These 7 tips on caring for baby bunnies are useful for new rabbit owners. Bringing home your first baby bunny is lots of fun, but if you don’t know how to properly care for this little rabbit you might be spending money on vet bills in the near future. If you are raising rabbits, then the mama bunny tends to do most of the work in caring for the babies. You’ll still have to apply some of the following care tips for your entire bunny family.
You’ll need to have a cage set up with everything necessary to provide fresh food and water for the baby rabbits. The cage should be properly built so that no large gaps are present that the babies could fall through. Remember that baby rabbits can squeeze through what might appear to be a very small opening. If the cage isn’t properly constructed, you’ll end up with baby rabbits running around your yard or worse; attacked by larger animals.
Check your bunnies’ ears from time to time. If you notice a pinkish scaly appearance inside the lower portion of the ear, this is most likely ear mites. Some rabbits will tilt their head towards the side that has the infected ear on it, which is an indicator that your rabbit might be dealing with ear mites. When you check their ears regularly, you should be able to see any sign of mites before the head tilting begins.
Rabbits are very tolerant to cold weather, but baby bunnies aren’t as tough as the adults. If your bunnies are kept in a cage outdoors, consider making a cover for it that will protect the little rabbits from wind and drafts. So as to allow light into the cage area, you can cover only the lower portion of the cage. I have a piece of tin that is a foot wide and as long as each side of the cage. This provides an excellent wind-break without blocking out sunlight.
Water bottles are best for baby rabbits to use. A bowl is easily knocked over and little bunnies have a tendency to end up landing in the water bowl itself. So, you can either end up with an empty water bowl or a bunch of wet bunnies.
Baby bunnies don’t often know their limit when it comes to food. They will most likely try anything you put in their cage. Small pieces of carrots and apples can be offered as a treat, but it might be best to wait until they are older before you offer them treats like this every day. Stick to feeding your bunny rabbit pellets for his main diet.
Cages should be placed in an area where larger animals aren’t able to knock the cage over or tear it open to get to the baby rabbits. Some people suspend their rabbit cages from rafters in a barn or garage. This eliminates the chance of anything climbing into or onto your baby rabbits’ cages.
Most rabbit cages are made with a type of wire on the bottom that allows the rabbit poop to fall right through to the ground. This greatly decreases the amount of mess bunnies can make inside their cage. However, if you offer them bits of hay to munch on or place a small amount of straw inside the cage to supply warmth during the cold months, this can become damp from bunny waste or water. You’ll need to make sure that the wet hay or straw is cleaned out and replaced as often as necessary.
I hope you find these 7 tips on caring for baby bunnies to be useful with your new little rabbit. I have lots of fun with mine and they are almost like little dogs. Give them lots of attention from the moment you bring them home and they will grow up to be very loving rabbits. Have you found there to be any difficulties with raising rabbits?
Top Photo Credit: Bunny Spice