anyone know anything about wild bunnies????

[Candice]

My SOB cat brought me two very young bunnies this morning. They appear to be different ages. The bigger boy has no puncture wounds (bites) that I can see but I did treat his eyes just in case. His eyes are open and he had the sense to "play dead". He's very mellow and calm. Bunny number 2 is much smaller and has several bites. I have treated them with neosporin. This one is a screamer and his eyes are not open yet. This one is also very hard to hang onto. Very strong and very full of fight. I imagine he's in pain. I am feeding them cat milk. I'm getting a few drops into each every hour. Thats about all I can get them to take. Bunny 1 eats well. Bunny 2 isn't lapping it up, he's simply holding his mouth and it runs in. I don't have a good feeling about bunny 2 but am doing what I know to do from last year when we rescued a little one. She did well and almost became a house pet but I decided in the end to turn her over to a wild life rescue. Come to find out I had the wrong kind of cat milk and they were amazed that I'd grown her so well on it.

If anyone has any tips I would greatly appreciate it. Not sure if they're eating solids yet or not. I have some leafy alfalfa in there with them and am feeding them every hour.

Thankyou,

Candice

 

[dgrminis]

A couple years ago a neighbor hit a nest while swathing his hay and momma didnt make it -- he brought the 3 babies that were unharmed over to us and we lost one of them right away -- it acted like you said your number 2 bunny is acting... The other 2 did fine and we were able to raise them up until they were eating and getting around well on their own... I was told at the time (and I believe it to be very true) that wild bunnies are VERY hard to keep alive...

I really don't have any advice for you as the one time was definetly not enough experience for me to help you out but I wish you good luck with your little guys...

 

[Candice]

Thankyou for the reply. Kudos to you for saving the two. I was told last year with the one that the stress alone would kill her and she would not survive. Right now I'm not liking how they're doing at all. Baby 2 (Frac) ate better, and is quieting down. Baby 1 (Fric) is getting lethargic and not eating as vigorously. I'll do what I can for them. They are fragile little souls.

 

[Candice]

We lost a bunny.

 

[Katiean]

One of my brothers rescued a bunny from a magpie. The poor little thing didn't have his eyes yet so they got some milk replacer and a pet nurser. Dave carried this little bunny around in his pocket and fed him as often as they little guy would take it. He took this little guy everywhere. He was the sweetest little thing until her hit about 8-10 weeks of age. Oh, he was a cotton tail. Anyway he started getting really mean and it about killed my brother. He thought he would just have a pocket pet from now on. Wild bunnies are just that "Wild". We took him up to a wonderful park that we have that has a ton of natural habitat and other rabbits (cotton tails). While I know that there is a slim chance that the other rabbits in the park will accept him. It was the best we could do for him. Plenty of year round wild food and water. All we could do was hope he would be fine. He was old enough to eat and live on his own.

 

[minih]

I'm sorry you lost the one little bunny.

I had a little cottontail rabbit when I was younger we rescued from our cat also, no bite marks. We got some milk replacer from the vet and it did very well, until like Katiean mentioned above it got to be a little older and well able to survive on it's own. It started pacing the cage constantly we had for it and made weird noised when we would pick it up. Talked to the vet and he said if we did not turn it lose it would eventually die from depression. So we took him out and turned him lose. I really hated to let him go, had gotten really attached to him. I was told at the time, wild animals are not meant to be kept in cages.

 

[Candice]

Sadly we lost both bunnies. He died in the evening and she died in the wee hours of the morning. They were just too little.

 

[Miniv]

I am SO sorry.......I literally WINCED when I saw your post even before I read it. Somehow I knew it was sad news.

You tried........but I'm still sorry. (We've done wildlife rescues like you, with both great results and heart break.)

 

[Margo_C-T]

Years ago now, I raised a whole litter of baby cottontails. Though it's been so long I don't recall the details, I do recall that I used goat milk, fed in a jar lid, after the initial few days(these babies did have their eyes open, but were still very small) of using a very small eye dropper--they weren't interested in sucking, but would swallow the milk as it 'flowed' into their mouths from the eye dropper.) I added 'solids' like alfalfa, and I *think*, things like finely chopped apple and carrots, etc. as they became a bit older. I also minimized my handling of and direct contact w/ them, and kept them in a small homemade hamster 'carrying cage' that I had from my hamster raising days. It was made of a large 'square' metal, gallon-size can, w/ a mesh 'door' added on one end...made it naturally dark and 'close'(I used soft grass hay for 'bedding', as I recall), which wild rabbits seem to like.

When they got big enough that they were eating only 'solids', I turned them loose in a protected area(meaning, where there were places to hide,'tunnel in'; this is open country, so such places are few and far between)nearby but not on the premises, as I already HAVE plenty of 'resident' cottontails, and figured they'd 'run off' these youngsters. I did contact the local wildlife rescue group for instructions, and based all these actions on their advice.

Wild rabbits, esp. cottontails, will die as fast from stress as from actual physical injury; they are very susceptible to it. I believe that the main reason all these babies(I think there were four or five)did so well is because they HADN'T been stressed beforehand)---and weren't handled any more than absolutely necessary(though it was hard; they are VERY cute as babies!) They ARE truly 'wild', and not really amenable to becoming domesticated.

That said...I have a 'pet' this winter...one with a chunk out of one ear that I noticed sort of 'hanging around' as I did outside chores. I tend to throw out handfuls of alfalfa pellets for the local 'population' in the winter, but this one seemed to be especially solicitous...so me being a pushover, I began giving 'her'? a few pellets of the senior horse feed. She LOVES them...now every AM and PM, I call "Notchie Rabbit", and she COMES!...will come within a foot of my outstretched hand for her 'handout'! Now has several 'friends' who have noticed a good thing, and show up soon afterwards to 'share' the goodies-and 'she' is pretty good about allowing that(wild cottontails aren't really 'social' w/ each other, except when 'courting', and don't usually want another one approachin TOO closely.)

Not surprised you lost both bunnies; a serious cat or dog encounter will almost always lead to death, even if there are no visible injuries. Bless you for trying to save the little lives, though!

Margo

 

[Tammie]

So sorry the bunnies didn't make it...Bless your heart for trying, your an angel.

Tammie~