wild bunny emergency

[TexasArtist]

While I was fixing dinner tonight my moms dog found a patch of baby bunnies. All but one were killed. How do I take care of the little guy??

Details:
Has hair but I have not seen the eyes open yet. Has been sleeping for about the past 3 hours. Smaller then the palm of my hand. I'm keeping him/her up on the fridge in a basket to stay warm.

Thanks for the help

[Sparticle]

Originally Posted by TexasArtist

While I was fixing dinner tonight my moms dog found a patch of baby bunnies. All but one were killed. How do I take care of the little guy??

Details:
Has hair but I have not seen the eyes open yet. Has been sleeping for about the past 3 hours. Smaller then the palm of my hand. I'm keeping him/her up on the fridge in a basket to stay warm.

Thanks for the help

www.bcrabbits.org/kits_article.pdf

OR:
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/orphan.html#The%20Bunny%20is%20Wild%20and%20Really %20Orphaned%20-%20How%20do%20I%20care%20for%20it?[/url]

If you scroll down enough (they want to make sure the mommy isn't just hiding) I think you'll find something?

In summary:

Feeding of True Orphans Age + Amount (This WILL vary depending on type of rabbit. It is impossible over the Internet to see your particular rabbit, so this is only approximate.) Use Goat Milk or KMR, regular not low fat. Add a pinch of acidophilus (aka Probiotic) to the formula to promote healthy gut flora. Formulas vary depending on region. Avoid Esbilac. FEED TWICE A DAY ONLY.

Newborn to One Week: 2 - 2+1/2 cc/ml each feeding (two feedings per day).

1-2 weeks: 5-7 cc/ml each feeding (two feedings per day). (depending on bunny..may be much LESS if smaller rabbit!) Newborn babies (if eyes closed) all need to be stimulated to urinate and defecate prior to or following feeding until their eyes open. (Except Jackrabbits do not). *See how to below.

2-3 weeks: 7-13 cc/ml each feeding (two feedings). Domestic eyes open at about 10 days of age. Start introducing them to timothy and oat hay, pellets and water (always add fresh greens for wild ones).

3-6 weeks: 13-15 cc/ml each feeding (two feedings--again, may be LESS depending on size of rabbit! A cottontail will take so much less!! Half this at most.) Domestics are weaned about 6 weeks. Cottontails wean and release about 3-4 weeks and jackrabbits much later (9+ weeks).

Wild rabbits NEED a skilled wildlife rehabber. Please call your humane society or these contacts: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contact.htm

[tltater]

The best thing to do is put it back in the nest and let mom take care of it. These little guys are very hardto care for.

You can feed them kitten replacer milk. You need to keep it warm. Would suggest a box with half of a heating pad under half of the box. You can also get ahold of a wildlife rescue and get more advice or they may know of someone who can care for the little one for you.

Good luck!

Tracy
Southwestern, NY

[tltater]

Almost forgot....mom only feeds them twice a day so don't overfeed! You will know if you are overfeeding because they will get diarrhea.

[cabe]

We are blessed with three girls , and you can imagine the wild animals over the years we have rescued. Just watch portions very much , do not overfeed, the best indicator is when the little thing starts turning his head away , I know that sounds basic , but you would be amazed at the folks that just keep shoving it in.And no more than 3 feedings, I have seen wild moms enter nest twice or thrice , but not any more. Marty.

[southerngurl]

The mom will come back at night for the baby and call him. I would put him back where you found him now.

[TexasArtist]

Originally Posted by southerngurl

The mom will come back at night for the baby and call him. I would put him back where you found him now.

I found him in the dogs mouth.....you really want me to put the poor thing back there???


I did clean the blood off him that I found and built the nest back. I'll keep checking over the next few days to make sure mom wasn't killed in the action. The dogs have wiped out a whole bunny village before so that's why I brought this little guy in. I'm gonna build some pallets around the nest as fenceing tomarrow to make sure the dogs can't get back there.

Thanks for all the quick helps folks me and the bunny appreciate it *S*

[southerngurl]

I found him in the dogs mouth.....you really want me to put the poor thing back there???

LOL, maybe not! Back where the dogs found him then. I would wonder if he has internal injuries?

[QueenB04]

I'll be honest it's very very hard to raise baby rabbits, especially so little, and by themselves so I wish you the best. I've done plenty of raising orphaned wildlife so if I may make a suggestion as to the best warmer I've found. Take an old sock, especially a mans, pour about 1/2 to 3/4 full of rice(any rice will do) tie off the top of the sock, and heat in the microwave for about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes depending on the warmth of it, they heat up fast. Then wrap in a towel, let the heat settle in for a min. before you put the baby near it, some times you may need to put another towel over it, if the heat comes through too much. This will last several hours, over night, and if you can make a pouch using a fleece like materiel(or an old pillow case) and add a little pocket for the sock warmer in the bottom it works great keeping the babies quiet, warm and secure. If not a box and a towel on top does fine. All the milk recipes were good, try to use a natural milk source is possible, goat milk is great, the next best thing is calf milk replacer. One word of caution, watch the sugar content. Especially if you use a blen of evaporated milk, sugar contents tend to be a little higher and can over load the poor babies systems. Good luck!

[Yvonne]

Here are two of three we rescued :
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/texas7...&.dnm=c456.jpg

Their eyes were open so they must have been just a little older than yours and able to eat rabbit pellets and broken up alfafa cubes. It was also summer so didn't have to worry about keeping them warm. We gave them plenty of places to hide and didn't disturb them except to replenish water and feed. They spent about a week in a new chicken house that gave them time to get used to grass. I then left the door open for them to come or go at will. After three days they left for good.

Good Luck with yours

[puglady]

Is it true or is it an old wives' tale that you need to feed baby bunnies adult rabbit poop to get them to adjust from milk to grass? I've tried to raise bunnies and always they started out great, but faded fast when I put them on grass/greens.

[Quint]

Keep in mind that what you are doing is probably illegal unless you are a licensed rehabilitator. You might want to look up a rehab center near you and they could take them off your hands.

[southerngurl]

Is it true or is it an old wives' tale that you need to feed baby bunnies adult rabbit poop to get them to adjust from milk to grass? I've tried to raise bunnies and always they started out great, but faded fast when I put them on grass/greens.

Hmm, perhaps the mom has the gut floura in her milk, and that's what takes care of it in the wild, but when using fake milk, perhaps the poo would work? I know rabbit's have rather different digestive systems.

[popscott]

Yep....they need "Special" rabbit poop...

http://www.squirrelworld.com/RabRehab.html
tells about it...

Thanks,
Pam and Scott
http://www.justkiddinfarm.com/

[moonwolf]

It's not a good idea to keep wild animals brought in from their environment. It's not legal here either to keep wild 'pets', and you're not doing any favors for wildlife management. The nest where the mother rabbit is the best place that the bunny should be IMHO. If it were my dog, I wouldn't want it to be looking for nests in the wild of any kind. It's unfortunate, and I can understand that accidents happen and then you're faced with tough calls to decide what to do.

[Breezie]

Last year one of our dogs rustled up a nest of bunnies and the mother never came back so we decided to take them in. Boy, what a mistake. I read all the information there was out there, did it all by the book as well as I was able-and they all died anyway. You can't imagine how horrible I felt, knowing that even though I did all I could-I still killed those babies. There were 4, and I cried and mourned over each one as it died.

Next time I find myself in a situation like that, I am walking away. There's just no way I'm going through that again. :waa:

[MikeD]

Thank you, Quint, Moon and others for voicing those opinions. As kind-hearted as some people may be they simply do not comprehend the potential legal (thier own) or health (theirs and more importantly the ANIMAL) ramifications of their actions.

[Rosarybeads]

Well, like Yvonne, I had success with two little ones that our kitties had found (and no, I didn't WANT my kitty to go looking for wild bunny nests! ). Course, my kitties had killed the mother, so I had no recourse but to take them, or they would die.

I recall contacting a wildlife rehab person over some baby birds we had found, and he basically said that he couldn't do anything that we couldn't. You would think these "homesteaders" would realize that more.... As long as you know what to do, you can do just as much as a rehabber. Like anything, do your research, learn about it, and go from there. Yes, it may be illegal, but you just do the best you can at the time you can. And I don't believe (don't quote me) that it is illegal unless it comes down to some more serious animals, like racoons and the like. Then again, if you live in California, I think it's illegal to look sideways at wildlife there! haha

I don't believe she was talking about keeping the wild bunny as a pet. Sides, the mother wouldn't touch it if she touched it, and she certainly wouldn't touch it if it was in the dogs mouth either. Same with Breezie, hun, you didn't kill those bunnies, your dog did. You just did your best. They were probably harmed by the dog...

[Stickywitch]

TA, don't listen to some of them. :no:
I would continue to keep the baby bunny on the top of the fridge and care for it as you are.

I say this from experience because I once found a baby bat in my basement and called for help and was disapointed when I was told that it would be hard to care for and the best thing to do would be to kill it because nobody is going to help me rescue a bat of all things. Well, I put it in a shoebox and set it on the top of an old hutch and fed it with a tube feeder several times a day.
It had a darling little face, I might add.
The only thing was the little rascal would hang from the side of the shoebox and then chirp all night long once it started to get dark outside. (I had up to 63 living inside my old brick fireplace...counted them flying out one night until I couldn't count them in the black sky anymore.)

All in all, continue to do what's right in your heart.
.......oh and make that dog go without a meal..or two!

[MikeD]

http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=74807

As posted on the "Rabbit" forum...

I was a participant in that "other" thread. It's not at all your fault that the dogs got the doe and I do not believe anyone saddled you with any blame for that. Accidents DO happen. Having said that, you admitted to not knowing how to properly care for orphaned kits. Knowing that, did you attempt to locate and/or contact any local wildlife rehabilitation facilities at all as was suggested? Or did you take the "advice" of complete and total faceless strangers trapped in a box that had absolutely zero way of knowing the particular health of the kits you were dealing with and attempt to keep the kits alive yourself? Would they have lived with a licensed, educated rehabber or even a veterinarian trained to detect injuries or poor health as opposed to a well-meaning but unprepared animal lover that was "trying to do the right thing" ?

Sorry if it feels like I'm beating up on you yet again but there are reasons for things like wildlife rehabitation, the individuals trained to handle it, and the laws that surround and govern it as well. I've seen this too many times to care to think about with native snakes and amphibians.

Do I feel bad that the kit died? Absolutely... Do I feel bad that when people freely ask for advice they don't like some of the advice given to them and become disgruntled because they don't get the answers they were looking for?? Absolutely not. You asked...People offered various advice...You chose the advice that you'd follow... The rabbit is dead... Who's fault is it? No one that offered ANY of the free advice that you got. There's just nothing I can say to change that... Sorry....