Baby bunny not eating

Question
We took our 8 bunnies (4 weeks old) out in the backyard today. The adult rabbits are always out there. But we decided to give the babies some time. One of them crawled into a hole its mother had dug. He stayed there the whole time (about 2 hours)When we got him out of the hole to take indoors he didnt fuss as usual. Now it has been about 8 hours and the little guy isnt eating or hopping around with the others. He is usually the one who will hord all the food and tonight he wont even open his mouth to eat. My husband thinks he may have gotten bit by a spider as there are many out there. The only antibiotics we have are the puppies doxycycline. What can we do to help this little guy become himself again?

Answer
Dear Michelle,

Please do NOT give the rabbit any antibiotics without the advice and supervision of a vet.  Self-medicating the baby could just make things worse.  Please read:

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

and check for *any* sign of runny stool.  It would be best to get the baby to a good rabbit vet ASAP for complete checkup and treatment, as necessary.  Babies are difficult to treat if they are showing no obvious signs of illness except inappetence, but the problem is very often intestinal.  If you see any runny stool, note that the most common cause is E. coli infection, and this can be treated with Baytril or ciprofloxacin from your vet.  Other antibiotics *will not be effective* and could make things worse.

You can find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope this helps.

Dana