one kit not getting fed..

Question
hi there!

First off let me say how grateful i am with your attemtion amd patience with
me and my new bunny family. Thank you soo much for everything. Your help
was indespensible!!

My question is this: a day ago i found one of my kits tangled in pet bedding..
With cords of it tightly wrapped around its neck! I quickly cut it free and
painstakingly removed it from the pet bedding sucessfully ( its alive) to find
that it was considerably smaller than the other kit, and hasnt been fed. I let it
go a day, figuring it would be fed the next morning but alas it appears that
the other kit is beating the runt to the prize. The kit looks considerably more
scraggly and peed on me when i went to pick it up. I attempted to place the
kit  under my doe to see it i could get her to feed it individually but she
doesnt seem to like the idea and runs off angrily.

I'm torn.. Between feeling unsure if the kit will make it another day without  
nourishment/ my intervention, and thinking my doe is attending to them, if this
one kit isnt feeding, for whatever reason, i have to let nature take its course..

There are only two and ive seen her go into the nest to feed them twice
now.. Yesterday at 11am, when i noticed the tangled kit not eating.. and
today at 12noon.. When It really apears that the larger kit is pushing the
younger one out of the way.

I have kmr, im just reluctant to use it till its absolutely necessary in fear i'll
cause more gi problems to this poor kit. Please advise if possible! Thanks!!  

Answer
Dear Lauren,

At this point, it sounds as if you need to intervene.  If you can see when mama goes into the nest box to feed her babies, then I would remove the strong baby for just a few minutes to let the little one have a chance to feed without being pushed out of the way.  Once he's had a little time to feed, you can put the bigger baby back with mama and let them both feed.

But it also sounds as if the little one is already so weak he may need some help with a feeding from you, just so he can compete with the other one.  You can use the instructions here for feeding the baby:

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

KMR will be okay, but expect the baby to reject it, and be very patient, letting him get a drop or two into his mouth, swallowing it, and repeating this until he's had about 2-3 cc's, at least.  This will bring up his blood sugar and his strength and make him more likely to want to eat.  At this point, he could be starving, and once he gets into that mode he might not eat even if mama is standing right over him.  That's why you need to give him a little help.

I'm glad you were able to rescue him from the towel!  One thing we always warn people about is to NOT use towels or blankets with any loose threads or holes, as they can be deadly to little ones.  It's good you found him when you did!

Be sure the little baby is warm, too.  If he's cold, he'll be less likely to eat.  So a warm water bottle wrapped in a towel might be necessary for him to snuggle for about 10 minutes before you try feeding, if he seems cold and wrinkly.

Good luck!!

Dana