Babies that do not have their eyes open are fed every three hours and with much smaller amounts than what you will see in published feeding charts. Many articles on rabbit care state that babies are only fed once or twice a day by their mothers and thus that we should feed on a similar schedule. However, I recommend more frequent feedings, for two reasons. Second, substitute milk formulas are digested much more rapidly than rabbit milk, which due to its acidity, forms a thick curd in the baby s stomach and digest slowly over several hours. Adjust the feeding schedule so that the baby s stomach is mostly empty before feeding again.
Some bunnies digest faster than others.
Babies with eyes closed must be stimulated to urinate and defecate. Some may defecate on their own but you should stimulate them after each feeding. Bunnies that are accustomed to being held will allow stimulation for elimmination long after their eye have opened. This allows you to closely monitor the character of both urine and feces, and keeps the cage cleaner. Always be on the alert for the first sign of mushy feces, and make corrections, such as by reducing the amount or frequency of formula feeding, changing or reducing the amount of weaning foods given, reducing the stress level, etc.