How to syringe feed your rabbits
Rabbits need to eat but if they are feeling unwell, they will be reluctant to do so. It is important to rule out that they are suffering from any intestinal blockage. Henceforth, please seek your veterinarian's advice before proceeding with syringe feeding.
What are we feeding?Oxbow Critical Care
EmerAid Intensive Care Herbivore
EmerAid Sustain Herbivore
Why Critical Care Syringes?
Critical care syringes can often hold 15-20 ml of food which enables smoother feeding and reduces the stressful time for rabbits during feeding.
It is important to make sure that the consistency of the mixture is right. Refer to the image below for reference.
How to start feeding?
- Syringe 10-20ml of the mixture into the Critical Care Syringes, eliminating as much air as possible.
- Wrap our rabbits with a towel to secure them such that they stay still for feeding. Ensure that our rabbits are in their natural standing position to prevent food from entering the lungs.
- Gently open the rabbits’ mouth and place the nozzle into the side of the mouth, away from the incisors. Ensure that the nozzle of the syringe is in the middle of the mouth and the rabbits will start chewing.
- Slowly syringe small amounts of food and let the rabbits rest in-between to let them chew and swallow.
*If you notice food coming out of the mouth, you may try repositioning the syringe.
*If the rabbits stop chewing, please stop feeding.
Tips:
Having some kitchen towels within reach may be helpful when cleaning the rabbits in between feeding and before unwrapping them.
It may take awhile to syringe feed so it's important to not rush through it.