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Just got a 8 week old rabbit, and he wont eat. help!

4K views 63 replies 13 participants last post by  Grandmotherbear 
#1 ·
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.
 
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#2 ·
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.
 
#9 ·
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 ?
 
#11 ·
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.
 
#10 ·
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.
 
#12 ·
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.
 
#13 ·
The canned pumpkin with only one ingredient will work as well. Get out what you need to feed him for a day or two and freeze the rest. It doesn't keep well once opened, even in the fridge.

If you have a Dollar General or Family Dollar or any kind of drug store close they would be the best place to check now. People have gone stupid nuts in Ohio, hoarding crap they will never use.
 
#15 ·
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... :(
 
#17 ·
His biggest need is fluids and to get his guts moving again. It is very serious. Hopefully he does not have a blockage on top of it all but grinding his teeth indicates he is in pain, possibly from gas. Get water or pedialyte into him however you can and try enticing him with some of the fruits and greens known to be safe such as fresh apples, plantain, cilantro or shepherd's purse. If he's eating applesauce let him but he might get better gut motility with slices of apple (skin on). I've hand fed apple and cilantro to rabbits that wouldn't touch anything else and it got their appetites going again. At this point it isn't a worry about spoiling his diet it is a worry about whether he will survive.
 
#18 ·
I've heard people swear by apple cider vinegar (ACV) in rabbits' water to help digestion. Dose is 2 tablespoons per gallon of water, then use that mixture as their regular water source. ACV also has beneficial bacteria in it, so if the mucus is due to a bacterial infection it should sort that out.
 
#19 ·
Applesauce is very good :)
My handicapped house bunny used to love it. I kept a can in the firg.
I would put it in a small bowl . Like a teaspoon amount at a time. She was
a Netherland Dwarf, The vet was amazed at how long I kept her going. He
said, not sure what you are doing, but keep it up. My bunnies love apple slices,
pieces of carrot, plain dry cereal like cheerios, or shredded wheat, a saltine cracker.
Good quality second cutting hay. And keep their water dishes with fresh water.

Keep the fluids going. As long as bunny is eating something, you are making progress.
 
#20 ·
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.
 
#21 ·
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 ..
 
#23 ·
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.
 
#24 ·
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.
 
#26 ·
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 :)
 
#28 ·
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.
 
#34 ·
This is wonderful news! They go downhill so fast it's always a worry when one won't eat. Kefir is a fermented milk drink (think liquid yogurt) that can help with beneficial bacteria.
LOL thanks Arachyd or the correct spelling. This is what Kifir is...good for the bunny and their intestinal motility. An 8wk old bun, I would give them 1 or 2cc if needed twice a day.
 
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