[PooperTrooper]

so i decided i was going to start raising rabbits as livestock a few years ago , and finally set it into motion this year .. i bought my doe on the 14th of march and then i got my buck just a few days ago, on the 23rd .. wanted to make sure they weren't litter mates by getting them on the same day and such. (two different breeds as well)

my buck is the one that wont eat.. i was told hes 8 weeks old and to only feed him pellets and hay and he was water-bottle trained. he is NOT water-bottle trained , i was wondering why he wasnt drinking out of the bottle so gave him a bowl of water and he sucked it down dry in seconds .. then i noticed he wasnt eating , and didnt have poop at all in his cage, so i picked him up and flipped him over and gently squeezed his butt and a clear mucus came out.

i called the place i got him from , and they told me to give him a little pepto to settle his stomach cause he was probably just scared of his new house.then to call back if he still had not pooped or ate by the next day. and so i syringe fed him some of that .. he lapped it up then i did the same with some water to get the rest of the medicine down.. next day i exam him , he still had the mucus , and still no poop in the cage ..

i called the place back and told the lady about what was going on , and she told me the only thing i can do is , try my best to keep getting the medicine in him , and try to syringe feed him some evaporated milk. and if he died rather then getting better i could get a refund for him...


it is now the 27th, and hes still not eating , but the mucus isnt coming out as much. before is was big globs...still no poop his ears are slightly chilled feeling compared to my doe , and he just lays there grinding his teeth .. i check his teeth their not busted , crooked or rotted.... he just wont eat ..


is there anything i can do ? or should i count him as a loss and put him out and get a new buck ? i dont wanna see him slowly starve himself.... i also wouldnt want this to be passed on to the kits if this is a genetic thing rather then a sickness.

 

[PooperTrooper]

Are you feeding the same pellets that he was getting at the original owners?

i am. i made sure to get the same pellets , and the same hay.

 

[PooperTrooper]

Canned pumpkin. Not pie filling.

where do i get canned pumpkin ? i only have the ones for pie filling.

 

[PooperTrooper]

Your rabbit is sick. His tummy hurts and they don't like to eat when they hurt.
You are going to have to feed him.
He is NOT going to eat on his own while he is hurting.
Get a eye dropper and get some milk in him.
Got any baby food handy ?
Pumpkin, plain, or carrot. Cook it, mash it up
Already canned works good.
Put some on your finger and let him lick it off if he will
Plan on feeding him as often as possible.
Plain water, anything to get the fluids going. Do NOT use distilled water.
Apple juice. Even a few drops.

He has been without food for awhile.
If you want to save him, you have to get the food in him.

Isolate him from the other rabbit.
The mucos is because of a bacteria in his gut.
Keep him warm and don't let him get chilled.
If you have a nest box, put him in that with some hay.

You can save him. I have saved several in the past.
Been awhile though since the last case.

What breeds are your rabbits ?
Are you planning on the babies for meat ?

he is a lionhead, currently in his own cage , should i move him , or her into a different room ? or can i leave them in the same room since they have different cages ? they are currently inside till the weather gets better , and at this moment im glad i decided to do that, as i wouldnt have noticed that he wasnt pooping and eating as the outdoor cage would have just dropped all the hay and food through the cracks since he flips the bowl and lays on it .

i been eye dropping him milk and added water to some pellets and been trying to hold a spoon of that to his face to get it around his lips, since he does seem to still clean himself , so i figured he was getting a little food by licking it off. i just dont wanna over feed him and hurt his stomach more then hes hurting. every time i feed him something his stomach growls loudly .. since nothing is coming out of the other end , i dont wanna him to be full of food and not be able to poop... or will adventually he be able to poop when his tummy is full ?

i have cans of pumpkin.. someone said canned pumpkin but not the pie filling kind, but i looked at the back and it just has one ingredient "pumpkin" will that be ok ?

i did plan on his babies with my rex doe to be for meat. but im at the point thinking if i can get him better, find him a good home and find a different male just in case. i have plenty of time to find a mating male as my doe wont be ready to mate till august.

 

[PooperTrooper]

Pepto? I would give generic infant gas drops, simethicone. A dropperful at least 4 times a day. No milk, not evaporated, not regular milk. Baby food pumpkin and rolled oats (the kind you cook, not instant) should get him eating again.

As a last ditch measure you can mix baby food pumpkin and baby food oatmeal cereal with water and use a medicine dropper syringe to get it in his mouth. Be prepared for him to bite the dropper and try to spit the food back out.

after i called them and told them the pepto didnt work , they told me to try the baby gas drops . which i wish they would have told me that the first time i called since i made a trip out to get it , and i dont live close to a town at all . and couldnt make another trip out. i called the 3 closest store i have around asking about the gas drops , and most places said their out of a lot of baby stuff. since people are hording cause of this virus we have going around.

 

[PooperTrooper]

SMALL UPDATE. little guy does not like any of the baby foods ive gotten him except applesauce .. he is sucking it out of the tube himself. is it ok to give him as much applesauce as he wants rather then trying to force him to eat something he dont want ? . i manager to pick up some baby gas drops from the store today as well, was pretty much the only thing left in the baby section with signs all over limiting baby food...

ive tried mixing the other foods with applesauce trying to get him to eat something else , but hes not being tricked by it.. just wants the applesauce.


still no poop...

 

[PooperTrooper]

Applesauce is fine. Try giving him some dandelion leaves or grass if you have any. Not too much, just a leaf or a few blades of grass, per day. If you have a mulberry or maple tree you could try giving him some of those tender twigs that should be starting to leaf out.

Have you tried offering rolled oats? Rabbits usually love those.

he wont eat anything unless i shove it into his mouth with the dropper. before i went to bed. i smeared some applesauce on a small lid so he could lick it up, but when i woke up, he didnt touch it but when i picked him up and fed it to him he lapped it up. i tried oats , but he didnt seem interested at all . just applesauce ..

 

[PooperTrooper]

Have you tried sticking a piece of hay or blade of grass in his mouth?

he normally turns away or shoves his face into a corner so i cant see his face , and if i try when hes in my hands he just freezes ...
i put down white paper towels down in his cage instead of the blanket so i can keep an eye on whats happening, and it seems like we got diarrhea now ! .. so hes getting stuff out! yay ! uping fluids more so he dont dehydrate from it. ima continue what im doing and see if i can hopefully get this blockage gone so he can start eating normally.

 

[PooperTrooper]

UPDATE .. hes got diarrhea , so uping the water intake , grabbed some dandelion greens and he seemed interested finally after him not being the past few days . ate a whole leaf , so i mixed a little with some hay of his , and he ate the whole small pile of hay and the leaf.. fingers crossed he will progress in getting better even more the next few days.

 

[PooperTrooper]

Yay! Eating hay is good! Do not go overboard with the greens. Too many greens will be hard on his stomach.

only gave him 2 leafs , i dont want him to overdo it since he just started eating again, hes still grinding his teeth like hes in pain , so ima continue with the applesauce and gas drops .. i brushed his tummy to get some stuff off him , and it didnt sound hollow , so im guessing thats a good thing

 

[PooperTrooper]

he dont seem to mind it .. he dont like his feet touched... but his belly is fine, even my doe dont mind her belly touched as long as i dont pick her UP with stomach support , she rather be picked up by her, armpits(?) and butt support but get ONE finger close to her stomach when you pick her up , you get the little tap dance of pain.

 

[PooperTrooper]

HES EATING PELLETS AND HES GOT ROUND POOP !!! WOO !!! thank you all for the advice how to make him feel better !

 

[PooperTrooper]

You did well! I keep keefer in the house in case our rabbits have intestinal issues. The baby gas drops are good for them too.

keefer ? what is that ? and where do i get it ? just in case something like this happens again.

 

[PooperTrooper]

welp .. now my other rabbit is sick .. shes got more pep in her step so its harder getting her to take medicine , same clear mucus from the rump, ears chilled. today is her first day of treatment. fingers crossed she comes through it like he did. hopefully these gas drops do the trick once again. shes a little older then him. but only by about 2 weeks .. i got her first as well. has no problems till today , so what ever he had , he must have given to her... they are now in 2 different rooms so this dont get passed back and forth.

any of you have advice to get a VERY jumpy rabbit to take medicine ? with him i would hold him in one hand and syringe it into his mouth. her ... i had to back her in a corner , and hold her ears so she wouldnt move so i could quickly get the meds into her mouth... i didnt hold tight or lift ... there has to be a better way i feel mean holding her ears.

 

[PooperTrooper]

Is she eating well? If they are eating I don't usually give them gas medicine.
If she is eating, take away the pellets and give her unlimited hay and a few blades of grass. If she has her own water bottle or bowl make her some tea. Black tea, strong brew, no sugar. Dilute by half with water. I don't know why but it seems to work for rabbits that are eating and drinking, at least it worked well for me. If you can find some raw pumpkin seeds (sometimes called pepitas) give her a teaspoon of those each day.
Did you get the oatmeal for the other rabbit? If you did, give her some of that too. I think a tablespoon a day would be enough.

shes not really eating , i noticed that right away this time, and shes not going after her waterbottle like she normally does , right now shes just sitting on the hay i put in her cage, and i tried offering her some applesauce and she didnt want any. which , when i was giving him some, she was all for a tiny spoonful herself . shes not acting like herself at all , normally when i wake up in the morning and say good morning to her shes right at the cage door waiting for me to open it to give her head scratches and some fresh food. around this time of day she would be doing laps around her cage and kicking bedding everywhere .. but shes just .. sitting there . i think i noticed her being sick a lot faster , cause im so use to her acting a certain way , and she just, isnt now... him i had no idea cause he was sick day one when i brought him home. ill try the grass, and tea, and oats. fingers crossed she will take some..i dont have any pumpkin seeds though. time to put my nursing cap back on.

 

[PooperTrooper]

The best way to give a squirmy rabbit nedicine is to lay them on your lap on their back. The valley between your thighs is perfect. The head should be toward your belly, do it with their feet toward you and you'll have scars for a long time. Hold your hand over their eyes and gently lift the upper lip on one side. Squirt the medicine in a few drops until they start licking their lips, then squirt in the rest. You can try wrapping them in a towel but I have found that just makes them fight you more. I had to fight with mine only a couple times before they realized the stuff tasted good and they quit fighting me. Except for Princess Katharine, she fought me every time. Tore up a couple shirts too. You might try trimming any sharp nibs off her toenails before you try giving her the medicine that way.

she doesnt like being on her back at all , i tried flipping her over and she just kicked me till i couldnt hold her anymore, thank goodness it was cold inside enough for me to be still wearing my thicker jacket otherwise i would have had quite a few battle wounds . she barely lets me pick her up out of her cage so i can clean it out. and she HATES when i touch her mouth, kinda worried if i TRY to lift her lip she will bite me , since shes still got a little pep, from only being sick for a day. i did manage to get her meds in her mouth today , so ima see if it will be a bit easier tomorrow.. i got to clean her cage out right now and remove all bedding and put paper towel down like i did to him so i can keep an eye on whats coming out of her.

 

[PooperTrooper]

i went outside and i dont seem to have any dandelion flowers yet. just the greens , but i did grab one and a some grass, she took a dand. leaf from me , and a few blades of grass , so at least she ate that. im pretty sure i got some wild violet growing in my yard, but it being dark out, i wont be able to find the flowers, ill have to get those tomorrow morning when i take care of my chickens.

i wont give her too much , just a tiny bit , cause i dont want her bloated , then i would be fighting 2 problems instead of just the one.. seems like for my buck , day 4 after i gave him meds then the dandelion leaf , he pooped later that evening .

closest krogers to me is about an hour and a half away sadly .. other stores might have the pumpkin seeds , but i wont be venturing to the store for quite a while , and hopefully by then , she will feel better.

 

[PooperTrooper]

lol closest target to me is 3 hours away .. oooh country life. i been keeping a close eye on her , shes nibbling on a little hay today , but still avoiding her waterbottle . so i gave her a bowl of water, shes been drinking from that.

if i brought dandelion leaves inside and sat them out to dry, would that be ok to let her nibble on here and there ? that way its not "green" anymore ? i gave her a dry one today , and she seemed to like it just as much as she did when i freshly picked it.

 

[PooperTrooper]

i was hoping i could use my lawn clipping as rabbit fodder in the summer, makes it a little cheaper , thats good to know. yay !

i live in southeast. im about eeeh .. 50 minutes from the WV border. and both 2ish hours away from Columbus or Cleveland . if that gives you an idea where im situated. there really isnt much around store wise unless i venture. theres probably a hidden krogers around here somewhere, but its not near where i normally go get my shopping done.

no mulberry trees near me, got plenty of apple trees and peach trees , mulberry just dont like my property much.

 

[PooperTrooper]

wont do the peach then, got plenty of maple around.

its not too bad living here , as long as i make it a whole day to do my running around. and stock up , but with whats going on right now .. im kinda limited when i can go , and what i can get... i was one of those people who got laid off from work... boss told me to apply for unemployment till things are back to normal and we can work again , but still waiting on that payment.. so very limited funds right now , trying to take care of these sick animals, and healthy animals... go figure it had to happen during this time , but luckly im here day in and day out to keep an eye on them .


so glad i found this website, it makes this a lot easier having people i can go back and forth with making sure im not doing anything wrong. otherwise i would have probably lost my buck a week ago.