BABY orphane bunny found? what to do?

[jennifer717]

today in my yard i found a baby bunny...(has furand eyes kinda open)... no mom or any other bunnys, i have three..vicous dogs and i cant just put it back cause they'll get it. i havebunny bedding and a box? i put it in there with some carrot slices(verythin) and apple slices (very thin) and water around them i little lidtop. i dont know what to feed it or what to do with it now?

 

[Prizm]

Awe. The question is, do you want to let it livewith you as a pet or rehabillitate it to live in the wild? I'm at workright now, but I have my rehab book at home with a formula for babybunnies, and I'm sure there are plenty of breeders here who'd know howto care for one so young. If you don't want to care for it yourself,there may be a rehabillitation center willing to take it, but youshould take care that the center IS willing to rehabillitate the lil'guy, because if they find your bun is not of wild "heritage" it maypossibly (depending on the morals of the particular center) be used asfood for a predator needing rehabillitation. :?They're notall like that, but I've seen a few who do it. ..You should probablykeep it warm if it's eyes are still closed.

 

[naturestee]

:yeahthat

Baby rabbits are very sensitive, so it's best that they're taken careof by a proffessional. Plus, many states have laws that makeit illegal to keep wild animals as pets. Domestic rabbits andwild rabbits are not the same.

This site has some good info on orphaned wild rabbits:
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/orphan.html

 

[FlopsnWills]

it's eyes are open, meaning it can survive byitself outdoors. the best thing to do would be to put it outside out ofyour yard to fend for itself. if you keep it, it will die.. only thebest wild rehab specialists can raise baby rabbits.. there is no reasonto keep this one, since it is not injured.

 

[Dolores Lindvall]

There is no guarantee that this bunny will dieif kept. When I was a kid ... way back inthe ice age ... I raised a lot of cotton tails. We lived onthe farm and every once in awhile a mother rabbit would get killed infarm machinery. Then here would come my dad with these babiesin his cap. I raised them to adulthood. I alsoraised a jack rabbit to adulthood. We didn't have all thenice, fancy formulas back then. These babies were raised onplain old cow milk from the cows who my dad milked. I"soft-released" these bunnies as adult rabbits and they did well thatway. Jackie, the jack rabbit, actually stuck around thebuilding site for about 3 years.

 

[BACI]

I have heard once you touch them the mom willnever come back for them, is this true? THen you would have to call aspecialist, or it would die in the wild. I just wondered if that was awives tale.

 

[KatyG]

I know you are just trying to help but the bestthing for wild animals is to be left alone unless it is clear they areinjured or ill. When baby rabbits are young themother will often leave them and only return to nursethem. If the baby's eyes are open and it is as bigas your fist then it is not abandoned it can survive on itsown. Since you are worried about the dogs it would be best ifyou could take it to a wooded area or somewhere like that with lots ofcover and let it go.

 

[KatyG]

It only needs to be taken to a rehab centre if its ears are back and its eyes are closed.

 

[3Bears]

I would not suggest you feed it cows milk...cows milk is for baby cows only. I tried to raise a babyrabbit once (saved from fire) on cows milk and learned after it diedthat they cannot assimilate it. Pasturized milk = deadmilk... that may be why Delores Lindvall's rabbitssurvived as the milk was most likely not pasturized.

Good luck with the little one!

Sandra

 

[Lissa]

It's okay to touch the babies. The mother won't abandonthem. My suggestion would be to put the bunny back where youfound it. The chances of it surviving without its mother arevery slim. Let nature take its course. The motherwill come back for the baby. You better put it back beforeshe realizes that the baby is gone. The mother probably DIDNOT abandon this baby. There is no reason to assumethat. She probably just went to get some food or something.

 

[Dolores Lindvall]

Yep, 50 years ago, on the farm, the milk camedirectly from the cow. There was no pasteurization of themilk.In later years, I usedevaporated milk. If you still have thebunny, check its mouth for teeth. If itdoesn't have enough teeth, it won't be able to eat the apple slices orwhatever else you put in with it. Whenraising babies, I always used a medicine dropper to feedthem. And I still do.