliment with the KMR to keep the babies alive, but if you can keep putting the babies to her nipples, she will start producing more. The act of nursing will stimulate her mammary glands to produce more milk, so if you can have the babies nurse a couple of times a day, they will still be better off than being only on KMR.

What happened that makes you think she has no milk? If the babies where frantically going from nipple to nipple and only suckling for a few seconds, that is completely normal and they will always to that. Baby rabbits are always super frantic when feeding and scramble from nipple to nipple.

Even if she is only producing a very small amount, that small amount will be a huge help to the babies. Rabbit milk is much more nutrient and fat rich than most other mammals. KMR or other milks just don't come close to the proper nutrient and fat values.

-Dawn
 
When i flipped her over, her nipples were very red and they looked swollen, but I've never seen normal rabbit nipples so i cant be sure. And when my mother squeezed her nipple, nothing came out.
 
aurora369 wrote:
If a lactating mother is available, then I would make every attempt to get the babies to feed from her. Hand feeding is very hard and many baby rabbits do not make it when hand fed. Even if you can get the babies by for another week or two with mom feeding under close supervision, they will be much, much better off than if they get no more of mom's milk.

Put all the babies in a nesting box. Put an inch or two of shavings or soft bedding in the bottom, then put lots of hay on top tightly compacted. Make a fist sized hole in the middle and put the babies with any fur or other nesting materials in the hole.

Then, once the babies are in the nest box, put mom directly over them with her belly centered over the babies. Give her some yummy treats and keep distracted from the babies (pet her and try to keep her calm). Do this three times a day to get her milk flowing nicely and to get her used to the babies nursing. Once she figures out that it helps relieve the pressure in her mammary glands she should start doing it willingly.

How exactly is she attacking the babies? Is she biting them and making them bleed? Is she getting annoyed with them when they come out of the nest box? What exactly is she doing to be aggressive towards the babies?

It may be that the babies need to be keep away from mom except at feeding times when you closely supervise her.

If you are not allowing her to clean the babies while feeding them because you fear she will hurt them, then you need to clean them yourself after nursing. Use a cotton ball and warm water to gently clean their privates and try to get them to pee or poop.

If you absolutely cannot get mom to sit still and nurse the babies while sitting on top, you can try to flip her over and hold one baby at a time to her nipples. You should do this with two people though, one to hold mom and one to hold the baby, because one strong wiggle or kick from mom can send a baby flying. Do not worry if the babies go franticly from one nipple to another, that is normal and they are getting milk, they just like to switch around to different nipples.

Also, if the babies have not eaten in a day or more, then you should worry about hydrating them first. Use some unflavoured pedialyte and feed that to them to get them perked up again so they can try nursing from mom. Dehydrated babies will not suckle.

--Dawn

Ditto Dawn's post... and best wishes on raising your litter.

Denise:goodluck
 
Is there any way you can get some pictures of her nipples for us? She might possibly have mastitis (infected mammary glands). That would explain why she suddenly turned on the babies because it is very, very painful.

If she does have mastisis, then do not have the babies feed on her. The infected milk can kill the babies.

With a lactating doe, her nipples will swell up and become more prominent as they fill with milk. So, they could be normal for a lactating doe.

Pictures really would help, then we can tell if it is just normal swelling from milk production or if it looks like infection.

-Dawn
 

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