handrearing rabbits

[LeeP]

Hi Em,
I only have a minute. I've used up my time going to the doctor, but I wanted to give you my weaning schedule and see what you thought of it. I've been really impressed with it since I found it in a rehab journal. I use it in all "titchy" situations, but I tend to err on the side of extreme caution. It's simple really.

1/4 formula+3/4 rehydrating solution (rs) fed every 1/2 hour 3 times
then
1/2 formula+1/2 rs fed every hour 3 times
then
3/4 formula+1/4 rs fed every 2 hours 3 times

I've even modified it to wean from anything to anything with great success.
I'm going to try to post tonight - back to subject. I want to ask you about some of your lovely animals that I've never even seen at some point.


Lee

[LeeP]

Hi Em,
Here we may have difficulty communicating effectively because we live in different places and have different products available to us.
Do I understand correctly that you use only one formula to feed both puppies and kittens? We have 2 - one for kittens (KMR) and one for puppies (Esbilac). KMR mixed with water in various proportions is also used to feed raccoons and bobcats. Esbilac mixed with water in various proportions is also used to feed badgers, marmots, squirrels, skunks, foxes, and coyotes. Esbilac/water is nutritionally deficient for rabbits, opossums, and beavers. For these Esbilac must be mixed in various proportions with Multi Milk, an animal milk replacer base.
Specifically for rabbits, puppy milk contains too little protein and too much carbohydrate, and kitten milk contains too little fat and too much carbohydrate. To get an approximation of rabbit milk, we mix 3 parts puppy milk (Esbilac) and 2 parts Multi Milk. If you were only able to use dilute puppy milk, that may have been part of the problem.
Another problem with rabbits...rescuers tend to overfeed them at each feeding. Rabbits cannot safely eat as much per feeding as other baby animals. Palpate the stomach. They are full when their stomachs are just slightly rounded and firm. Feeding beyond this point is dangerous.
In rabbits, when death occurs before the eyes are open, it is usually caused by overfeeding a nutritionally inadequate formula.
Had your rabbits lived, their time of even greater danger would have been at weaning. Their gut becomes colonized by a pathogenic bacteria instead of the intestinal flora they need to digest their proper solid food. You have to take measures to innoculate them with the needed bacteria.
Now you know why everyone says that rabbits are so hard to save. It can be done, but it's not easy.
Please tell me about raising hares. The nearest wild ones are hundreds of miles from me. The only ones I've seen are the domesticated Belgian hares kept as pets, and I've never had any that needed my help.
Mice? What kind were they? I've never had the chance to rehab mice. No rescuer that I know of has. I don't know why. How did you feed them? They are so tiny.
Have you ever done badgers or hedgehogs? I'd so love to even see these up close. What are they like?


Lee

[Empath]

Thanks for the formulas and advice, mate. I am wondering if I can order multimilk and esbilac on line. It will be handy to have some in.
Raising hares: We have lots of them here - beautiful animals. I have had several leveret hares - two just hours old (they still had wet cords). others slightly older. Because they look like 3-week-old rabbits from birth, they seem to need milk for longer. i treat them like all baby mammals - check hydration and rectify, keep warm and dark (with a teddy bear if single), and feed them the milk formula I tried with the rabbits. The only ones I have lost have been injured - by cats usually - and have died of blood poisoning before the antibiotic could work. healthy newborn hares thrive on the stuff - 4 times a day. the main problem with hares is CHILDREN. They are found in the fields round here and picked up by kids (and sometimes adults) because they are assumed to be abandoned. i spend much of my summer educating people NOT to disturb them.
Belgian Hares BTW are actually rabbits. Their young are naked and blind at birth. You'd know what to do if you ever got any of these to care for.

Mice: I have haraised a family of 4 long tailed field mice. They were blind tiny things when I got them. As they were too small to suckle from a bottle or take a syringe, I used a cotton bud dipped in the formula. You know, the cotton wool blob on a stick, often usd for cleaning ears and things. There is a danger that enthusiastic sucklers will injest some cotton wool. However, if you are aware of this you can make sure it doesnt happen. The main thing is it keeps them alive.
Badgers - no, never had to care for a badger (yet) but there are lots living round here, so its only a matter of time.
Hedgehogs - plenty!! from birth onwards. They are easy to rear - treat them like kittens. Wonderful animals! When they are weaned they need cat or dog food - tinned or biscutes - any flavour so long as it's not fish. they also enjoy eggs, fruit (they LOVE bananas), cooked or raw meat, chicken livers, muesli.... as well as a variety of invertibrates.
The main reason we get adult hedgehogs in the summer is gardening injuries - we get them with severed limbs and holes in their backs due to strimmers and lawn mowers mainly. Sometimes they are crawling with maggots. Most of these do not survive.
bats: only ever had adult bats. these are usually exhausted by trying to feed in wet weather, although some are affected by fly killer or furniture polish if they live inside buildings such as churches. mealworms are best for these, but tinned cat food OK in an emergency.

Keep up the good work! and thanks again!

[LeeP]

Hi Em,
I would think you could get Esbilac and Multi Milk there somewhere. They are both made by PetAg. I'm pretty sure they're sold in France because everything printed on the label is in English and in French. Isn't that what the EU is all about? Check with your supplier. Maybe he can order them for you.

I honestly didn't know that about Belgian hares. I've only seen 2. They are considered somewhat ritzy here and are only kept by the elite of the rabbit fancy (people who show them and such). They certainly look more like hares than rabbits. Well...I guess that was what they were after.

Here only specialist wildlife rehabbers are allowed to rehab bats. It involves getting regular rabies shots. Bats are extreme rabies carriers here. Besides the shots you have to have a special isolation set-up. Supposedly, you can even get rabies from their poo.

Thanks for telling me about your lovely animals. I think I would especially like badgers. If I specialize in anything, it's birds. Do you help any birds?


Lee

[Empath]

We help a lot of birds - and bats too. We have an injured green plover at the moment. Its had some sort of trauma and we have needed to amputate its' right wing. The bird is now in a large rat-proof aviary, putting on weight and enjoying the good-life.
We get a lot of crows, and other corvids, blackbirds, thrushes, starlings, a good few swallows and house martins, several swans, ducks, herons and lots of owls and hawks.
Not sure if telling you my sanctuary website is allowed on this forum, but I will anyway. its www.farplace.co.uk
I dont mind if this needs to be edited out... but if they leave it on, feel free to have a look.
The bats are suspected to be rabies carriers here, but "officially" the UK is rabies-free. No one actually believes this, and it always is best to take extra care when handling bats and other wildlife.

thanks for all your help. A little extra knowlege is always a good thing. Perhaps others on this forum will be able to help more animals as a result of our posts.

Jan