What do you do if a mother rabbit rejects her baby?

Answer 1

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While in a local 4-H Club, my sisters and I raised a variety of rabbits. [At one point, we had over 77 rabbits.]

We had several different breeds of rabbits. They were raised for show, for pets, for profit and for food. Primary focus was upon show.

Most of the time, does (the mother rabbit) will provide adequate care for their young.

[A key component is making sure that you have provided a good nesting-type box, along with soft nesting materials.]

A good doe will literally pull/pluck the fur from their own coat/pelt - to provide a very soft

bedding for their young.

Candidly, not all does are good mothers. At least 30% will have some kind of problem.

(It could be because they are nervous, poor health, etc...) There is a certain percentage

that are terrible mothers.

In these extreme cases, the mothers might actually step (Yes, step!) on their tiny baby bunnies causing them to die. (Then those that have died need to be removed from the nest/cage.) If there are others still living, one needs to monitor them several times each day. It is not easy to transfer tiny bunnies from one doe to another. (Most folks do not have several does with young litters - in which they can transfer bunnies to.)

Of the extreme cases, there is another small percentage of does that will not only cause the death of the young -- some will actually attack & bite the little bunnies.

Rabbits do not "eat"" other animals -they eat vegetables/fruit/grains. When a doe

is a real bad mother, there are occasions where they might actually eat the little "live"

bunnies.

From experience, we learned that you have to remove all of the bunnies from a bad mother -- before they all wind up dead.

WHAT TO FEED SMALL BUNNIES?

1. Place them with another doe that has a litter - they might blend - it might work out.

2. If you do so, try not to handle them with your bare hands --use latex-type gloves to avoid putting your human scent on them.

3. If the bunnies are over 14 days old, you might be able to feed them a modified diet.

(The older the better.) By one month, they should be able to eat foods that have been modified for them. You would need to experiment --using a food processor -making the rabbit food pellets smaller & easier to digest. Avoid giving them lettuce. Minced carrots, etc., would be okay on a very small scale. They definity would need water.

One thing that people often overlook: Rabbits need a solid surface to rest on ---such as a board. Having just the caged screening will cause problems on the feet of the rabbits. If a cage is rough on the feet of grown rabbits --it sure does a number on the feet of little qute bunnies.

Here's another tip: When a doe is pregnant, or is about to have a litter- remove the buck from her cage. It is always best to not have the Buck (the male) living in the same cage as a litter.

Lots of info - !