baby bunny not gaining weight

Question
Hi,

I have 1 male Himalayan (also known as californian) rabbit. I bred him with
my doe. she delkvered on the dues date while i was at school. She delivered
the first kit fine but the second one got stuck and she died. I put the baby
that survived in a cardboard box with a heating pad under the box, with th
enesting material that the mom was planning to use & a towel. i had read to
getKMR & feed the baby 2ml twice a day. i did that & he wasn't really growing
or gaining weight. on monday he was barely moving so my mom started
feeding him every hour & a half he was gettign a little better but the next
morning showed little improvement. Today when i got home from school i
found a recipe for a hydrating solution ( a quart of water with 1 T of sal & 3 T
of sugar) &to give it to him every 15 mins for the firs hour. I did that & he had
alot more energy & his skin didn't tent when i pinched it. i gave it to him
again a 1/2 hour later & another hour after that. then, an hour late (8 :15
p.m. his skin would tent again. i gave him another dropper bottle full of the
hydrating solution & a dropper bottle of KMR formula. what's going on?

Answer
Hello Emma !
I hope your baby bunny  is doing better today.
You are so good to work so hard on saving this baby, you have chosen a big job, its not easy to care for a new born.
one thing to remember is never give too much liquid at any given time  it may get into his little lungs and he will asperate.
the hydrating soultion  is good but always keep the milk replacer at hand  he needs the nutriants not just liquids.  I feel that babies that dont get to suckle on their mothers for the first time hav a very hard time fighting infection the first few days of milk the mother provides has colostrium and it helps the new born bunnies get a  good start. with out this they are more apt to have problems even  digestive  problems.
Also a real mother rabbit only feeds their young twice a day so when your little one seems  like its stronger you may want to cut down on its regular feeding schedule.
Good luck
Dan