Baby Domestic Rabbits

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Baby rabbits should not be removed from their mother until at least 8 weeks in order to develop a proper digestive and immune system from their mother's milk and cecals.[1] If you bought a rabbit that still needs to be fed milk, be warned that your rabbit will not have a high chance of survival. Do not purchase any rabbits under 8 weeks of age from a pet store or breeder.

Contents

Appearance

The links below include information about the appearance of baby rabbits as they grow.

Care

See Taking Care of a Pregnant Rabbit and Her Litter for more information.

Below are some useful resources on the care of baby rabbits:

Weaning

Baby rabbits should not be completely weaned from their mothers and sold until 8 weeks of age. Babies removed earlier have a high risk of developing enteritis, which is easily fatal in a young rabbit.

Below are links with more information about the process and age of weaning.

Orphaned

Rabbit kits may need to be hand-reared in case of maternal death or mismothering or lactational failure of the doe. Does with a new litter may take 24 hours to start lactation.[2] Mismothering can be diagnosed if the kits have not been fed for 48 hours.[2] Unfed kits will have thin abdomens and wrinkled skin due to dehydration.

Kits under 7 days old should be kept at 27-30°C (80.6-86.0°F).[2] A incubator, heated cage, or airing cupboard can be used to house the babies. The kits should be placed in a box lined with hay, maternal fur if available, or soft cloths and fleece. The temperature can be lowered after seven days if the kits are thriving.[2]

The most common causes of failure and death when hand-rearing rabbits are aspiration pneumonia due to inhalation of milk into the lungs, and diarrhea due to the failure to establish a normal gut flora.[2] Death at around four weeks of age are also common due to intestinal Escherichia coli overgrowth.[2]

The following links contain more information on how to properly care for orphaned baby rabbits.

Sexing

Sexing young rabbits is very difficult, but here are some guides, some with pictures, on how to properly sex your rabbit. Refer to your rabbit-savvy veterinarian for the final judgement of your rabbit's sex.

The following are pages from rabbit breeder sites. As we constantly remind, we do not condone rabbit breeding for the common owner, and these have been linked for information purposes only.

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Dana Krempels, Ph.D., The Mystery of Rabbit Poop
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Emma Keeble, Anna Meredith, et al., Rabbit Medicine & Surgery, 2006.
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