Baby Bunny Care Tips (9 Newborn Pet Facts, Age Chart with Pictures) - Petsial (2024)

When baby bunnies are born, you’re instantly their caregiver. It not a hard job, but there are many important rabbit care tips you need to know. Actually, I get asked a lot about how the baby bunny caregiver. Here are my suggested baby bunny care tips.

First of all, if your pet rabbit is pregnant, put a little nest box into her cage or hutch. A few days before she gives birth, the mother rabbit will pull out some of her fur to line the nest. You can also add straw or hay. If the mother hasn’t made a nest, you should do that for her. Mother rabbits carry their babies or kits anywhere from 27 to 30 days depending upon the breed of rabbit. They can birth up to 14 babies at once. Because of the large number of kits born at once, sometimes a baby bunny needs a little extra care to survive.

Development Age Growth Chart ForBaby Bunnies

Baby bunnies grow and develop quickly. Here’s what you can except for the first two months of your baby bunny’s life.

Newborn to Two Weeks 0-2

Baby bunnies are nursed, cared for by the mother rabbit(doe). Babies tend to stay in nest even though they might wiggle around. Check them daily to be sure they’re growing and gaining weight.

Two to Four Weeks 2-4

The nest box can be removed from the rabbit’s cage. The babies are moving around a lot, leaving the nest. At this age, they are susceptible to infections in the gut and eyes. If they fall out of the nest they can sometimes not find their way back so keep an eye on them. The babies will start to nibble on hay and pellets. Around ten days of age, baby rabbits will start eating their mother’s cecotropes. Cecotropes or night feces, as they’re called, is clustered soft gel-like fecal matter. It’s round like a berry. They’re full of proteins, vitamins, and fiber. Cecotropes are an essential part of a rabbit’s diet. The mother’s cecotropes provide nutrition and actually inoculate the babies gut with important flora that’s needed to digest their diet that’s changing from only milk to milk and solid foods.

Five to Eight Weeks 5-8

The kits will eat a lot, and grow like crazy. There are differing opinions about the best age to wean baby bunnies. Many breeders wean as early as 5 weeks, but those who oppose say it’s too early for the bunnies to stop nursing since nursing provides the necessary antibodies the baby needs. At this age babies often hop out of the nest repeatedly so breeders feel this is a sign they’re ready to leave.

Tips For Caring For Baby BunniesAt Birth

Babybunnies, or kits, are born with their eyes close, deaf and without hair.They’ve been described as looking like a small purple rodent. When a kit isborn, the first thing you need to do is to check each bunny in the litter. Pickup each bunny to feel if it’s warm. They are born without any hair. So,this isimportant since the babies will die if they get cold. If there’s a dead baby,take this one away from the litter, but sometimes when baby bunnies get coldthey go into a sort of hibernation. You can actually try to resuscitate them.First, try to warm them up. You can put them next to your skin on your chest orstomach so that your body temperature warms them. Some people recommend putting their bodies inwarm water, keeping their head above water of course. Dry them off with a towelonce they start moving. Other bunny caregivers have used hair dryers to warm upa cold, dead looking bunny. Once they are warm, they can join their litter inthe nest.

Next, give each bunny a once over to see if they have any missing body parts or have physical injuries. After you’ve done these few simple things, put each baby back in the nest.

Themother rabbit will take over caring for her baby bunnies. Nursing doesn’t beginright away, usually it’s at least 24 hours later. Mother rabbits don’t lie downin their nest to nurse like a dog might. Instead, she stands over the babybunnies to nurse them. She also cleans them, licking their bellies and bottomsto help stimulate elimination. Be sure to give mama rabbit a little treat likeparsley or apples leaves or carrot tops. She’s earned it!

Tips For Caring For Baby BunniesA Few Days Old

Keepchecking each baby bunny several times a day over the next few days. Theyshould have little extended stomachs if they’re getting fed enough. Their skinall over their bodies should not be as wrinkled as at birth. Instead, theirskin should be more filled out. Be sure that none of the babies got separatedfrom the rest of the litter. Sometimes they wiggle into a corner of the nest.Typically, mother rabbits don’t move their babies so it’s up to the babies tofind their way to their mother. They aren’t always good at this especially atfirst. So if you find a stray baby move it up close to the doe. If one of the babies isn’t eating enough youmight need to help out. Turn mama rabbit over and place the baby on her nippleand let it nurse. This won’t bother the mother rabbit and the baby will get theidea about how to nurse.

What If The Mother Rabbit Isn’tCaring For The Baby Bunnies?

Mother rabbits rarely abandon theirbabies, but if you think the mother is ignoring her kits or she’s not feedingthem, there are a few things you can do. Sometimes young or nervous rabbitmothers do abandon their litter. Sometimes it’s because her health is poor orbecause the kits are unhealthy. If you think the mother rabbit isn’t feedingher kits you need to investigate to besure. Mother rabbits only feed their young one or two times in a twelve hourperiod. And they nurse their babies when it’s dark-either early morning or lateat night. So you might not see the mother feed her young. But there are acouple of things you can do to see if she has, in fact, abandoned her babies.

First, check to see if the babies arecold or crying for longer than a few minutes? Pinch the skin on the nape oftheir neck to see if it sticks together. If the skin sticks together, they aredehydrated. If it’s obvious that they’re not being fed or in danger, you willneed to take care of them. You will first need to remove the mother from thenest so the baby bunnies won’t get hurt.

HowTo Feed Abandoned Baby Bunnies

You can feed your babybunnies KMR( Kitten Replacement) or goat milk from a pet store. Also, youshould add in a tablespoon of heavy whipping cream to each can of KMR. Use asterile syringe like the kind you get from a pharmacist, to feed them thisformula. Feed the babies twice a day. Keep an eye on their little stomachs tobe sure they are extended and their skin is filling out nicely. This willindicate they’re eating enough. To keep their gut healthy, you can also addAcidophilus to eat bit of formula.

Besides feeding the newbornabandoned baby bunny you will need to help it go to the bathroom This is doneby using a cotton ball or soft cloth that’s been dipped in warm water andgently stroke the baby’s genital area. This should cause the baby to poop andurinate. Keep stroking until the baby finishes. This replicates the motherrabbit’s habit of licking her babies to stimulate them to go to the bathroom

Tips For Caring For Baby BunniesAt One to Seven Weeks

During these first few weeks, the babies will continue to fatten up and their fur will grow in. They will start to move around a lot. Baby bunnies get even more active as they get older, trying to get in and out of their nest.

Continueto handle the babies regularly. This helps them get accustomed to humancontact. This will make weaning easier and less stressful for the baby. Rabbits that have been held from the timethey were a babies seems to have less anxiety around humans later in the theirlives.

Keeptheir nest clean and dry by removing any poop and urine. Replace with freshbedding straw. Mother rabbits line their nests with their fur. If the fur isclean, put it back into the nest. This will make her and the babies morecomfortable.

Alsoadd extra hay to the hay rack. Baby bunnies start to nibble on their mother’shay and pellets which is good for their own developing digestive tract. Theywill begin nibbling on hay found in their nest around 2 to 3 weeks of age. Atthree to four weeks, they will eat the same food as their mother rabbit plusnursing.

Asmentioned, the baby bunnies will begin eating their mother’s cecptrprope ornight feces. This can be shocking since they will eat the feces right as itcomes out of the mother’s anus. Fortunately, mother’s cecotropes give thebunnies the nutrition and protection a baby bunny’s gut needs to digest food.

Aboutthe third week, the babies eyes should open. Check for eye infections which arecommon in newborn baby bunnies. The infection can be treated with Neosporin eyedrops from the vet. It’s important to treat the eye infection immediatelybecause the baby could end up blind when it’s older.

Lookat the baby bunnies behinds to see if they are clean and there’s so sign ofdiarrhea. At this age the kits can sometimes have loose bowels. Their guts tendto be sensitive and they can get bacterial infections easily at this age. This is because they no longer getthe mother’s milk enzymes all the time. Their bodies are developing thenecessary pH. Also if a baby bunny getsmore grain rather than hay fiber, they are prone to gut issues that allowtoxins to grow quickly in their guts.

TipsFor Caring For Baby Bunnies At Week Eight Weaning

Weaning means that the baby bunniesare removed from their mother and have stopped nursing entirely. Besides thebaby bunnies being eight weeks old, there are other signs it’s time to weanyour baby rabbits.

• Mother rabbit might nip at the babies when they try to nurse.This means she’s done nursing. She can actually hurt the baby so if you see hernipping, act quickly.
• If the mother rabbit is backing up to her male babies as ifshe’s ready to breed, remove the babies. It’s her hormones setting in, gettingher ready to breed again so there needs to be immediate separation between themother and babies or you’ll have another litter in 30 days!
• Mother rabbitssometimes just quit nursing babies around 7 to 8 weeks. They might be pregnantor just need a break from the kits.
  
• It’s often easiest to removethe mother from the nest rather than the babies. Put mother rabbit in aseparate cage or hutch. This will help the mother rabbit’s milk to dry up.

By now the babies are eating exclusively what adult rabbits eat. Although many people suggest weaning baby bunnies around four or five weeks, it’s best to wean not to wean the babies from their mother until closer to eight to maximize the nutrition they can get from their mother rabbit.

Baby bunnies who are weaned prior toeight weeks have a high risk of developing enteritis. Enteritis is aninflammation of the rabbit’s intestinal lining. It’s the leading cause of babybunnies’ death that have been weaned early.

Don’t wait too much longer than eightweeks or they’ll start breeding because male rabbits are sexually mature at tenweeks. You can also separate males from females to guard against unwantedbreeding.

Inany case of domestic rabbit babies, do not remove the babies until they are afull eight weeks of age. Separate the male babies from the females at thistime. Males can become sexually mature as early as ten weeks !It’s often a good idea toneuter and spay the babies around this time since they are able to breed. Onepair of mature rabbits with their offspring can produce more than 200 babies ina year. To offset unwanted breeding, be diligent about altering the bunnies nolater than 10 weeks.

BestBaby Bunny Diet

Whenyou’re feeding your baby bunnies, be careful to be consistent in the amount offood and kind of foods you give them. They are sensitive to food changes, theyget sick easily. Choose good quality foods for your baby bunny so he’ll growand develop the way he should.

Yourbaby bunny’s diet should consist of hay such as timothy or grass hays, waterand fresh vegetables. Like adult rabbits, hay is the most important part of thebaby rabbit’s diet. It provides the fiber your baby bunny needs. Hay shouldmake up at least 50% of the baby rabbit’s diet to guarantee proper digestionand good gut health. You can also give your baby bunny alfalfa. It’s high inprotein and calcium which is important for young rabbits development. In fact,alfalfa is best for younger rabbits because it’s too rich for older rabbits.One caution: if you’re feeding your baby bunny alfalfa, be sure to mix it withhay. Bunnies tend to love alfalfa so much they won’t want to eat anything else.

ProteinRequirements For Baby Bunnies

Ifyou choose to feed your baby bunny dry food, be aware of their need for extraprotein compared to adult rabbits. Read the label on the rabbit food. Somebrands of rabbit food have junior rabbit food for young rabbits.

Tips For What Vegetables BabyBunnies Can Eat

Baby bunnies need vegetables for vitamins and roughage. Introduce vegetables one at a time to prevent stomach upset for their sensitive tummies. Slowly adding new foods allows the gut bacteria to adapt. Keep an eye out for overly soft stools or diarrhea. If they happens to pull back on the vegetables and add more hay to their diet. Baby rabbits can eat leafy greens such as spinach, spring greens, raspberry and blackberry leaves, parsley, carrots tops, kale, and herbs. Skip fruits until your baby bunny is older. Give your baby bunny fresh, clean water every day. Keep his water bowl or bottle clean, sanitize these regularly. Bunnies need lots of water to help their digestive tract function properly.

Baby bunnies often need a little help from you to survive the first two months of life. Hopefully, these tips will give you the necessary information you’ll need to be a great baby bunny caregiver. It’s not too hard, job, but one you’ll enjoy as you watch your baby bunny grow and develop day by day. Enjoy the process.