Do Domestic Baby Bunnies Need Food Besides Milk?

Fluffy baby bunnies are often the biggest bonus to raising rabbits, but they do have specific nutritional needs that have to be met. On the rare occasion that baby bunnies are abandoned by their mothers, caretakers have to provide their bunnies with proper food for their stage of growth. Even with correct feeding and care, young bunnies are unlikely to survive without their mothers.

  1. How Rabbits Feed Their Young

    • If your rabbit has just had bunnies and she appears to be ignoring them, don't worry. As long as their skin is not baggy and their bellies are plump, the mother is paying them a visit. Rabbits only nurse once or twice a day and new rabbit breeders often are concerned that the mother is ignoring her bunnies. This is a instinctual and a deliberate effort on her part to keep predators away from the nest. Baby bunnies make no noise and nestle deep within their nest, so they do not attract attention on their own. If their mother was constantly coming and going, curious opportunistic feeders like opossums would notice the nest and make a meal of her babies.

    Nest Box Bunnies

    • Baby bunnies are born hairless and unable to regulate their body temperature. Their eyes and ears are closed and they are totally dependent upon their mother to feed them. At this stage, they will eat nothing but the milk their mother provides. Bunnies this age are difficult to bottle feed without drowning or causing their body temperatures to drop to dangerous levels. Your best bet is to foster them on to another rabbit for milk if you are certain they are not being fed. Scoop them up and place them in a nest with other bunnies of a similar age and the mother rabbit will do the rest.

    Two Weeks to Weaning

    • Bunnies open their eyes around 2 weeks of age. At this time, they begin to follow their mother around and they learn to eat pellets and drink from water bottles. They will still nurse, but as they grow, their interests turn to pellets and water. Do not feed any vegetable treats to bunnies this age. Too much extra water from vegetation can cause massive digestive chaos and deadly diarrhea.

    Weaning

    • Bunnies are usually weaned by rabbit breeders around 8 weeks of age. Rabbits may wean their babies a little earlier or a little later, depending on a variety of factors. By this time, they are completely self-sufficient and eating solid food entirely. Bunnies orphaned after about five weeks have a high chance of survival if fed free-choice pellets, water and hay.