Help!! New bunny owner!!!

[Cardi Bunny]

Saw a tiny little thing at a flea market and she looked so tiny , I asked to hold her and I just had to take her with me. I know, I know, we should never buy animals from low lives that sell these animals for cheap and misstreat them and neglect their needs. But I saw her and I had to safe her. I didn’t really ask the lady questions because most likely she would have lied to me. She did however tell me it was a female, although I don’t know if that’s true. I got her May 12,2018 and took her to the vet first chance I got because she wasn’t pooping as much as I have read that bunnies poop. The vet told me she looked really young and that she might still need to feed from her mom. But he told me to start feeding her veggies, although she is pooping a lot now, he poop is still really dark. The vet sent a decal exam and came back negative. Could it be because the people that had her only had her on pellets and water? I didn’t see any hay around their cage. Should I just give her some kitty milk replacer or goat milk, because from what I’ve read rabbits shouldn’t start to eat fresh veggies until they are at least 12 weeks old. My bunny looks really tiny to be 12 weeks yet. She does have unlimited hay and water, and I want to know what’s the best pellets for really young bunnies? And can anyone help me figure out how old my bunny is?!

[kurottabun]

It’s not possible to sex a bunny that young, so she could be either male or female – you’ll have to find that out when the baby is older.

It’s really important that you find a rabbit savvy vet – based on what he told you (feed veggies), it’s likely that this vet isn’t bunny savvy because you’re right in saying that the baby is too young to be fed veggies. From what I’ve noticed of my bun, his poops are always darker when he eats too much veggies or drinks too much water, though I’m not sure if that’s the general cause for dark poops.

If the bunny is below 2 months old, then yes it’s too young to be separated from the mother. Could you upload a picture of the baby? A rabbit savvy vet would be able to gauge the age best, but people on this forum may be experienced enough to roughly tell whether it’s a very young bunny.

Young bunnies should be eating alfalfa based pellets, but I’m not sure if bunnies as young as <8 weeks should be eating any pellets at all, so I'll leave that for the others to advise.

[Sirius&Luna]

I believe kitten and goat milk aren’t suitable for rabbits. Could we see a photo and we might be able to help you with her age and breed? Or could you tell us how much she weighs?

You’re correct that she shouldn’t have veggies if she’s under 8 weeks, which is the age they should be separated from their mothers. I believe rabbits are weaned from 4-6 weeks, which is when they start eating hay.

Alfalfa hay is good for young bunnies.

Baby rabbits also eat their mum’s cecatropes, which is really important for them having good gut health in the future. If she really is very young this is something that you should think about.

[Azerane]

Goats milk is a suitable replacement for rabbits until a rabbit milk replacer can be used. I recommend against veggies at such a young age and recommend pushing grass hay instead.

Oxbow pellets are a good brand, they make a young rabbit pellet that you can use which is suitable.

[Bam]

Thank you for saving this little bun. It is true what you say, we shouldn’t buy animals from dodgy breeders that sell animals like they were inanimate objects, but now you’ve saved this little one and she is a tiny individual who obviously was very fortunate that you came along when you did. 

[MountainBuns]

Thank You for giving that bunny a better life, a internet search should reveal the milk that she/he should be drinking, definitely dont start on veggies for a while. I agree with kurottabun that it will be hard to sex him/her till they get older. Alfalfa hay is a good idea to help strengthen them up. Also as Azerene stated, Oxbow is a good brand for starters.

I hope all is well with you and them, Thanks again for saving him/her!

[Cardi Bunny]

i posted a picture of my bunny. I took her to another vet and she said it looked like a girl, maybe ill get a third opinion because im constantly worried about her/him. luckily the bunny seems to eat a lot of hay, i mix a little bit of alfalfa hay. ive heard good things about orchard grass hay, would you recommend that for my bunny? or should i not switch up her hay so she wont get stasis? i got her oxbow pellets for young rabbits, i gave it to her before i read your comment and she got really bloated and i ran to the store for some infant gas drops and less then 30 min she was back to normal and pooping like crazy. but later she got bloated again so i took her to the vet the next day. she hasnt gotten bloated since then. and her poop was really dark when i was giving her cilantro, so i think ill wait until shes older. Her poop is more normal now, less dark for sure.

[MountainBuns]

Since she is young, she should be eating only Alfalfa for a while. No veggies whatsoever for now, hopefully you can determine her age and then find out what she should be eating

[12345ABCDE]

If she’s having young pellets, she doesn’t need to have alfalfa hay so orchard is fine

[Harley&Thumper]

I agree with sarah, when I gave my baby bunny both she had excess cecotropes and really bad poopy butt

[MountainBuns]

Oh ok, I wasnt sure about her age, My bad.

[Frosty]

oh she looks tiny! It’d be easier to tell if I knew the breed but I would guess 4-5 weeks from that photo.

[Cardi Bunny]

Just saw that she pooped 2 or 3 runny stool and she has a little pooped smudged on her fur and where she poops. Her poop has been solid but lighter than normal, what does that mean? I am giving her critical care and she drinks lots of water and eats hay constantly.

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