Caught A Feral Baby Rabbit!

Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Love your rabbit
Shop deals on ebay
Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
feedtheflame

feedtheflame

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2012
Messages
45
Reaction score
0
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Was walking home lastnight from a band practice and came across a young little rabbit on the side of the road eating grass. Where i live we have TONS of wild/feral rabbits, its a city problem right now actually. It was still 'innocent' as i like to say (not scared of people yet)and so i managed to pick it up, and decided to take him home with me:biggrin:

I have an extra guinea pig cage at my house (i have a guinea pig and rats) and so i put him in that with lots of hay and a little bit of guinea pellets til i get him his own. Looking at this little guy, im guessing he's around 5-8 weeks old, he still has that rounded baby look and he's little. (and im guessing it's a HE, but his parts are so small)

Im planning to take him to the vet soon to make sure he doesnt have anything bad, but im so excited to have a rabbit! i always wanted one...

Any suggestions on feeding this little guy? and taming? He doesnt struggle when i hold him, prob cus he's scared but otherwise he seems real nice. He was still sitting in his cage with a scared look on his face this morning though.

And any way to tell how old he really is? pic: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/gallery_view.php
 
The link actually takes us to our own individual galleries. Jump out to Photobucket.com and try uploading and links photos that way.
 
He looks around 6 weeks to me. Try not to handle him too much right now, as he is probably really stressed and sometimes it can be too much for them. Keep him in a quiet part of the house away from dogs/cats/kids if there are any in your house for awhile until he gets used to his surroundings. If it were up to me, I wouldn't bring him to the vet due to stress, as the last thing you want is for him to stop eating!

Good luck, he's cute!

Actually, looking back on the picture, he could be 4 or 5 weeks.
 
Feral rabbits dont do well in captivity, especially baby feral bunnys. You are probably better off adopting a bunny from a rescue when youre more ready to house a rabbit.
A guinea pig cage wont be suitable for much more then a month.
He also doesn't look well, coat looks dull, eyes are dull, being that calm and being a feral bunny, somethings wrong.
 
I dont expect the guinea pig cage to last for very long...

And i dont think his fur looks dull..i had flash on that so that could be why. his fur is as black as can be, really thick and fluffy and shiny imo..

What does stress do to a rabbit? i hear so much about fragility with rabbits but im not sure i understand. Will he die of a heartattack or something?
 
feedtheflame wrote:
I dont expect the guinea pig cage to last for very long...

And i dont think his fur looks dull..i had flash on that so that could be why. his fur is as black as can be, really thick and fluffy and shiny imo..

What does stress do to a rabbit? i hear so much about fragility with rabbits but im not sure i understand. Will he die of a heartattack or something?
Click to expand...

A lot of rabbits who are stressed just ''give up''. They stop eating and/or drinking. They sit in one corner hunched up. Have very little interest in their surroundings. Don't struggle much when held. They sometimes also develop diarrohea. Eventually they pass away if they can't be brought out of it.

Young rabbits that are weaned incorrectly are also very susceptible to enteritis, which is immflammation of the intestinal tract. Very common killer of young rabbits.
 
hmm okay. any suggestions to keep this guy alive then? i read that i shouldnt be giving fresh food yet, just alfalfa and pellets? but he was already eating fresh grass...

If he wont eat how can i entice him? i really want this guy to live! :(
 
Cowgirl once rescued an outside baby bunny who lived a long, healthy life, so it is possible. I'd say do everything you would do if you had gotten your rabbit from a bad breeder and got it a little too young. I got Q when she was 4 weeks old...too young for the breeder to be separating her from her mother. Give it lots of hay and pellets for baby bunnies (oxbow makes them).
If fresh grass is what it's used to eating and you find that when you switch over to "indoor bunny diet", it's not eating, try mixing a little grass with the hay BUT be careful that the grass hasn't been treated with anything!!

Best of luck with the little cutie. Keep us updated!
 
If you keep him, try and let him settle in without much disturbance. Give him is hay/pellets and water regularly and don't mess with him much the first few days. Just kind of let him be in his cage so he gets used to it. Then possibly start giving him small chew toys so he can have a little fun in there. Do that for a few days and then slowly start interacting with him. If he's adjusted to his cage, once you see him starting to adjust with you as well, then you can start thinking of giving him out time in contained areas. If you pull this off it will be a slow process, requiring some patience.

Don't change his cage until hes gotten used to you. He will definitely need a bigger cage at that point and initially make sure you put it in the same location as his current cage.
 
This bun looks like it came from domestic stock that someone turned loose. So it could tame down real nice since it is not truly "wild". You will need to get it fixed though. I would take it to the vet asap. Even though that can be stressful there is something about the bun that looks "off".....Good luck.
 
thanks guys! yea the rabbits where i live, they're all mostly pets people dumped and they've multiplied (duh lol)how do i know if the grass hasnt been treated? i mean, these rabbits that roam around eat whatever grass near roads and parkinglots...
 
As for the grass, if you don't spray anything on your front yard, you can pull it from your front yard. You can't control what he's already eaten, but you can be careful about the grass you feed him.
 
What a sweetie. Yea, people around here in New Jersey think that letting a rabbit go will be good instead of finding a permanent home. We named one Bernard. Really tiny but wild. Still see him around so we leave hay and pellets out for him. I think him and his girlfriend have built a nest in the back so my Husband put a fence around it so Jake will stay away. Not that Jake would hurt them, but Bernard and his girlfried don't know that because they are wild.

Or in Willard's case, dropping him off at a exotic store in a box. Rabbits do make good snake food unfortunately. Less stress on them than the bunny I guess.

Hoping your little guy is doing well.

K:)
 
Call or email Christine (info below). She had hand raised many baby rabbits. I know when they are that little she gives them goat milk. Kitten Replacement Milk will do also if you can't find goat milk.

I'm sure she will help you. Let her know where you got her contact info.

Phone# 231-865-6021
[email protected]
 
Ooooh I hope he is doing ok. He is a wee little thing. Like Katie said he definitely looks like his parents are domestic stock.

We have wild jack rabbits around where I live. They are pretty neat looking but they look like a wild animal not a pet rabbit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top