Found a rabbit. Now what?

Hi all,

I am new to the forum but have been reading it inside and out as I have recently 'acquired' a bunny. I went to let my dogs out a 3 days ago and noticed a rabbit hopping about in my secure, fully fenced yard. He is a very cute lionhead and fairly friendly. He allowed me to pick him up and put him in a carrier.
I went door to door searching for an owner and went to our local humane society to have them check for a microchip or any form of identification to no avail. I have posted ads and put up flyers. In the mean time, however long that time frame may be, he is safe and well cared for here with me.
In my amateur opinion, I'd say he is an intact male. I have contacted the only 'exotic' vet in my area and will have him seen on the 29th and neutered on the 30th (in a few weeks) providing he's in good health.

I do have some questions and can really use some opinions and advice

1- I went out and purchased oxbow pellets, oxbow Timothy hay, and veggies in order to feed him. He seems literal has not touched any hay.. zero interest there. I have witnessed him eat a small amount of pellets, drink some water, zero interest in any veggies. I was getting worried about lack of food intake so I offered a carrot, he ate half.

I'm worried he's not getting enough food. Obviously he is stressed but is there anything I can do, add or offer that I'm currently not?? What does your rabbit go crazy for?

2- Poopy bum! I'm sure it is related to the above and all this stress but is their anything I can do? There are still small ball shaped poops but diarrhea seems to be in his coat near his bum. Which I have attempted to clean once but don't want to overly stress him.

3- Maybe he was kept outdoors because he seems most content in my (fully fenced and very secure) backyard. I really would like to bring him indoors, work to litter train him and offer him the best life possible as i do t feel comfortabke keeping him outdoors and know that ravbits can dig! Would a potentially once outdoor rabbit be happy indoors?

4- He's VERY laid back, doesn't mind being handled and isn't overly active. He does seem alert, bright eyed and in good spirits but is very calm. Mostly just lays out relaxing with the occasional lap around the yard. He is still stressed and feeling unsafe I'm sure but are rabbits really this calm and relaxed? Should I be attempting to interact with him or leaving him alone??

As mentioned above he will see a vet for exam and neuter as soon as the vet in my area returns. If anything seems very alarming or needs my immediate attention I can and will commute to a vet in a larger city but that will be a three hour drive.

Thoughts? Advise? How to manual?

🐰🐇Thank you in advance🐇🐰

Welcome to RO! Thanks for taking the little guy under your wing!
Is he still in the yard? If so I'd guess he's eating something out there. If not, consider mixing up the veggies or offering a different variety of hay. I've yet to meet a rabbit that didn't like alfalfa and will offer a tiny bit to my own rabbits to entice them to eat when they're under the weather or as a treat. It sounds like you have time, but I wouldn't recommend anesthetizing him for an elective procedure like a neuter if he doesn't seem healthy (eating and normal poops).

How did it go? Is he doing okay now?

I'm surprised no one else replied to this, as you really needed some good advice!
I can only speculate, but I bet you his diarreah came from being suddenly introduced to a completely wild diet- rabbits need gradual introductions to food to avoid diarrhea, gas and a variety of other gastro-intestinal issues.

My first rabbit loved the outdoors, and since he was easy to handle, like yours, I bought him a harness and took him outside for jaunts. You want to get them used to the harness over the course of a couple days, then used to the leash before you go outside with them to avoid injury. You say your yard is fully secured, but rabbits can be escape artists. If you do have him outside off leash, it is recommended that he's always supervised, simply because they can escape and they can be preyed upon and they can get heat stress, or fear stress.

My second rabbit is super lazy and I had to agree with the shelter to not let him outside, unfortunately. So, you might have a super laid back rabbit on your hands, if this lying down of his continues to be a trend. Rabbits also constantly get up and lie down when they have really uncomfortable things going on in their GI tract- gas, diarreah, blockage, so he might have been doing that to relieve discomfort rather than because he's laid back. A comfortable rabbit lies down and tends to stay that way for a while, maybe even grooming themselves while doing so- an uncomfortable rabbit will keep on moving to try and find a comfortable position.

My second bunny still prefers his pellets over hay- I suspect his previous owners only gave him the former- but hay is just so important, always try to encourage him to eat it with a variety of hays. Fresh green hays are the most tempting, though not always readily available, and I trick my guy into eating more by mixing in chopped up cilantro and other safe herbs.

And here's a good how-to website recommended by the shelters and vets in my area: http://ontariorabbits.org/

My rabbit Iris dosent really like veggies either but she loves grass but I just gave her less pellets and put some veggies in her dish and she ate them.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your replies and information.

His stools firmed up over a week or so. I noticed no signs that would signify gi discomfort so I assume it was associated with change of diet.

He still has absolutely no interest in hay, but he definitely consumes grass outside. He still spends a lot of time outdoors and really, really enjoys it. I haven't had any escapes but am going to look for and implement some sort of harness training for his safety.

His vegetable intake is of variety and he seems to enjoy fresh foods.

His demeanor is still as relaxed and calm as ever. I absolutely adore him.

He is deemed healthy and is actually being neutered as we speak! So here I am attempting to distract myself from the natural motherly anxiety, even though it's a standard and routine surgery. He weighs 2.2kg

Over the last while of getting to know him better I noticed he is missing some of the top of one of his ears. It is fully healed and he doesn't seem at all sensitive if I touch it. It seems like a bite has been taken out of his ear. It makes me so curious about his history.

Thanks for the replies