Ways to Help a Rabbit Mother Feed Her Babies
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Baby rabbits are pocket-size, sugariness and furry animals that can require a lot of care. Whether you observe a nest of orphaned babies, which are likewise called kittens, or your pet rabbit has rejected her babies, you lot may need to feed the rabbits to aid them thrive. By feeding at appropriate times of the day and the proper amount and type of food, yous can help baby rabbits have a good showtime to life.
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Confirm that the mother is not feeding the kittens. Before y'all take a baby rabbit away from its female parent or call back it'due south orphaned, brand sure the mother is non feeding it or that she is a take chances to the kitten. Mother rabbits feed their kittens almost twice a twenty-four hours and but for five minutes. The babies also practise not demand the mother to keep them warm. If the babies do not seem distressed, fifty-fifty if the mother is away from them a lot, the mother is likely just taking a break and y'all should non interfere.[1]
- Neglected baby rabbits are cold, cry for more a few minutes at feeding fourth dimension, are bluish, or their skin is shriveled from dehydration.[ii]
- Some mothers may reject their babies, and in these cases yous should separate the babies from her so that she doesn't harm them.[3]
- Don't presume an unattended nest of wild infant rabbits is orphaned. Bank check on them oft before y'all take them in to feed them. If they seem content, it is unlikely that they accept been abandoned.[four]
- Only 10% of hand-reared rabbits survive, so it is better to go out them in the wild whenever possible.
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Purchase replacement milk for the baby rabbits. If you are going to feed baby rabbits, you lot'll need to purchase replacement milk for them. Rabbit milk is the most caloric of all mammals' milk, so you'll need to make sure you get the proper replacement and amounts.[5]
- Buy Kitten Milk Replacer (KMR) or goat milk to feed the babies. You tin purchase these at pet stores or sometimes at a local vet's office.[half dozen]
- You lot can supplement each tin can of KMR with one tablespoon of sugar-free 100% heavy whipping cream to increment the calories and mimic the rich mother'south milk.[7]
- You tin also supplement the KMR by adding a bit of acidophilus to the formula. This tin can help infant rabbits maintain healthy abdominal leaner.[viii] Acidophilus is available at almost health food stores.[nine]
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Buy syringes or eyedroppers for feedings. Baby rabbits won't usually eat from a bottle, so make sure to accept some sterile oral syringes or eyedroppers on hand to feed them. This will aid you control the amount the kittens eat and help mimic the size of a mother's nipple.[10]
- You tin can buy oral syringes or eyedroppers at most pharmacies. Vet's offices and pet stores may also have special options for pets.
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Mix the replacement milk formula. Baby rabbits will nurse from birth until they are virtually 6 weeks sometime, and you'll need to mix enough formula to feed them at unlike ages. By splitting the formula into two equal feedings a day, you can help ensure your baby rabbit is getting sufficient nutrition.[11]
- Recall to mix one tablespoon of 100% sugar-free heavy whipping cream with each tin of Kitten Replacement Milk.[12] You tin can too add the pinch acidophilus at this time, too.
- Newborn rabbits up to a week old get 4 – five cc formula.[xiii]
- Rabbits that are one – ii weeks sometime get 10 – 15 cc formula.[fourteen]
- Rabbits that are 2 – iii weeks erstwhile become 15 – xxx cc formula.[15]
- Rabbits that are 3 – 6 weeks old or until they are weaned get xxx cc formula.[xvi]
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Give the infant rabbit its formula. In one case you've mixed the formula, you tin can nurse your baby rabbit twice a day. It'due south important to feed them similarly to how they feed from their mothers to help them stay healthy and grow.[17]
- Mother rabbits generally feed their babies twice a day — at dawn and at sunset.[18]
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Allow the kitten to eat at its own step. It's essential that you lot let baby rabbits to feed at their ain speed. Non doing so tin suffocate or kill the kitten.[xix]
- The baby may suckle the syringe and you can gently eject a small amount of formula as they want it.[20]
- If the baby isn't suckling the syringe willingly, requite it time to adjust. Yous might desire to stimulate the kitten with a gentle eject.[21]
- You may besides want to pet your baby rabbit while feeding her for condolement.
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Stimulate defecation and urination. It'south crucial that baby rabbits defecate and urinate either before or after each feeding. This helps keep their abdominal tract and urinary system healthy and running smoothly.[22]
- You lot only need to stimulate defecation and urination for the first 10 days of a infant rabbit'south life, or until their eyes are open.[23]
- Use a cotton ball moistened with warm h2o and gently stroke the anal and genital area of the baby rabbit until it starts defecating and urinating. Go along this until the kitten is finished.[24]
- Don't worry that you're doing something wrong, this mimics the same beliefs a mother rabbit would do.[25]
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Wean your baby rabbits. Continue to feed your baby rabbit formula and solids until she is ready to wean. Depending on what type of rabbit you accept, she volition wean at anywhere from 3 – four weeks of age to ix weeks of historic period.[26]
- Domestic rabbits wean at about half dozen weeks.[27]
- Wild rabbits such as cottontails wean at 3 – 4 weeks, while jackrabbits wean at about 9 weeks.[28]
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Look until the baby'southward eyes are open. Baby rabbits may begin eating solid foods when their eyes open, at well-nigh ten days after birth. Yous tin slowly add solid foods to their formula diet until they are weaned at about vi weeks old. Don't feed baby rabbits solid foods before their optics open. Their intestinal tracts cannot handle solids before this point.[29]
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Introduce solid food. Once your rabbit's optics are open up, you can start incorporating solid food into its diet. However, domestic and wild rabbits feed on different solids, then know what kind of rabbit yous take. Both can eat oat and timothy hay and alfalfa hay; domestic can also eat pellets; wild tin can also eat vegetables.[30]
- Domestic rabbits: oat and timothy hay; alfalfa hay; pellets. Exercise Not give them vegetables.
- Wild rabbits: oat and timothy hay; alfalfa hay; fresh vegetables like nighttime leafy greens, carrot tops, parsley. Do NOT give them pellets.
- Exit the solids in the corner of their box where they tin easily consume them.[31]
- Make sure to change hay, pellets, and vegetables frequently so that they don't go bad and harbor bacteria. The vegetables should be fresh and moist.[32]
- You lot can buy hay and pellets at almost pet stores or a vet's office. Greens and carrots are readily bachelor at grocery stores or farmer's markets.
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Provide h2o for baby rabbits. In addition to formula and solid foods, consider giving your baby rabbits water. This can help continue them hydrated and feeding properly.[33]
- Don't go out a deep dish in the box. Baby bunnies can drown in deep dishes filled with water.[34]
- Make full a shallow dish with a modest amount of water and identify it in the corner of the box.[35]
- Clean and refill the water dish frequently. This can non simply aid your baby rabbits stay hydrated, simply can also help ensure that the h2o doesn't harbor whatsoever leaner.[36]
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Only handle a wild rabbit when you are feeding or yous will put it into shock and it is potentially fatal.
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Notice an piece of cake flowing syringe to give the baby bunny food or h2o.
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Put the food in his mouth slowly through the syringe can help prevent choking.
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When feeding, wrap your rabbit around in a towel to calm and relax her.
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Consult your vet if y'all are unsure of how to feed your infant rabbit.
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Weigh them daily for the beginning 2 weeks to ensure they are adding at least i ounce daily.
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Never feed the rabbit his liquid nutrient too fast through the syringe.
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Practise not underfeed or overfeed your rabbit.
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Things You'll Need
- Syringe or eyedropper
- Babe rabbit feed from your vet
- Kitten Replacement Milk or caprine animal'due south milk
- Fresh cream (optional)
About This Article
Commodity Summary X
To feed your baby rabbit for the first 6 weeks of its life, buy Kitten Milk Replacer and add i tablespoon of heavy whipping cream to each tin, since rabbit milk is naturally loftier in calories. Use a syringe or eye dropper to feed your baby rabbit twice a day. Give it 5 cc's of formula at each feeding the first week, 10-xv cc's the second week, and 15-30 cc's after that. When your babe rabbit'due south eyes are open, yous can feed it solid foods, too. Start by giving information technology oat, timothy hay, and alfalfa hay, which all rabbits tin consume. For information from our Veterinary reviewer how to feed domestic and wild baby rabbits differently, read on!
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Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Feed-Baby-Rabbits
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