IV is now Squirrel Girl.: How do you know if a mother rabbit is ignoring her babies?
I have a rabbit that has just had 5 babies. 1 died but the other 4 are fine. The mother wasn’t feeding them at first so I’m feeding them special rabbit milk but sometimes, they dont want the milk! I think the mother is still feeding them but how can I be sure? Please help me!!!
P.S. If you see the mother feeding the babies only ONCE, does it mean that she’s feeding the babies when she’s supposed to?
Answers and Views:
Answer by sandrarosette
The only way I know if is to watch her, she won’t feed them very often at first anyway, only 2-3 times per day, If they seem to be getting skinny, or the mother NEVER goes to the nest, then intervene, otherwise let her be.
If you mess with the babies too much, she will neglect them!
Feel the kit’s stomach, it should be round and full. If it’s not fed it will be sunken in and empty. Weigh the kit daily (use postage weighing scale) to see if it is gaining weight steadily. Before you handle the kits, make sure you touch the mother rabbit to get her scent on your hands. If the kits smell like you and stop smelling like the mother rabbit, she may either cannibalize the kits or abandon the kits.
Mother rabbits feed its kits for about 5 minutes per day, usually at dawn when you are sleeping. It’s hard to catch them in action unless you watch her 24/7.Answer by Katfish
I agree with the first post on the fact that mother rabbits only feed their babies 2-3 times a day. If they’re being fed, when you touch them they will be very warm and be fairly active, and if they aren’t being fed enough, they will be cool and won’t move around very much. If you are unsure if she is feeding them enough, what you can do is put the mother rabbit on her back and put the babies on top. You are going to have to hold them there for a while and they will get really active as they star feeding. Make sure that none fall off! You can do that in the morning and at night, which should be good for the first three weeks. Once they’re old enough (aprox 4 weeks), they will bug mamma for milk by themselves and will start eating hay and solid foods, so you won’t have to turn mamma over for them to feed.Answer by kuunoita
Mother rabbits only feed their kits 1-2 times per day. Most of the time it is only once per day. They do not like to have people watching when they feed them.
The best way to tell if the doe is feeding them is to check their bellies. If they are round and full looking she is taking care of them. if they are skinny and wrinkly looking she is not feeding them.
It is not good to try and supplement the kits feedings. They need their mother’s milk They will not get the nutrition from any formula. It can also be difficult to feed them as they can easily aspirate the milk into their lungs.
They are refusing the milk because either the doe is feeding them or you are trying to feed them too often.
if the doe is not feeding them then there may be something wrong with them. Most mother rabbits know when the kits are sick or have a genetic problem. They will let them die as they have something wrong with them.
Let the mother care for the kits for 2 days and check them. I think you find she is and has been caring for them. You just haven’t seen her do it because she does it when you aren’t around.
Edit- If you have seen her feed them once then more than likely she is feeding them. Check on them- hold one in your hand and look at it’s belly if it is round and full looking she is feeding them. If it looks skinny and wrinkly she is not.
Leave a Reply