Hi guys....so youknow me...can't let an animal die. I'll give you the short story...I run a summer camp and one of the kids has 2 rabbits who continuously mate and then kill their own babies...i tried to tell the lady that it was because 1. the mother is too young and 2. the dad is in the cage and the mother is most likely afraid of him so instinct tells her to abandon them. Anyway...so jokingly I said "it needs bottle fed..bring it to me and i'll do it" and of course the lady brought it to me with in the hour. (weird situation and i felt uncomfortable telling them to keep it)
It is 2 days old. Has only ate from mom 1 time as far as they know. I got some formula from the pet store and he/she is sleeping in a warm fabric lined wicker basket with a warm water bottle wrapped in a towel and towels on the bottom of the basket. She/he has eaten a little of the formula and I got it to pee one time by stimulating his/her belly with a warm cotton ball. I am doing my best to clean my hands and disifect the syringe before I touch the bunny.

Any tips???? I will cry if he/she doesn't make it. I included pics

Oh my goodness!

I don't personally know much ... but it sounds like your doing all right for now ...

I will ask my sister when she gets here in about an hour and a half, she knows a lot more about such things then I do ...

Hope s/he makes it for ya ... looks like it will be gorgeous!

Awww, poor baby! When he's a little bigger, you can actually burp him. Hold him with his tummy facing your palm and his little head and front paws between your thumb and forefinger, with his chin and paws resting on your hand. Rub and pat and rub and pat his back and he'll burp or potty or both. Might be a good idea to put paper towels on your lap below him ...

After my experience with poor little Mortimer, I'm going to be rooting really hard for your bunny to make it and thrive! He probably can't eat lots at a sitting, so you'll have to offer formula every hour or two until you can get him on a schedule and he can hold enough to fill up his tummy. You can probably feel his tummy to see if it's nice and round after a meal so you know whether he had enough. When he's around four weeks old, you can start giving him soft food. I raised a couple of puppies who learned to eat baby cereal and canned puppy food at three weeks, and it helped keep them full. Watch his poop to make sure he doesn't get diarrhea. That means his food is too rich.

If I didn't have these two dogs, I'd love to have a bunny. They're so sweet.

Oh he's so adorable

How irresponsible of those people to continually breed like that

Chances are the reason the babies never make it is not only because the parents are still together...but chances are they are siblings as well.

Remember that rabbits can't burp or for lack of better word...fart so you need to be very watchful about making sure the animal is stimulated to poop and pee... A warm wash cloth works great, Rub its genital area until it goes. After you feed the baby wait like 10 minutes and then stimulate it. Babies that young are usually kept covered by the mom having pulled a lot of her fur out from her stomach and dulap and that helps keep the babies warm when momma is off the nest. So keep the baby covered in such a way that it can still wiggle and move but can still be covered. Babies eyes are very sensative to the light until they are open so you need to make sure that they are protected and not held up to the bright light.

THe babie should be fed 4 to 6 times a day to start. Just a few CC's at a time very simialar to a kitten. And the formula should be about 98 degree's. As soon as the babie's eyes are open start offering the baby a little bit of Timothy hay and have it available at all times. They start munching on hay as soon as their eyes are open but they still need to be bottle fed until they are about 6 to 8 wks old just like a kitten. As they grow you can start introducing pellets to the baby...14% protien type pellets.

Keep in mind what I said earlier...rabbbits can not expel gas...so its important not to feed them food that produces gas. So no cabbage. Easy on carrots etc. A little is fine but not a lot. They love apples, but again in small quantities. Broccoli is fine in small quantites but not cauliflower, fresh green beans and peas are fine as well. If fed too much gas producing food they can actually bloat and die.

Same rules apply for seeds as for birds...meaning no cherry pits, apple seeds, peach pits etc.

Hope this little bunny survives...they can make great pets...

Tell your neighbors that they Can have bunnies spayed and neutered. Vets are more willing to neuter than spay but it can be done. I've had 3 or 4 males neutered and it does help with them spraying and humping so let them know that.

You can litter box train rabbits, and they do quite well with them but they have to be fairly low fronted so its easy for them to get in and out.

wow....sooooo tiny. Best of luck to you!

I am sorry ... but I totally forgot to talk to my sister about this ...

it looks like you got lots of good advice though ... please keep us updated!

WoW, I don't know what to say. My kids had hamsters that had babies and the parents always fed them. I hope this little one makes it. I think you are doing wonderful....

Did the baby end up making it? I don't understand people like that - Why would you keep them together if they keep breeding? I remember when I was a kid I had gerbils, and the person said they were both females - however soon we had a batch of babies, they took care of them and fed them - but we seperated the gerbils after that to avoid that again. If nothing else, they should for sure have them both neutered and spayed.

Looking for an update....

You can go on the internet and put in Orphaned Rabbit Care. You will get lots of advice on how to feed them etc.Hope he makes it.Also call the nearest Wild-life Rescue they will help you.(Get the No. from your vet)

I'll try to avoid making a crack about the rabbits owners & why they should keep their bunnies seperated.

I wanted to point out that mother bunnies often appear to be ignoring their offspring but they naturally only feed their babies about 2 times a day and often tuck the babies into a nest and leave it (providing they have the space to do that). They are not like many other mammals where they spend long hours with the babies. This is often why someone thinks the bunnies are neglected.

Here's a good site on feeding & care: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html

How's the little one doing?

Thanks guys. The mother was not caring for them at all. The rest of the litter had already died. This is her 5th litter and non of them have survived. Unfortunately this baby did not make it either. I have not been able to accept it yet, I know he didn't have much of a chance with out his mothers milk but it still hurts Anyway, thanks for the help.

I'm soooo sorry! I know what it feels like to lose a really young baby, I lost four kittens that were a little over a week old (I think they were 2 days old when I got them). It was the hardest thing I've ever been through. Really sad. I just wanted to say I'm sorry...*hugs*

Give yourself plenty of time to grieve, it's okay.

I'm sorry to hear he didnt make it too.