young rabbit

Question
we have had our young rabbit (11 weeks old) for 3 days and it has diorrohea.  We have only given it rabbit mix, as we were told not to give it veggies or fruit until it was older.  What are we doing wrong and what should we do?

Answer
Hi Gail,

Your little bunny has had a lot going on in the past couple of days.  He is probably very stressed.  My first suggestion is to let him stay very quietly in his new housing for a few days.  He is probably very scared and confused.  Let him acclimate before handling him.  I would suggest a week or so.  That doesn't mean not to interact with him....but do so on his terms.  Be very quiet and gentle with him.  

Are you feeding him the same brand of pellet he was getting at wherever you got him?  Changing diet easily disrupts a GI in a hind gut fermenter like a rabbit.  They do not like anything to be changed.  Make sure you are offering unlimited hay.  The diet of adult rabbits should be mostly hay with limited pellets and greens and very limited fruits.  With a young rabbit like this, I would offer unlimted high quality pellets (not the junk food stuff) and unlimited hay....both grass and alfalfa. Rabbits should always have hay available.

Rabbits rarely get true diarhea.  They do get an imbalance in the gut (usually improper diet) and that upsets the gut similarly to when we take antibiotics.  Diet is the most often cause.  This condition can easily dehydrate this little guy if not corrected quickly...and that usually means bad things.  If you use a vet or have a major pet store near you...see if they have a probiotic called Bene-Bac.  It is a bacteria laden paste.  It doesn't contain the real bacteria a rabbit needs, but the cultures in the product will help to stabilize the pH in that still young gut (it should be very acidic with a pH of 1-2).  This product contains a culture known as L Casei which is very helpful in establishing a gut.  About a half gram a day should do the trick.

Please act fast to get this under control.  We do not want that rabbit to become dehydrated and a runny gut will do that quickly in a baby.

Randy