by HappyCamper
(HC)
I raise meat rabbits and a first time mom did not care for her babies and I moved them with another mom who was also nursing. Two died and the others seemed ok. I noticed that two of these have very full bellies all the time and today I saw green stringy poop on one. It was very bright neonish green. They are a couple days younger than the rest of that litter...
I just don't want them infecting the rest w/ anything they may be carrying if this is something abnormal... I can't stress too much about those two because they are too little for me to begin any medications or treatments on them... has anyone seen feces like these in newborn bunnies before?
[***** Karen Sez *****}
Given your descriptions, this sounds like an E. coli-caused scours. It could also be enterotoxemia. Either of these are life-threatening, and is caused in this case by too much milk resulting in a bloom of diarrhea-causing bacteria.
Were these my kits, I'd remove the affected ones from the nest box for 24-36 hours. The point of this would be to eliminate one feeding to give their bellies a chance to empty a bit.
I might also empty the nest of all the bedding and replace it all with fresh. Salvage as much of the clean fur as you can, grooming extra from the doe if necessary. This would be in order to eliminate as much as possible any disease germs from the nest box.
The kits can all go back together after you've accomplished the above measures, which I hope will improve the kits' chances for survival.
We are not vets; please take the kits to a rabbit-savvy vet if necessary and if you need a definitive diagnosis and treatment plan.
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