I've caught a stray

A few weeks ago I came home from work to my dad telling me that he saw a "huge white hare with red eyes" in our yard. I knew this wasn't a wild hare from this description. A few days later I saw it with my own eyes. The rabbit is about twice the size of a normal hare, much chubbier, and overall shaped like a pet bunny. Over the next few weeks I'd seen it here and there but never got closer than standing above it on the back deck. Finally today, I saw it sniffing around my bunnies' outdoor pen (they live inside but go outside sometimes when it's nice out). I slowly got closer and over the course of the next 30 minutes or so, opened the door to the pen and lured the bunny inside.

It was freaked out at first but settled down. I was able to feed it treats through the bars of the pen and it doesn't freak out when I go near. It's definitely domestic, either an escaped pet or meat rabbit (there's a lot of meet rabbit breeders around here). I've named it "Mystery" like that episode of Spongebob with the seahorse

Anyways, I have no idea what to do now. It's getting dark and chilly and starting to rain a bit. Mystery is still in the pen which is an outdoor ex pen with a roof and stakes into the ground. I put a hooded cat litter box out there as a shelter and stuffed it with hay and blankets. I may end up bringing Mystery inside before the end of the night, to the basement, as I have my own bunnies living upstairs and don't want any risk of disease or anything... But I'm not sure if that's quite the right move. I don't want to traumatize the bunny too much. If you have any opinions feel free to share them.

Here's a photo of the bun:

I would try and shush it into the carrier and move it into the house with some blankets. Could you put it on a local Facebook page that you found it? Or maybe call a local vet??
Good luck! Bun is lucky a bun lover found it!

It is gorgeous and lucky he was caught by a good person and a bunny lover I wish you good luck in your search to find his owners and luck to him

Good thing you found her! Try call the rabbits farms around you, and put out flyers. But for the meantime maybe set up somewhere for her to stay unofficially. Good luck! Keep us updated!!

My advice is to look up any local rabbit rescue and ask them what they would do. They will have the best information for your area and may even know if someone is missing their bun.

Thanks for all your replies. I ended up bringing him inside last night. He's in my basement in a dog crate. Once he settled down he became very tolerant of me handling him. I found that he is indeed an intact male bunny. He has fleas like crazy so I gave him a dose of Advantage for kittens which was recommended to me by my vet last year when my cat brought in fleas and shared them with one of my bunnies. It seems to be helping so far but it's only been a few hours. I am going to get him cleaned up a bit and rid of the fleas before I decide what to do. I am going to post on Craigslist and talk to my local vets to see if anyone is looking for him. If not then it's possible I'll keep him. Right now my main focus is bringing him back to full health, he's in a bit of rough shape from his journey outdoors (he has several small wounds and scars around his neck and ears). I will be bringing him to my vet as soon as I can to make sure he's well. I will keep this thread updated in case anyone is interested

Glad you found him. Mystery is a great name.

Haha great you found him and YES keep us updated!! Sorry got a little too excited

I have changed the bunny's name to Wallace because I think it suits him better. He settled right in and has been loving the indoor domestic lifestyle. He's managed to escape from a makeshift NIC cage as well as a 3.5 foot tall x-pen, so right now he's back in the dog crate. I've decided to keep the little bugger. I'm getting him a 3-level Bunny Abode condo on the 14th. I have a 2-level one for my two free range lionheads and I love it. Wallace is going to be living in my sunroom and won't be free range all the time so he deserves a 3-story home.

So far I have completely gotten rid of the fleas and ended up having to give Wallace a bath with baby shampoo. I know it's hugely frowned upon to bathe your bunnies but he was so dirty and full of dead fleas that I decided it's what I had to do. I only got his body wet, not his head. He was fine in the bath and didn't mind being wet afterwards. I assume he's gotten used to ending up in that type of damp situation, since he'd been out in nature for some time.

He gave me quite a scare last night, though. He gets really excited for his pellets and practically inhales them right away. Last night he literally inhaled them and started hacking up half-digested pellets as well as whole ones. It freaked me (and him) out and we were almost out the door to the emergency vet at midnight. However, he finished spitting out his dinner all over my floor and then went back to his normal self. I stayed up until 4am making sure he was fine and nothing else went wrong, he was back to munching hay, jumping around, and then flopped out in his litter box for the night. This morning he is totally fine. I'm cutting off his pellets and switching him to hay-only with fresh veggies and bigger treats such as hay cubes and dried herbs. Things he can't swallow whole and then choke again.

I also found two ticks on his neck that were pretty big. I ripped them both off with tweezers but one of them left a decent sized hole. I put triple antibiotic on it. He had a couple ticks when I first caught him too. I'm pretty sure they're all gone now, because I checked thoroughly today after finding the two on his neck. He has very thick fur so it's not always easy to notice those things.

Anyways, now that I've gotten to know him a bit better I've made a vet appointment. Especially after the choking incident last night. He's going to see my regular bunny vet on Tuesday. We have a busy holiday weekend so I couldn't get him in sooner. Sorry this post is so long, it's mostly for my reference so I can check back in the future and remember everything Wallace has gone through I will keep updated! Hopefully the vet will be able to guess his age!

So glad you decided to keep him. He sounds like quite the mischievous character

One suggestion I have if you would still like to use an xpen for him on occasion, is if he is escaping by climbing, then you can zip tie some cardboard or posterboard near the top to prevent him from climbing out.

Also with the choking episode, there is a risk of aspiration pneumonia occurring when this happens. So a vet check is usually necessary with in a few days of the occurrence, so the vet can check the lungs to make sure pneumonia hasn't developed. You may be fine with your Tues. appt., however if you notice any signs of distress, noisy breathing, mouth breathing, or odd changes of behavior that may signal illness, you need to get him to the vet immediately. It's not something that always occurs, but it can, especially when they have visibly coughed food back up.

If you ever decide you do want to feed pellets, sometimes scatter feeding, buying a different type pellet, or using a treat ball, can help prevent choking episodes from happening again. I know how scary it can be though, as I've had it happen with one of my rabbits as well.

There is also an emergency treatment that can be tried if it occurs again and there is no other choice but to try and clear the obstruction if your rabbit cannot clear it on it's own and there is real risk of death occurring. But this is something you should discuss with your vet because if done incorrectly, there is risk of injuring your rabbit.
http://www.vgr1.com/choking/

Welcome to the forum. Looks like a REW New Zealand. We found that with our rescues that it was best to intro food other than hay and veggies in small amounts several times a day to keep them from gobbling them down--pretty common with a bunny that hasn't had enough food for awhile.

Oh! So glad you decided to keep him. What and ordeal he must have been through. He is lucky you found him.

Your replies have been very helpful, thanks a ton.

I have been keeping a very close eye on him since the incident. I moved him up to my room (separated from my other bunnies who live in here) and have not noticed anything unusual. I will definitely be telling the vet about it and ask her to listen closely to his lungs. He's been eating and drinking fine and has not had anything similar happen again so far.

I might try again with the x-pen when I move him back down to the basement. I have also heard of attaching a sheet or light blanket to the top using binder clips. It's not a huge deal if he gets out because the room he's in has nothing really harmful to him, it's just that I'd rather him not get stuck under the bed, pee on the floor or decide to chew up all of the boxes and furniture stored down there.

When I first saw him I also thought New Zealand but now I'm at like 70% that he's an American White. His posture is mostly what makes me think that. When I pet him and his front half lowers to the ground, he has a certain downward curve in his shoulder area. Here's a photo I took of him today:



Although I'm really not the best with larger breeds and have only ever personally owned Lionheads. He's a very friendly guy and his fur is soft and somewhat silky. He weighs probably 9 or 10 pounds; he's almost the size of my cat

What a gorgeous guy he is! He's very lucky you found him and took him in. Glad he's in better shape after ridding him of all the ticks and fleas!

What a lucky bunny! It always makes me wonder what the story is behind stray buns.

He's so cute! I dont know why but he reminds me of my bunny. I found mine outside too

Adorable He's so lucky that a loving person like you found him.

That's great! So happy you rescued and have cared for him 😊
What a lucky boy!!!!! Keep us updated

So heartwarming to read this Thank you for saving a life:bunnyheart He alrady seems to be smitten with you and I'm sure he appreciates the loving care he's receiving.

I have a black New Zealand, and they could be twins! So I agree REW. New Zealand's are big meat rabbits, so it's likely, since he's a proven escape artist, that he got away from a meat farm. But new Zealand's are also known for having a pretty great temperament, so lucky you!