Wild Baby Bunnie Help Needed

[clevalley]

Hope I'm doing this right...sure if I'm not someone will tell me.
The Baby Bunny is around 4 to 4 1/2 inches. I looked it over and saw where the cat had picked it up and brought it into the yard...small holes, one on each side, looks like a couple of stitches needed. I did peroxide them the best I could without upsetting it to much.

Now that the baby has been touched by human hands, the mother will not have anything to do with it as it has been contaminated by human scent - this is true for wild rabbits.

You have two options;

1. All you can do it bottle feed it and raise it until it gets on solid food, then set it loose.
   
2. Or, try this - Recipes Using Rabbit

 

[clevalley]

Thanks for the links....but the baby didn't make it. I just hope there are no more. I hate when the babies die...And no I'm not killing the cat-he is a dump-off that I had nuetered and has taken me 3 years to calm down. He is still wild but he lives outside. I don't have any petunia's but the cat brings home every mouse and mole (and one time a gerbil) (kinky neighbors?) he can. I now the mom bunny only feeds them at night and in the morning so if you have one caged....look for mom and let the baby go. I think I've answered everyone's comments so I will go bury the little bugger...that's for your help.

Did not see this - you can still go with Option #2, above...

 

[OldHillcrestGuy]

Did not see this - you can still go with Option #2, above...

 

[cattitude]

Now that the baby has been touched by human hands, the mother will not have anything to do with it as it has been contaminated by human scent - this is true for wild rabbits.

Nope, absolutely not true.

 

[ARWB01R]

Hey all,

I was looking through this post and wanted to throw in my two cents to hopefully be helpful for next time? =P

I raise Holland Lop rabbits for show and pets and most always have mom's with litters so if any of you guys find another baby my does will literally nurse anything so I'd be happy to put him/her with a Mom to see if we can get it to survive and re-release it. With little ones that are so young, the "myth" is true that if you touch a wild rabbit baby the mother will no longer nurse it because they associate human smell with a threat...on the other hand my domestic guys are use to me and other humans and I can literally pick up their babies within minutes of them being born and love all over them, even take them away for hours (I have some moms that will feed the heck out of their babies be it 6 or only 2 and I have a litter right now of only 2 who almost got to the point that they were like turtles and couldn't flip back over if they stuck on there backs LOL!) and they will hop back in their boxes and feed them like its been days. I have re-released several babies at around 9-10 weeks old that way they are big enough to handle themselves and the ones I do re-release I never place on pellets and only feed them grasses, hay, weeds (dandelions, etc) that they will find in the wild and I place them in areas of known other wild rabbits and they can help them from there. I also tattoo them to watch them grow. It's pretty cool to see the same bunny years later running around with little ones. =]

Hope this was helpful!

Best of luck =]

 

[sockgirl77]

Tigg, hope the rabbit is ok

Holy crap. I just spit Coke Zero across the room. Damn.

 

[Sharon]

Many people think they have found orphaned bunnies when they find babies alone. Mother rabbits leave their young most of the day, only coming back to feed them a few times, mostly at dawn and dusk. If you find a bunny that you think is in need of help, try to locate its nest. If the nest is intact, put the bunny back. If a bunny is fully furred and has its eyes open, its probably old enough to make it on its own. If you find a baby bunny who does not have its eyes open, and you cannot find its nest, it does need help.

If you find a nest that is seriously disturbed, try to put it back together, but DO NOT move it! Mother bunnies expect their nest to be exactly where they left them. Moving them as far as just a foot can ensure that mom won't return.

Understand that raising orphaned bunnies without experience is very tricky. Even many experienced rehabilitators will tell you it is nearly impossible to keep them alive. This is due to the fact that they need the cecotropes from a female rabbit each day. This is the reason that only rehabilitators with adult female rabbits in permanent residents are usually successful at rehabilitating bunnies.

Also, if you find an orphan in need, please do not keep it in temperatures above 80 degrees as this can be deadly.

Find a Baby in Need?

 

[clevalley]

Nope, absolutely not true.

My younger brother came across a 4 baby rabbits and thought they were cute, my brother was around 5... he picked one up brought it into the house and played with it, but my dad said to put it back as it needed to feed so he put it back near the hole.

The mother kept kicking it out of the nest for the next two days. My mom took it in and bottle fed it, then released it. My dad said it was because of what I said earlier... the mother still raised the other 3 little ones, but did not take in the one my brother touched. :shrug:

 

[cattitude]

Wild Baby Rabbits

You have a litter of wild baby bunnies. Now What?
I get several e-mails starting in the spring about how to care for wild baby bunnies. Many times the best thing to do is nothing. If the babies look okay, just leave them in their nest or return them to it. If you return the babies, put unscented baby powder or unscented dental floss around the nest and check to see if it is disturbed in 24 to 48 hours to show if the mother has been there. If not, then you may need to take care of them yourself so they survive.

The House Rabbit Society website has the most complete information on ORPHANED BABY BUNNIES in case you need to rehabilitate the bunnies yourself and keep them for a time. It includes instructions on how much to feed them and a lot more so be sure to visit the link above.

You should know:

Rabbits won't reject their offspring if you touch them.

A female rabbit will only nurse her litter a few minutes at night.

Wild baby bunnies do not have a scent and won't attract predators except by sight or sound.

The rabbit doe will be out of the nest to eat and draw attention away from her new brood most of the time.

Do not give a baby rabbits cow's milk, instead give them KMR (Kitten Replacer milk from the pet store or goat's milk) and please do not over feed. If they are old enough, grass, alfalfa or timothy hay and water is the best feed for them. No carrots! or other vegetables (especially fruit).

In most states it is illegal to keep wild animals no matter how cute.


Wild Bunnies

RABBITS

Don’t Rush to “Rescue”

Many people discover a nest of wild baby rabbits and want to “rescue” them. The truth is that most of those baby rabbits are not orphans and do not need help. In fact, interfering with nature and trying to rescue them can cause more harm than good.

Mother rabbits only feed babies once a day, and then for only five minutes. They do not “sit” on the nest; in fact, they tend to stay away from the nest in order not to attract attention to it. Do not assume that the baby rabbits are orphaned just because you don’t see a mother rabbit nearby. Usually the mother rabbit only comes at dawn.

If you accidentally disturb a rabbit nest, try to reconstruct it as best you can. Usually the nests are hidden under leaves, twigs and debris, or located under shrubs. But sometimes you will find a rabbit nest right in the open. You can move a nest up to 10 feet from its original spot if that will provide more cover for the nest. Cover it over with leaves, twigs and grass clippings. The mother rabbit will find it. It is a myth that rabbits will abandon their babies once human beings have touched them.
If your dog disturbs a rabbit nest, put the baby rabbits back in the nest and try to reconstruct it as best you can. Try to keep your pet animals and any children away from the nest for several weeks. After a few weeks, baby rabbits are mature enough to go out on their own.

Do not try to raise wild baby rabbits by yourself. Less than 10-percent of wild baby rabbits can survive with human “nursing.” And only a licensed wildlife rehabilitator can legally try to rescue wild baby rabbits.


Red Door Animal Shelter

 

[JULZ]

Tigg, hope the rabbit is ok

OH MY GOD!

 

[clevalley]

Wild Baby Rabbits

You have a litter of wild baby bunnies. Now What?
I get several e-mails starting in the spring about how to care for wild baby bunnies. Many times the best thing to do is nothing. If the babies look okay, just leave them in their nest or return them to it. If you return the babies, put unscented baby powder or unscented dental floss around the nest and check to see if it is disturbed in 24 to 48 hours to show if the mother has been there. If not, then you may need to take care of them yourself so they survive.

The House Rabbit Society website has the most complete information on ORPHANED BABY BUNNIES in case you need to rehabilitate the bunnies yourself and keep them for a time. It includes instructions on how much to feed them and a lot more so be sure to visit the link above.

You should know:

Rabbits won't reject their offspring if you touch them. ...

Thanks Catt, I always thought that was the case. :shrug: The Mom must have rejected it for some other reason.

I have seen litters of rabbits around and have steered clear of them, not just to disturb the nest but also not to leave a scent trail nearby.

The good thing was that the little guy did make it, and she set it loose... she swore she saw it every so often for a few years in the backyard.

 

[Katelin]

Now that the baby has been touched by human hands, the mother will not have anything to do with it as it has been contaminated by human scent - this is true for wild rabbits.

You have two options;

1. All you can do it bottle feed it and raise it until it gets on solid food, then set it loose.
   
2. Or, try this - Recipes Using Rabbit

MYTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bunnies are born clean: No Scent!
Mom speed feeds 2 x a day so that her scent does not get onto the babies, making them easier to be found and eaten.

The maternal instict is so strong, mommies dont care who touched thier babies, they just want them back!

Birds cant smell, that is a beak, not a nose.
Fawns are born clean too, and are fed 2 x a day early on.
More info about orphaned wildife from DNR

Another great page for info:

My blurb on the same thing:

You can not raise any wildife in Maryland without proper permits/licenses.
You can not keep any wildlife without a permit or license.
It is against state law and it protects the wildllife ffrom being harmed by untrained people.

A cat bite will kill within 24 hours due to the nasty bacteria in the cats system.

We put cat bite bunnies, etc, on antiboitics ASAP!

Please do not do more harm by dousing with peroxide...it kills tissue...and it hurts the bunnies.

There are a good number of rehabbers here in SOMD, I am one of them and can be located pretty quickly.

My name:
Katelin Welles
My cell: 443-624-2949

I do bunnies, squirrels and raccoons, and will pick up and transport anything else to the proper rehabber here in Maryland...24/7.

Thanks for trying to help this bunny.

 

[Katelin]

Hey all,

I was looking through this post and wanted to throw in my two cents to hopefully be helpful for next time? =P

I raise Holland Lop rabbits for show and pets and most always have mom's with litters so if any of you guys find another baby my does will literally nurse anything so I'd be happy to put him/her with a Mom to see if we can get it to survive and re-release it. With little ones that are so young, the "myth" is true that if you touch a wild rabbit baby the mother will no longer nurse it because they associate human smell with a threat...on the other hand my domestic guys are use to me and other humans and I can literally pick up their babies within minutes of them being born and love all over them, even take them away for hours (I have some moms that will feed the heck out of their babies be it 6 or only 2 and I have a litter right now of only 2 who almost got to the point that they were like turtles and couldn't flip back over if they stuck on there backs LOL!) and they will hop back in their boxes and feed them like its been days. I have re-released several babies at around 9-10 weeks old that way they are big enough to handle themselves and the ones I do re-release I never place on pellets and only feed them grasses, hay, weeds (dandelions, etc) that they will find in the wild and I place them in areas of known other wild rabbits and they can help them from there. I also tattoo them to watch them grow. It's pretty cool to see the same bunny years later running around with little ones. =]

Hope this was helpful!

Best of luck =]

This is not recommended, as there is a big differance between a European domesticated rabbit and an eastern cottontail.
And again, the scent deal is a MYTH!

It is against state law to tattoo wildlife!!!

You can not raise cottentails unless you are licensed by DNR.

Need more info. call me!

 

[frequentflier]

MYTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bunnies are born clean: No Scent!
Mom speed feeds 2 x a day so that her scent does not get onto the babies, making them easier to be found and eaten.

The maternal instict is so strong, mommies dont care who touched thier babies, they just want them back!

Birds cant smell, that is a beak, not a nose.
Fawns are born clean too, and are fed 2 x a day early on.
More info about orphaned wildife from DNR

Another great page for info:

My blurb on the same thing:

You can not raise any wildife in Maryland without proper permits/licenses.
You can not keep any wildlife without a permit or license.
It is against state law and it protects the wildllife ffrom being harmed by untrained people.

A cat bite will kill within 24 hours due to the nasty bacteria in the cats system.

We put cat bite bunnies, etc, on antiboitics ASAP!

Please do not do more harm by dousing with peroxide...it kills tissue...and it hurts the bunnies.

There are a good number of rehabbers here in SOMD, I am one of them and can be located pretty quickly.

My name:
Katelin Welles
My cell: 443-624-2949

I do bunnies, squirrels and raccoons, and will pick up and transport anything else to the proper rehabber here in Maryland...24/7.

Thanks for trying to help this bunny.

Katelin,
Thank you for helping me with the baby bunny this morning...You are so good at what you do! I envy your knowledge and understanding of all things *wild*