Baby Rabbit Care
What You Need to Know about Baby Rabbit Care
Your doe has just awarded you with a litter of kits, and you know you want to keep the babies; but do you know the basics of baby rabbit care?
Baby rabbits, or kits, have to rate as one of the most adorable pets around. When first born, these tiny creatures are utterly defenseless. Hairless, blind and deaf, they will critically need care to help them survive. Mother rabbits are generally good about baby rabbit care, and you will want to allow the mama the opportunity to care for her brood before taking any action yourself.
Mother rabbits may go about baby rabbit care in a different manner than you think they should. Trust her instincts, but watch her closely. Baby rabbits are usually only nursed once a day, and usually this occurs in the very early morning hours. Mother rabbit milk is so enriched that one feeding is able to sustain the baby kits for a 24 hour period. The mother rabbit will stand over the babies to nurse them. The evidence that the baby kits are getting enough to eat will show in their little rounded bellies, but for further proof, you can weigh them each day to ensure that they are gaining weight. A kitchen scale should show increases of around ¼ ounce each day.
Baby rabbit care includes keeping the newborn kits warm; something their mother does not do, and their own bodies cannot do. You can help them by making sure there is plenty of rabbit fur and hay in the nesting area to keep them warm. Feel the tiny kit bodies and make sure they are warm to the touch. Don’t worry about the old adage saying that humans should not touch animal babies for fear that the mothers will abandon them. This is not true with domestic rabbits, even those that may not know the handler.
If in the rare event your mama rabbit abandons her babies, you will need to react quickly to ensure that proper baby rabbit care will occur. A kitten milk replacer plus a bit of cream can be fed through the use of an eye dropper, but no more than twice each day. Guidelines on feeding amounts will be indicated on the product purchased. Keep the kits warm, fed, clean their eyes and bottoms with a damp cloth and gently rub their little bellies to encourage elimination.
The proper baby rabbit care, whether provided by the mother rabbit or you, is essential to the well being and the survival of the baby kit. In the best of cases, the mother will take care of her young, but knowing you have the knowledge to step in if needed will bring you peace of mind.