i need rabbit help

Question
My rabbit gave birth to a litter of 6 babies all have survived and are 18 days old my concern is that she maybe pregnant again and i don't think she is feeding the littles ones they look healthy but a little on the skinny side they will not drink krm from a bottle i don't know if they are old enough to wean she has had 3 other litters and all have died this is her first that have survived we are very happy about this and don't want nothing to go wrong can you please help me?

Answer
Hi Amy

You can try to get the babies to eat mushy food.  At 3 weeks they should be eating solid food on their own.  Give them hay to munch on.  You are pretty much going to have to cross your fingers if the mom isn't taking care of them and you can't give them a bottle.  You can syringe feed them but it is very difficult.  I will give you some web-sites about abandoned litters.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html

If the mother is still in with the buck you need to separate them.  They can become pregnant again instantly after giving birth and it is usually a vicious cycle of litter after litter.  The mother usually won't have enough milk for the new babies and the 4 week old babies are susceptible to enteritis.

I am so sorry this has happened to you.  I hope that the formula from Ms. Krempels web-site will help you.

Sincerely,

Pam