anyone had any success raising one of these?

[capstone]

I went out to do chores and as I went to get some hay I noticed a dead newborn bunny so I scooped it up and moved it away from the horses hay. I then moved the hay around and found another one dead and one that was in extreme distress (very very very cold, wet and rigid but alive) then I dug a little deeper and found one more that was mostly dry and although a bit chilly he was active. So I grabbed them both took them straight to the house and shoved them under the covers with my husband. (probably not the "bunnies" he dremt of sleeping with LOL)

I looked online and found where people have used kitten mild replacer and added a pinch of crushed acidophilus to it.
I fed them both about 1/2 cc each and put them in a towel to keep warm. I came back later and the one who was in distress when I found him had died

The other one is holding his own right now. I bought some hampster nesting stuff and he nuzzled right now in it.

I am optomistic about his chances.. the computer says 10% but I figure that is more than he had in a deserted nest.
Not sure if mom abbandoned them or if she was a late night snack for an owl, hawk, fox, coon, cat, ???? I would NOT have messed with them had there not been dead ones in the nest.

He is 1 day old at best... eyes and ears closed and still has his little cord.

I am feeding him twice a day per the instructions online.

Anyone have success raising one? I know my odds but still willing to give it a try. we do have a pet rabbit and they suggested getting the linked poo that they normally eat. I am going to try and get some from our bunny. they say to feed a little each day to newborns.. it has beneficial bacteria in it.

here is a picture of him.. he is the one in the front.. the other one passed away.

 

[Bunnylady]

Rabbit mothers only nurse their young at dawn and dusk, they avoid the nest area during the rest of the day/night. There is a good chance that the nest hadn't been abandoned, just poorly sited. As fuzzy as he is, I'd estimate a few days old; newborn rabbits are pretty much hairless. That he is a little older is good, because that means he has nursed a few times and gotten the antibodies he needs from his mother.

As I'm sure you've read, you need to give him just a little bit, 2-3 times a day. The next few days are critical - good luck!

 

[cutechick2010]

No, kitten milk replacer will NOT work. It does not have nearly the fat content,etc. they need. About the best stuff you can get is Fox Valley formula, I am raising a baby squirrel on it now. You can find it at www.foxvalleynutrition.com What you need is the Day One 32/40 formula. The guy that owns the company and runs the place is fabulous to work with as well. when I ordered there he sent the formula before I had even paid for it just so my baby would have the milk faster.
Mother rabbits do only feed one or twice a day, but you will need to do it more often than that because the formula digests faster than mother's milk so they get hungry faster. Your main concern right now is to make sure they don't aspirate the milk, so the longer it takes to get the milk down him the better, literally one tiny drop at a time. Like bunnylady said, unless a predator got the mother, the odds that the nest had been abandoned are pretty low.

 

[capstone]

I am NOT sure that anything got mom but I am sure she left them... at closer look at the dead ones this evening I noticed that one was half eaten. Like I said I would NOT have bothered them had they 1. not been dead ones and 2 they were not under a bale I use for the horses.

I will look into the fox valley. I do add cream to the milk replacer and a probiotic that was suggested by a rehabber.

He is still doing well.. still perky. He eats about 1/2 to 1 cc 3 times a day. I dont want to over feed him. When I do offer food he does not attack it like he is starving so I think he is getting enough. It takes me at least 10 minutes to get this tiny amount down him. I give him one drop at a time then give him time to get that down. I will also clean his face often.
He has had 2 bowel movents with 3 little poops each time. Then this evening he didnt poop but he did shoot pee up my arm twice. I thought I was gonna fall off the bed laughing.
I thought they were a little older as well BUT the eyes and ears are still closed and the cord is still on him... so I am at a loss.

I too am hoping he is a few days old because the colostrom was my concern as well.

Odd though.. I did NOT see the nest, I have been feeding off that bale for several days now. Ohh well stranger things have happened.

 

[Bunnylady]

I once found a rabbit nest in my backyard, where we had 5 dogs at the time. The nest was located in a "doughnut" of pine needles around the base of a tree. I only knew the nest was there because I saw the mother go to it one evening; when I looked later, I wouldn't have known it was there if I hadn't seen her there. They can be surprisingly secretive.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

I raised three wild rabbits many years ago. They were babies - eyes still closed. They were brought to me by a neighbor, his dog had killed the mother. They were still in their hair nest which he put in a straw hat. I'll never forget getting that hat full of baby rabbits. Guess I was about 13 years old.

They all lived. My methods - actually, my mother's methods - were "old school" as this was about 1968.

We used canned evaporated milk [not condensed]. Mixed it 50/50 with water and added a dribble of light Karo syrup. Didn't have any bottles so used a hair toner bottle [it has a pointed end] to dribble it into their mouths. When they got older we then added light garden greens and thin slices of apples that I would warm for them over the pilot light of our stove. See, told ya', very Old School!

Kept them initially in their nest. Then put them in a clothes basket with towels and a towel pinned to the top with clothes pins. When they got older, they went into our old above ground swimming pool ring without the liner. One of the small ones for young kids, it was round metal about 2 feet deep. When they began to act like they wanted out of the pool ring, my father walked me into the woods where we let them go one-by-one. I cried on the walk back home.

I can't tell you how often I fed them but I know I had to devote a good bit of time to them. Mom worked out of our house so she didn't have the time to take care of them. I probably fed them 3-4 times a day.

Hope this info and story is of some help.

 

[featherfooted]

I raised 2 wild rabbits many years ago on evaporated milk mixed the same way as mtnlaurl, but I used an eyedroper at first. They both lived and were let go at about six weeks old. My Dad always said that their kids were eating up his garden.

 

[LaynaDon95]

I have a book that has a milk replacer recipe for domestic rabbits who's mothers die.
it's:
1 pint of skim milk
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons of Karo syrup
1 tablespoon of bone meal (like you get at garden supply centers)

it says:
Use an eyedropper or drinking straw (* though I have seen people use kitten bottles) and feed the mixture to the kits twice a day. Feed them until they stop taking the milk. (usually about 1/4 of an oz.) In addition to keeping the kits warm and fed, make sure the urinate and defecate regularly (* I'm not sure if that applies to you, depending on how old the kits are.) Stimulate elimination by stroking the genitals with a cotton ball after you feed them. Follow these procedures until they are 14 days old.
* - added by me

I've never used the recipe as I've never raised orphaned kits. Good luck with the babies.

 

[inthesticks]

Hey there, sorry the one didn't make it.
Goats milk is the next best thing to rabbit milk. After you feed it, you will need to take a warm damp cloth and rub it's lower belly to stimulate going to the bathroom like momma would do. You can up the feeding to 3 or more depending on it's appetite (again because it's still not the same to momma's milk) I have had to hand raise a few bunnies this past year & by doing that & making sure it stays clean & warm you should have a lot more than a 10% chance.

Make sure it has a nice plump belly & is warm each night - plump belly=well fed & warm-=content!

I am glad you took action, because both would have been dead before the days end.

I always see people talking about how momma only feeds once a day....etc

She will hide but stay near & have been known to try and defend babies. Something must have happened, whether it meeting a predator or a vehicle. Thank you for taking time out of your life to help out with these amazing little animals.

Please post updates

 

[LaynaDon95]

How is the little guy doing?