Found a hurt wild baby rabbit

[FarmGirl10]

I went into the feedstore and they said that it was old enough to be on its own. So I didn't get any milk replacer for it. She said that I could try to save it, because miracles do happen, but it'd probably die. I know this because I've tried it before and the new one is twice the size of the first one, so maybe I'll have better luck. Has anyone ever been able to save one?

I can't just let this one die, I know i was supposed to find it because for some odd reason it was laying just inside the house door. When I called everyone in my family they said that they didn't put it in the house. So if anyone has any tips please tell.

 

[Lammie]

I went into the feedstore and they said that it was old enough to be on its own. So I didn't get any milk replacer for it. She said that I could try to save it, because miracles do happen, but it'd probably die. I know this because I've tried it before and the new one is twice the size of the first one, so maybe I'll have better luck. Has anyone ever been able to save one?

I can't just let this one die, I know i was supposed to find it because for some odd reason it was laying just inside the house door. When I called everyone in my family they said that they didn't put it in the house. So if anyone has any tips please tell.

First of all, before you do anything else to it, it has to be warmed up. Get a heating pad and a shoe box. Put a dish towel in there on top and then put the bunny in there. If you try to feed it when it is cold it will die. I used to raise cotten tailed rabbit babies all the time and had several as pets. It just needs to get warm. Once they are cold for a while, they just die on you. Then just see if it will eat some veggies, lettuce, spinach leaves, carrots. Keep that heating pad on medium heat.

Let me know how it goes. There is a lot of helpful information on the internet, too.

 

[angie1]

They are very fragile. I raise several every year (do wildlife rehab for the DNR ~ baby wild rabbits are my most common babies though possum are catching up fast!), and I get them as little as their eyes are still shut.

Do not feed it lettuce, will cause diahrea (sp?). If it is old enough that it does not need milk replacer, give it a variety of greens from outside. Dandelion, clover and grass. Don't give it alfalfa. Don't try to water it using a dish, instead, wet down the greens a little when you put them in with the bunny. This is all the water it will need.

Lammie is right, it needs to be warm ~ baby rabbits shock easy if they are injured. Be sure to keep the heating pad on low and give it enough room so that it can get OFF the heat if it needs to. Baby wild rabbits do not have access to heating pads and will over heat very easily. It will seek the heat when it is cold. Once it is stable ~ you can take the heating pad away. I use hay for bedding these guys. Keep it in a quiet place. Watch to see that it is eating the greens ~ they start this very young.

Try not to handle it any more than necessary ~ their skin tears easily and they are nervous anyhow. If you do not notice that the box that it is in is wet (little pee spots) or has little rabbit turds in it, you have to wipe its bottom with a warm, wet paper towel to stimulate it to go potty ~ is how mom keeps the nest clean, and you are mom now!

How big is it ~ palm size?

If it is not eating the grass, come back here and tell me. I will take it further.

Don't feel bad if it dies, they are, as I said, fragile. I have good luck with them, but have killed a few in the learning process, very tiny little ones. Have not lost one now in years. Good luck and good on you for trying.

 

[Lammie]

My brother used to do dozer work building golf courses and he found baby rabbits all the time. I had four or five of them in a year and I lost one because it got too cold. One after I had had it for about a year because it overheated. I can remember feeding them greens of all sorts and grass. Later on, rabbit food.

I didn't know if you did the wet towel on the bottom thing with rabbits or not so I didn't mention it. I have done that with kittens, though, so it makes sense. My mom always said not to handle them much. Still they are sweet and so soft.

I hope it pulls through.

 

[FarmGirl10]

It died. :cry2: I did what you guys said, but it had a neck or back injury. Mom and dad think that the dogs ran it through the screen door. If the photogallery link sent you to the right one I'd show a picture of it. The bunny was lonely, because when I picked him up and let his sleep on my chest he was perfectly fine. But I needed to go feed so I put him back in his box and he started thrashing about and squealing. Then I came back and he was dead. So I had dad go bury him in the pasture.

 

[CattleHand]

Its whats expected unless you are some animal miracle worker wild rabbits always die. My dad use to catch them and sell them when he was growing up and would sometimes try to keep one as a pet. He siad they always died with out fail.

 

[angie1]

Then meet the miracle worker :tiphat:

 

[mnmtranching]

It was no doubt a baby Cottontail. Do you know that Cottontails are baby factories :?: It's true :nod: the mother will mate and give birth to a new litter while still nursing the previous litter. Most wildlife experts agree the Cottontail Rabbits sole purpose is to supply food to the food chain by supplying so many baby bunnies for a whole bunch of hungry predators. Only takes a couple survivors to keep the Cottontail population going. In other words there are a lot of abandoned baby Cottontails out there.

Wait a second :shock: I didn't say you were wrong to try save them. :frowns: I'm just telling you about Cottontail Bunnies. :nod:

 

[Beefy]

bunnies are like impossible to raise. human smells stress them out so next time keep it outside (if you didnt) and warm and the less handling the better.

 

[FarmGirl10]

bunnies are like impossible to raise. human smells stress them out so next time keep it outside (if you didnt) and warm and the less handling the better.

It was in the house... :shock: Still don't know why it was in the house.

 

[Lammie]

Then meet the miracle worker :tiphat:

I had three or four growing up. Two of them got full grown, one got too cold, and one died when the dog was chasing around the breezeway. When my mom went in there to see what the ruckus was about, it ran under her feet, causing her to fall and break her arm. Then the rabbit died from running so much, and a couple weeks later, the dog died. Drowed by a raccoon, we think. It was not a good month for pets. Or Mom.