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Post by diamondgirl on May 18, 2014 5:28:19 GMT
Ok. In case someone else wants to try this. All I had on hand when I found the bunnies was KMR (kitten milk replacement) What I read when a googled was that some people didn't have much luck with KMR. I had a lot of trouble getting the bunnies to let me feed it to them. I added a few grains of sugar and they did a bit better. On Monday I got some better syringes from the vet (3 ml) and told them what I was doing. One of the helpers said her Dad used Karo Syrup, rather than sugar, when their bottle fed calves refused to take a bottle. I tried the Karo syrup and had better luck getting them to lick the formula off the syringe. I fed them every two hours for the first three days. My poor bunnies were loosing weight and were getting weaker and more frail. So back to the internet. I found one suggestion of using Esblac ( the same company that makes KMR) and mix it with 1/4 heavy cream. I got heavy cream and mixed it 1 tsp to two Tbs of formula. I didn't want to over load my babies, and was worried about making to big of a change. They are doing better and are gaining weight on their new formula mixture. This is so unfair. I can gain 5 lbs. just driving through the McDonalds parking lot, but baby bunnies can get horribly skinny, even when I was feeding them every 2 hours. So, if you want to try to save a litter of baby bunnies,,,,,,As I said in another thread. They have to be warm in order to get them to eat. I make a warm, little bunny water bed, by putting really warm water in a zip lock bag and covering it with a soft towel, to feed them on. I mix 1 tsp of heavy cream with 2 Tbs formula and they have started to gain weight. I also have to potty them. I take a paper towel and dip the corner in warm water and gently rub across their bottoms so they will pee pee. I wanted to share my bunnies with you. Day 1  Day 3  Day 5  These pictures were taken with my cell phone, and so are not very good. I will try to get some better ones downloaded soon. |
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Lipizzan
Junior Member
Europe, Croatia
Posts: 2,572 
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Post by Lipizzan on May 18, 2014 7:06:23 GMT
Soooo cute, I hope they make it.  |
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Post by diamondgirl on May 18, 2014 15:17:55 GMT
Thank you Lipizzan, I think they are cute too.
I am becoming more hopeful that they will make it. I need to move on to their next step in feeding, which is to add solid food. Before I give them any solid foods they need to establish bacterial flora in their gut. Just like with many animals they do this be eating their mommies poop. I have spent the last hour searching my yard for rabbit pellets, and have found about 40 of them. I have no idea how old this poop is. Some of it is probably older, while other little turds are fresher. I have no idea how long the bacteria will stay good in the poop. Any thoughts? I suppose I could go to the farm store and see if I could talk them into letting me have some really fresh ones. I am just not sure of the looks I will get when I ask for rabbit poop.
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Post by diamondgirl on May 19, 2014 0:43:30 GMT
One week  |
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mistersmom
Junior Member
Abita Springs, LA
Posts: 3,749
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Post by mistersmom on May 19, 2014 12:23:08 GMT
Oh they are adorable. YOu are doing a great job with them! Are you hoping to release them back once they are old enough?
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Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
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Post by Terry on May 19, 2014 12:35:01 GMT
Oh my goodness, they are just precious! Bless you for trying to save them. It looks like you are doing a great job! |
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Post by diamondgirl on May 19, 2014 16:55:21 GMT
I plan to make them a pen out in the yard when they are older, but to just set it on the ground so they can dig out when they want to. Cotton tails are very spooky little bunnies and don't do as well in captivity. Yes, I will be very sad when they go, but feel like they would have a better life if they were allowed to hop around the yard. I will continue to feed them, so they won't go to far. At least I hope they won't go to far.
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mingiz
Junior Member
Los Lunas, NM
Posts: 3,320
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Post by mingiz on May 20, 2014 2:08:33 GMT
Thank you Lipizzan, I think they are cute too. I am becoming more hopeful that they will make it. I need to move on to their next step in feeding, which is to add solid food. Before I give them any solid foods they need to establish bacterial flora in their gut. Just like with many animals they do this be eating their mommies poop. I have spent the last hour searching my yard for rabbit pellets, and have found about 40 of them. I have no idea how old this poop is. Some of it is probably older, while other little turds are fresher. I have no idea how long the bacteria will stay good in the poop. Any thoughts? I suppose I could go to the farm store and see if I could talk them into letting me have some really fresh ones. I am just not sure of the looks I will get when I ask for rabbit poop. I just busted out laughing..  The vision I had of you out in the yard looking for bunny poop...  |
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Post by diamondgirl on May 20, 2014 10:09:17 GMT
I talked to my vet yesterday. A vet student wants to take on the problem of introducing bacteria to the bunnies and thinks a probiotic would be a better idea. I am glad because we have a very big yard and it is hard to find tiny bunny poops out there. She should have some answers for me today, and I will be happy to not have to feed the bunnies milk every few hours once they can eat a little bit on their own. In the mean time my daughter and I have been watching the bunnies in the yard to see what they are choosing to eat. They seem to like dandelions. This is a good thing, because I have bunches of them.
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Post by horselady on May 21, 2014 20:10:27 GMT
they are so cute and you are a great auntie, and that is funny ,looking for bunny poop, yes vet has better idea, and dandelions sound yummy
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mistersmom
Junior Member
Abita Springs, LA
Posts: 3,749
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Post by mistersmom on May 22, 2014 12:04:25 GMT
Has the vet student started her treatments? How are they doing?
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Post by diamondgirl on May 22, 2014 13:37:45 GMT
The bunnies are still doing fine and really growing. The vet and his student did not have any probiotics to add to their diet, and didn't recommend bunny poop. His thoughts were that more than likely one or two of them had already sampled mommy poop before I found them, so they already had some bacteria started. Because they are kept together they would have shared the bacteria with each other, and so should be ok. I found rabbit diet that has probiotics added, and have given them a tiny bit of it. They really like to chew on the pellets and so far no diarrhea. Bunnies day 9   |
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mistersmom
Junior Member
Abita Springs, LA
Posts: 3,749
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Post by mistersmom on May 22, 2014 15:55:33 GMT
So cute!!!!!! I love the bunnies reading the weather report. How much more time before they get to go outside?
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Post by diamondgirl on May 23, 2014 3:59:55 GMT
I lost a bunny tonight. It was the smallest one and the one I had so much trouble getting to eat. I really feel bad that I wasn't able to save her, but the rest of the bunnies are going well.
I will probably be off line for awhile. My computer has a really bad case of spyware and I think this time I will just take it into the computer store. The online company didn't do a thing to fix my problem, and kept wanting more money for bigger and better programs. This time I want to talk to someone face to face. I will update when I can. Sorry.
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Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
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Post by Terry on May 23, 2014 14:04:52 GMT
Sorry you lost one of the babies, but don't beat yourself up over it. You've been doing a great job with them, better than I would have ever thought possible! For all you know, that tiny one might not have made it, even if it's mother had been caring for it.
Good luck with your computer. That stuff is always so frustrating. I hope you are able to get the problem fixed. |
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Post by diamondgirl on Jun 24, 2014 19:04:57 GMT
My heart is absolutely broken. I began loosing my bunnies as soon as they started to eat solid food. I tried fresh, well washed parsley and spinach, hay, and bunny food. It didn't matter. As soon as they would start eating anything other than formula they would die. I had one bunny left. We called him honey bunny. I had him on a tight feeding schedule, and he was eating timothy hay and formula, and doing fine. Our daughter and her three kids, plus 3 other grandkids came to stay with us for a week and my schedule got compromised. I don't know if it was him getting less formula, or the grandkids feeding him after petting the horses, but they didn't wash their hands and probably had fly spray on them. I lost Honey Bunny yesterday. |
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mistersmom
Junior Member
Abita Springs, LA
Posts: 3,749
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Post by mistersmom on Jun 24, 2014 19:40:35 GMT
Ah I'm so sorry you lost all your bunnies. You did the best you could for them.
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Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
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Post by Terry on Jun 25, 2014 1:49:02 GMT
Aww, I'm so sorry.  You did everything you could, and frankly you did far more than most would have. I applaud you for trying so hard! |
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mingiz
Junior Member
Los Lunas, NM
Posts: 3,320
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Post by mingiz on Jun 25, 2014 3:14:19 GMT
Aww so sad. But you did everything you could to try and save them.  |
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Post by diamondgirl on Jun 25, 2014 3:24:12 GMT
Thank you for your understanding. It is just that I don't loose babies. I have saved baby birds and even baby bunnies too, years ago. Maybe it was the KMR. My daughter was given a nest of baby squirrels some years back. The vet recommended KMR. She lost them. I am thinking that KMR might not be good for anything, but kittens.
I am being very careful when I mow. When I see anything that remotely looks like it could be hiding a bunny I mow way around it. I have tall grass and weed spots all over my yard. I don't dare want to run into another nest.
I have been waiting for almost two years for someone to help me get my cloths line pole back up. It is still just laying out in the back yard for me to mow around. The other day my Son-in-law said he was going to get right too that project. I walked near it today and mama bunny hopped right out from under it. I looked and she has dug a little hole under the end that is raised up a little bit. As soon as I walked away, she went right back under the pole. I won't be mowing the back yard for awhile and there is no way I will be getting my clothes line put up for at least two months. I won't take a chance. |
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The vision I had of you out in the yard looking for bunny poop... 
You did everything you could, and frankly you did far more than most would have. I applaud you for trying so hard!