wet bum? + baby eating poo Q?

I noticed this kit's been hiding in the corner under the feeder a lot the past couple days, so I picked it up and surprise, surprise it was all wet. :shock: I'm pretty sure this isn't from jumping in the water bowl, so pee?
Could it be because the litter (still have all 13!) is so big that it doesn't get any of the oats I toss in the nestbox for them, so it's having problems?
I don't know, I'm new to all this... ^__^;

edit; I brought it in and cleaned it up. Its poo is kinda yellowish and wet. :/ http://i45.tinypic.com/2yki8sn.jpg

edit; Alsooo, why do baby bunnies have a craving for mama's poo? Is there something in it they need?



Well, it died. First time for everything I guess.

They need the good bacteria in moms poo to establish the gut flora (sp) necessary to digest foods.

Looks like the start of weaning enteritis

It's only three weeks old though...?

My kits are making the transition to eating pellets by 2 1/2 weeks. I lost a doe and had ten kits to care for at 3 weeks, and I only lost one kit, that got sick when she did. They were all eating pellets by then, and hay.

Do you think covering mama's poop corner so the kits can get the poo before it falls through could help? :?
I checked all the butts, the runt's is the only one that's wet.
Is there a good chance it will recover from this? If not I'd rather take it for dog chow now than find it dead and spoiled later...

separate and feed oats?

Get some probiotics (like yogurt) into that baby, along with some fiber. Good Luck!
3 week old Californian Rabbit babies eating yogurt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKFZ7JhB8Bw

__________ Sun Sep 09, 2012 3:47 am __________

this may seem odd, but since pigs have a lot of commercial documentation, this link may help
on why the system has a problem at weaning. I am falling back on this, because I do not have a link
for rabbits, yet.<br /><br />__________ Sun Sep 09, 2012 3:47 am __________<br /><br />http://www.nadis.org.uk/bulletins/small ... scour.aspx

It drank some water, not interested in oats or hay, and sits in a ball like it's tummy hurts or something. If it's alive in the morning, I'll see about getting some plain yogurt, 'cause all I have is strawberry flavor... lol ^_^'

"Reduced blood supply to gut (chilling)"
- http://www.nadis.org.uk/bulletins/small ... scour.aspx
If that applies to rabbits, I wonder if that's the cause? It drops to about 50 at night, and they huddle like penguins so some get colder than others when they overflow the nestbox...

Nyctra":b68a4ezu said:

cause all I have is strawberry flavor

Click to expand...

What sweetener (just sugar) does the yogurt have? I know that rabbits have been given pedilyte and gatoraid,
so the yogurt may be ok. -> I would warm it up...

__________ Sun Sep 09, 2012 4:30 am __________

if it works, you could also try putting a bit of the mother's poo, and some pellet fines in it.<br /><br />__________ Sun Sep 09, 2012 4:31 am __________<br /><br />Though if you could cut some smaller pieces of hay, it would be better than the fines.

Nutrition Facts says Sugars 34g - too much? OK?
Ingredients: Cultured Grade A Pasteurized Lowfat Milk, Sugar, Nonfat Dry Milk, Modified Corn Starch, Strawberries, Gelatin, Natural Flavors, Carmine (Color), Potassium Sorbate, Yogurt Cultures: L. Bulgaricus, S. Thermophilus, L. Acidophilus, B. Bifidus
( ^ probably a misspelling in there somewhere )

"you could also try putting a bit of the mother's poo"
The globs she eats right away or the coco pebbles?

The poo, I have not had to do yet. I do know about probiotics.
Rabbits seem to be able to stress at a lot of things.
Any change in enviroment... Drinking water, instead of milk
My info on knowing about acidophilus/probiotics
comes from 10 years of puppys and raising two children that had
allergies and reactions.
If you read the BRAT diet, you will see why she added bananas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRAT_diet
--- Right now, that baby needs some beneficial gut flora.
I would prefer that it were the probiotic paste that the feed store has,
because I have not given yogurt to baby bunnies, still I can not see how
it could hurt, even a healthy baby.

__________ Sun Sep 09, 2012 5:00 am __________

If you do not do the yogurt, see if you at least have some gatoraid
diarrhea is murder on the bodies electrolytes.

__________ Sun Sep 09, 2012 5:01 am __________

Yogurt for puppies is good, it should be for baby bunnies, too.

__________ Sun Sep 09, 2012 5:03 am __________

Once you get acidophilus (acid loving bacteria) going
it will make the gut flora, benificial, to other benificial bactieria.

__________ Sun Sep 09, 2012 5:15 am __________

Nyctra":1sdb13no said:

"Reduced blood supply to gut (chilling)"
- http://www.nadis.org.uk/bulletins/small ... scour.aspx
If that applies to rabbits, I wonder if that's the cause? It drops to about 50 at night, and they huddle like penguins so some get colder than others when they overflow the nestbox...

Click to expand...

I do not know. From what I have heard, rabbits take cool weather well. Still if the other babies
saw a need to be in the nest box for warmth, then it may be too chill, for them at this age.
That could mean that you may have some of the other babies, on the verge of "weaning enteritis", too.
Do they have hay? I have heard of rabbits making an impromptu nest, on the wire, with hay. I do not
know if it is actually, cool enough to have to bring the babies, in. Why can't they all get into the nest box?<br /><br />__________ Sun Sep 09, 2012 5:17 am __________<br /><br />When my children were babies, for bm's.
Peaches to go, bananas to slow

The nestbox is open on one end, so they pile up at the opening sometimes. Other times the babypile migrates to a totally exposed spot, like under the feeder.. :eyeroll:
This is by far the smallest and weakest of the litter. The kit wasn't interested, so I syringed several drops of the yogurt into it. I don't think it appreciated me getting its face all icky. ^-^'

Nyctra":30iy76v7 said:

I don't think it appreciated me getting its face all icky. ^-^'

Click to expand...

lol
Did you manage to get any down it throat? * sympathetically laughing while typing*
I would try again, every 1/2hr to hour.
yogurt is not a fluid, though. The baby can still dehydrate.

__________ Sun Sep 09, 2012 6:00 am __________

Alert - you may have to help it go to the bathroom, too.
At that baby's age, I do not think you will, but here are the links for younger babies.
Tips for Handraising Kits (warns about helping them go potty, or they can die) post23792.html#p23792
Formula feeding baby bunnies *PICS & VIDS* formula-feeding-baby-bunnies-pics-vids-t3691.html
14day old kits topic9270.html

In my experience, yellow poo on baby bunnies, even if you get probiotics and fluids into them = a dead bunny. it is generally kinder to simply knock them on the head.

Yeah, I watched it to be sure. It swallowed several times.
mmmm Maybe I could mix the yogurt with water for now?

ladysown":3ddkhsl7 said:

In my experience, yellow poo on baby bunnies, even if you get probiotics and fluids into them = a dead bunny. it is generally kinder to simply knock them on the head.

Click to expand...

It is still good experience. The biggest hassle is keeping the diarrhea from taking out all the electrolytes, while she gets the system balanced. It may not be able to be done, but there are more in this litter, that may be on the verge of sickness, and she may be able to keep them from getting it.
- that neon yellow poo, from a bunny or a child, is a big warning. When I used to see that in my kids diapers, (Unless, I fed a yellow food or drink) I used to go all out, yogurt, chicken soup, Gatorade- till I could get them to having solid bm's. Out of gratitude, their first solid bm's would be so stinky, you would need a gas mask, but by that time, I would so grateful that they were solid, that it was almost like getting a trophy, abet a sticky trophy diaper / nappy. lol

__________ Sun Sep 09, 2012 6:18 am __________

Nyctra":3ddkhsl7 said:

Maybe I could mix the yogurt with water for now?

Click to expand...

Gatorade would be better. Straight water could wash more of the electrolytes out of the baby's system.
Let me get back with you. Will Google and see if I can find a recipe, for a homemade electrolyte formula.
If you do have any bananas, for the potassium, that would help. Just a bit, that baby is getting a lot of sugar
but if you can not get the baby balanced out, you realize - it may not matter.

__________ Sun Sep 09, 2012 6:24 am __________

http://voices.yahoo.com/how-safely-home ... 03074.html
has the warning about sugar, too.
I am still reading to see if this is actually the best one.<br /><br />__________ Sun Sep 09, 2012 6:27 am __________<br /><br />If you have a mineral / salt block, and the baby will lick it, it may self medicate - electrolytes.

If it's still alive by morning, I'll see about getting it Pedialyte. For now, there isn't much I can do... -__-'

actually if you have not gotten a lot of yogurt into it yet,
I would make the formula the way that they have it.
Your going to have to balance, with the items, you have.

__________ Sun Sep 09, 2012 6:34 am __________

did you see the link, for the homemade solution?<br /><br />__________ Sun Sep 09, 2012 6:37 am __________<br /><br />If you can not make up that formula for homemade electrolytes and
if all you have is water, use it / give some.
You are having to balance dehydration / electrolytes.
You may have to hope that it did ingest a bit of yogurt...
-> Have you tried yogurt again?

you have some sound advice.

Yes to gatorade, pedialyte, but instead of those, I now keep the electrolyte solution you give to pigs and calves for scours. Kits up to 6-8 weeks can take a chill and the gut will stop digesting.

Yes any kit that has those symptoms are usually doomed, but so far I have saved every kit that has had this problem since I lost my favorite boy Lewis. However, any kit that has those symptoms is now excluded from my breeding program, so in most cases, culling is an easier option than trying to save the kit, unless you can definitively say something you did or changed was the cause of the kits illness. Otherwise it tends to show a weakness in the kit, that may be passed on. This is something I can say with with a measure of experience, because I had a doe (culled yesterday) who had at least 2 kits like this in every litter I have had with her.

Nyctra":31au8y0o said:

"Reduced blood supply to gut (chilling)"
- http://www.nadis.org.uk/bulletins/small ... scour.aspx
If that applies to rabbits, I wonder if that's the cause? It drops to about 50 at night, and they huddle like penguins so some get colder than others when they overflow the nestbox...

Click to expand...

I have not ruled the possibly, of too much milk.
"GORGING

Modern sows - even some of the more traditional breeds - can produce far more milk than piglets need early in life. Strong piglets can gorge on this supply leading to overload. It is always more likely to happen to the biggest front teat pigs.

Also, as piglets grow, supply grows and again gorging can result, leading to what is often termed "milk scour" at fourteen days plus. (This must be distinguished from coccidiosis.)"