What to feed 6 week bun separated from mum

[Emi]

I’m a first time rabbit owner. We bought our first rabbit, a six week old Netherland Dwarf, last night. After spending all night researching rabbit care, I now know that we made a mistake in buying a six week old rabbit from a breeder. I feel so bad. How serious a mistake is this? Should I ask the breeder to take the baby back for a couple weeks so she can be with her mom for a little while longer? Would its mother still accept her after a day apart?

I feel so bad that I’ve put my little bun in a dangerous situation. 🙁

When I bought the baby, her breeder said that she’s been feeding her table scraps, like her mom, things like romaine ends and orange peels. She said she really hadn’t been eating pellets. This also seems not recommended in my research on forums. But now I’m in a situation where I don’t know whether to keep feeding her what she was being fed, or to move to feeding her hay and/or pellets as is recommended.

Thank you in advance for your advice!

[Bam]

At 6 weeks, buns are as a rule weaned. They’re often taken from the mother at that age, but are kept together with their siblings for another 2 weeks. She should be fine with you, but she is of course very young and vulnerable. She might be better off with you than if she were to go back to the breeder.

It’s a bit strange that she hasn’t been eating pellets. I assume she has been filling up on less suitable food. Since rapid dietary changes have the potential to cause serious stomach upset, I’d say keep giving her what shes used to getting, but mix it up with pellets and hay in a gradually increasing ratio. In my opinion orange peel is a weird thing to feed buns, esp baby buns, but since it’s what the mum has been eating, the babies have been eating it too via her milk. This is how it is believed that rabbits learn what plants are good to eat, via molecules from those plants in the mother’s milk.

Get her a good quality junior pellet to mix with the other stuff she’s eating. You can give alfalfa hay or a mix of alfalfa and grass hay. Alfalfa has extra protein and calcium that a growing bun needs. Hay is, as you know, the most important food for an adult bun, so you want to lay down good hay-eating habits as early as possible.

Weekly weighing is very good for keeping track of things. She should gain weight rapidly at this age. You can weigh her in a bowl on kitchen scales. It’s good to keep a little diary of her weight and what food she eats etc.

 

[Emi]

Thank you for the advice! I really appreciate it and will do those things (and maybe cut out the orange peel). 🙂

[michaela]

Hey!

I don’t own any rabbits but have done tons of research. I hope that you can eventually get her (I’m assuming the bun is a doe?) off that table scrap diet. I haven’t tried these pellets (obviously can’t if I don’t own a bun) but they are generally trusted.: “Oxbow Rabbit Young”.  Once she is older you can also switch to Oxbow’s Adult Rabbit Timothy Hay Based diet. 🙂 Best of luck!

 

Note from Moderator: I’ve edited this remove the product link.

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