# FOUND BABY RABBIT!!!!



## FarmerBoy24

Help, 

My kitten brought in a baby rabbit. I think its a cotton tail! I have it in a cage with some water and mashed up goat pellets. I think I know where the parents den is, should I put it back. It looks a few weeks old. HELP!!


----------



## cattlecait

Are its eyes open, is it hopping around?

Wild baby bunnies move out around 3-4 weeks, so he might be fine to put back outside. Unless you want to keep him, they make decent pets.


----------



## FarmerBoy24

Yea his eyes are open and is moving around.


----------



## rabbitman

We had this happen before we had all 3 of our cats bring home wild baby rabbits, only 2 were alive and we put them back in the nest and the mother abonded the nest. So we ended up giving them to the Zoo. I didn't want to try and raise a wild rabbit. But if you do go for it...


----------



## terri9630

My dog brought in 6 baby rabbits one day (just happened to be Easter morning and my daughter thought she had found the easter bunny!) and we took them out to where my dog had been digging and put them back.  I sprinkled some flour around and the next morning there were rabbit tracks.  Momma had been back.  I did that 3 days in a row and she was back every night so we left them alone.


----------



## FarmerBoy24

Alright. So do I have to give it any formula? or goat milk?


----------



## cattlecait

You can try giving him goats milk, I suppose, but he'd be weaned in the wild already. Wouldn't hurt though. Just try giving him some timothy hay and maybe some rabbit pellets, keep in mind his belly wants different things than what domestic rabbits want.


----------



## FarmerBoy24

Alright any other tips!!


----------



## RabbitMage

Yep, let him go.

If his eyes are open and he's moving around, he's ready to be on his own. Keeping him captive can kill him, and may not be legal depending on where you live.


----------



## FarmerBoy24

I think he'll die without my help It gets freezing over here! at night. Im going to keep him as a pet. How will this kill him??


----------



## rabbitman

It wouldn't kill it, read this article.  But it is up to you if you want to keep it or raise it. I personally would raise but its your decision.

http://www.wikihow.com/Care-for-a-Baby-Wild-Rabbit


----------



## TheSheepGirl

What you need to remember is that this is a *Wild Animal *and *Not a Pet*. If you know where the nest is then PUT HIM BACK.

For one thing he may not yet be weaned. Their eyes open at a fairly young age and thy can hop fairly young as well. If he is not weaned he will die. Even if you try to nurse him.

Wild rabbits and any wild animal foir that matter require special care. They are not made for life in captivity and are often very unhappy and unhealthy when kept in captivity. It is ILLEGAL to detain any wild animal in the U.S. without a special license and permit. 

His digestive system and nutritional needs are much different from a domestic rabbit. Many people make the mistake of comparing Cotton Tails to domestic rabbits and for this reason they think they can raise them as a pet and not kill them. There have been many people on here who have tried and failed to raise a wild baby rabbit. They always die of stress, dehydration, or starvation.

Again I say, for his safety and well being, PUT HIM BACK he is a WILD ANIMAL.

If you want a pet rabbit so badly go out and buy a nice little 8 week old rabbit from the feed store. It shouldn't be too hard since it's almost easter. It should only set you back about 5 bucks if this is what you really want.


----------



## dewey

FarmerBoy24 said:
			
		

> I think he'll die without my help It gets freezing over here! at night. Im going to keep him as a pet. How will this kill him??


I would suggest you call a rehab for info.  My survival rate for wild buns has been 0%.  I'm sure you mean well and please know this is not said in a harsh spirit at all, yet, sadly, he will mostly likely die with your help, and especially so after a cat encounter.  Even experienced wildlife rehabs have near a 100% death rate under the best conditions.  Cottontails cannot survive a pet environment.  His best hope for survival is to return him near the known burrow area.  He could be weaned already if he's 3 weeks old and the doe probably has a new litter now.


----------



## hoodat

If you have domestic rabbits for sure don't try to bring in a wild one. They often harbor diseases and parasites that their systems can tolerate but can be very serious to your domestics. Commercial breeders go to great lengths to keep wild rabbits away from their stock for just this reason.


----------



## FarmerBoy24

So far she is doing good. I;m still going to try  to raise her


----------



## TheSheepGirl

Could you perhaps post a picture of this supposed wild rabbit. It may be just a simple domestic rabbit, then.


----------



## terri9630

TheSheepGirl said:
			
		

> Could you perhaps post a picture of this supposed wild rabbit. It may be just a simple domestic rabbit, then.


Thats possible.  There are some of those around here.  People set them loose after Easter when they aren't cute babies anymore and they are tired of taking care of them.   Not many last long though because they don't know how to find water and shelter from predators.


----------



## FarmerBoy24

I know it's wild. Its a cotton tailed rabbit. There so cute!


----------



## BellLisaMo




----------



## greenfamilyfarms

dewey said:
			
		

> FarmerBoy24 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I think he'll die without my help It gets freezing over here! at night. Im going to keep him as a pet. How will this kill him??
> 
> 
> 
> *I would suggest you call a rehab for info. My survival rate for wild buns has been 0%.*  I'm sure you mean well and please know this is not said in a harsh spirit at all, yet, sadly, he will mostly likely die with your help, and especially so after a cat encounter.  Even experienced wildlife rehabs have near a 100% death rate under the best conditions.  Cottontails cannot survive a pet environment.  His best hope for survival is to return him near the known burrow area.  He could be weaned already if he's 3 weeks old and the doe probably has a new litter now.
Click to expand...

Mine, too. 

Yes, it is cute, but won't be cute dead. Give him a chance to live by calling somebody who is trained to handle wildlife.


----------



## terri9630

FarmerBoy24 said:
			
		

> I think he'll die without my help It gets freezing over here! at night. Im going to keep him as a pet. How will this kill him??


The cold doesn't bother the rabbits much.  It will have a den somewhere even if you don't see it.


----------



## FarmerBoy24

Even babies will make one? Wow


----------



## dewey

FarmerBoy24 said:
			
		

> Even babies will make one? Wow


Wild rabbits are very hardy in weather and out on their own from a very early age.  If the wild bun was out running around it was probably weaned and had become part of the cycle of life.  Wild rabbits have high numbers of young, high litter numbers and young weaning by design (breeding almost right after birth like mice) for a purpose, and therefore very high mortality rates in order to keep the balance in check...their litters feed many other animals, as intended.

I'd love to see a pic of the baby, too.


----------



## tortoise

I agree with everyone who has said to put it back or turn over to a wild animal rehabilitator.

Last time I checked, "cute" is not a valid defense for illegal.


----------



## terri9630

FarmerBoy24 said:
			
		

> Even babies will make one? Wow


They will dig their own or find a suitable hole.  We had a young wild rabbit move into the sewage dump for our RV. The cap had blown away and the rabbit decided that the 4" pipe looked just right.  Took us months to convince it to move out.  I was afraid to empty the RV's tanks because I didn't want to drown the poor thing.


----------



## chickygirl55

Once my soon to be mil uncovered some while mowing and she had wood pile nearby that they hid in but we caught them and took them home cause she was afraid of running over them. They lived quite a while i bottle fed them and fed them rabbit pellets. But one day they just all four died it was wierd but thats why i dont try to keep them anymore they are better off on thier own. I got pet rabbits now.


----------



## tortoise

chickygirl55 said:
			
		

> Once my soon to be mil uncovered some while mowing and she had wood pile nearby that they hid in but we caught them and took them home cause she was afraid of running over them. They lived quite a while i bottle fed them and fed them rabbit pellets. But one day they just all four died it was wierd but thats why i dont try to keep them anymore they are better off on thier own. I got pet rabbits now.


Weaning deaths are very common in orphaned kits.


----------



## therealsilkiechick

terri9630 said:
			
		

> TheSheepGirl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Could you perhaps post a picture of this supposed wild rabbit. It may be just a simple domestic rabbit, then.
> 
> 
> 
> Thats possible.  There are some of those around here.  People set them loose after Easter when they aren't cute babies anymore and they are tired of taking care of them.   Not many last long though because they don't know how to find water and shelter from predators.
Click to expand...

it is not only illegal to capture and keep a wild rabbit but also to release domestic ones to the wild.


----------



## terri9630

therealsilkiechick said:
			
		

> terri9630 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> TheSheepGirl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Could you perhaps post a picture of this supposed wild rabbit. It may be just a simple domestic rabbit, then.
> 
> 
> 
> Thats possible.  There are some of those around here.  People set them loose after Easter when they aren't cute babies anymore and they are tired of taking care of them.   Not many last long though because they don't know how to find water and shelter from predators.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> it is not only illegal to capture and keep a wild rabbit but also to release domestic ones to the wild.
Click to expand...

Yes, but it doesn't stop it from happening unfortunately.  A few miles south of us there are a lot of white rabbits with black ears and black stripes/spots down their spine running around.  Every now and again when I am out on my horse I will see domestic rabbits running wild in the desert.


----------



## TheSheepGirl

terri9630 said:
			
		

> therealsilkiechick said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> terri9630 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thats possible.  There are some of those around here.  People set them loose after Easter when they aren't cute babies anymore and they are tired of taking care of them.   Not many last long though because they don't know how to find water and shelter from predators.
> 
> 
> 
> it is not only illegal to capture and keep a wild rabbit but also to release domestic ones to the wild.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Yes, but it doesn't stop it from happening unfortunately.  A few miles south of us there are a lot of white rabbits with black ears and black stripes/spots down their spine running around.  Every now and again when I am out on my horse I will see domestic rabbits running wild in the desert.
Click to expand...

There's a domestic rabbit running wild around my place as we speak. He just showed up about a year ago and I haven't been able to catch him. They live just fine in the wild most of the time. I have even found nests out in the field, even had a nest in the boat shed and under the nieghbor's garage. It's more than possible for it to be a domestic rabbit.

Sometimes they escape and aren't set free. Like digging out of people's yards.


----------



## TheSheepGirl

Chances are that he will die eventually. Nutritional problems and starvation can take a long time to kill a rabbit, especially a wild rabbit. You may be killing him, but slowly and painfully, without even knowing it. 

Despite your worries and your insistance that he is doing well, he will be much better off in the wild where he belongs. He will make a burrow and find food just fine. Even in the cold weather.

Sooner or later he will probably die just as they all do unless you return him to the wild. 

There is no arguing this fact. The survival rate for wild rabbits is nearly zero. Rabbit pellets and hay just don't sit well with them. If experts with years of experience can't get them to live, then the chances are slim for you and your newly captured cottontail.


----------



## therealsilkiechick

TheSheepGirl said:
			
		

> Chances are that he will die eventually. Nutritional problems and starvation can take a long time to kill a rabbit, especially a wild rabbit. You may be killing him, but slowly and painfully, without even knowing it.
> 
> Despite your worries and your insistance that he is doing well, he will be much better off in the wild where he belongs. He will make a burrow and find food just fine. Even in the cold weather.
> 
> Sooner or later he will probably die just as they all do unless you return him to the wild.
> 
> There is no arguing this fact. The survival rate for wild rabbits is nearly zero. Rabbit pellets and hay just don't sit well with them. If experts with years of experience can't get them to live, then the chances are slim for you and your newly captured cottontail.


couldn't have said it any better myself u r 100% right on with everything u just said.

yes i know it happens i know people here that have domestics in there yards(some due to they excape and others because they purposely let them go on their land) but if they get caught it wouldn't be pretty. in my state both r very illegal with the worst being caught with a native species u took in. depending on the species here caught with some of them hold not only up to a $5,000 fine but also jail time of like 6mths to a year something like that for some of them. 

i've found babies in my hostas every spring. one of the most beautiful things in the world is to see cottontails sitting in ur gardens enjoying and playing in them. that's where they should be free and enjoying ur land not put in a cage and have its habitat totally changed and diet totally changed and sever danger of dieing at the hands of a human, sorry but it's my honest opinion. a wild rabbit is not at all like a domesticated one is and i agree it will sooner or later die because of the stress, drastic change in not only diet but also habbitat change. sorry i'll get off my soapbox now.....


----------



## Bunnylady

therealsilkiechick said:
			
		

> couldn't have said it any better myself u r 100% right on with everything u just said.


Well, actually, she's not.



> He will make a burrow and find food just fine. Even in the cold weather.


This is incorrect. Cottontails don't make burrows; they live their entire lives above ground. Even when a doe has a litter, all she does is scratch a shallow depression in some sheltered spot; it's more like a bird's nest than a burrow.

Many years ago, I wound up taking in two different litters of Cottontails when their nests were destroyed. I knew at the time that it was illegal for me to have them, but I didn't know about wildlife rehabilitators at the time, so I felt like I was the only chance they had. I was careful to keep the wildlings well away from my domestics, and handled them as little as possible. I fed them with an eyedropper, and kept hay and pellets and oatmeal available to them all the time. As they grew older, I put the cage on the lawn so they could graze, and picked things like blackberry leaves (ouch!) for them to eat. After about a month, I released them in a nice brushy area. All of them survived from the time I took them in to the time I released them; I didn't realize at the time that I was bucking the odds! They may not have lived long after release, but that was the life (and death) that they were born to; I did my best to give them a shot at it.


----------



## terri9630

TheSheepGirl said:
			
		

> terri9630 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> therealsilkiechick said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> it is not only illegal to capture and keep a wild rabbit but also to release domestic ones to the wild.
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, but it doesn't stop it from happening unfortunately.  A few miles south of us there are a lot of white rabbits with black ears and black stripes/spots down their spine running around.  Every now and again when I am out on my horse I will see domestic rabbits running wild in the desert.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> There's a domestic rabbit running wild around my place as we speak. He just showed up about a year ago and I haven't been able to catch him. They live just fine in the wild most of the time. I have even found nests out in the field, even had a nest in the boat shed and under the nieghbor's garage. It's more than possible for it to be a domestic rabbit.
> 
> Sometimes they escape and aren't set free. Like digging out of people's yards.
Click to expand...

Going by the picture in your avatar you have grass which would imply that there is water.  We are in the middle of the desert.  No grass and no water here, very little other than misquite and tumbleweeds.  The wild rabbits have been taught to survive in this environment.  Domestics tossed/freed/escaped into the wild may find some food but they need water which is only available a few days a year ass there are no rivers or ponds out here.


----------



## chinbunny1

terri9630 said:
			
		

> TheSheepGirl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> terri9630 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, but it doesn't stop it from happening unfortunately.  A few miles south of us there are a lot of white rabbits with black ears and black stripes/spots down their spine running around.  Every now and again when I am out on my horse I will see domestic rabbits running wild in the desert.
> 
> 
> 
> There's a domestic rabbit running wild around my place as we speak. He just showed up about a year ago and I haven't been able to catch him. They live just fine in the wild most of the time. I have even found nests out in the field, even had a nest in the boat shed and under the nieghbor's garage. It's more than possible for it to be a domestic rabbit.
> 
> Sometimes they escape and aren't set free. Like digging out of people's yards.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Going by the picture in your avatar you have grass which would imply that there is water.  We are in the middle of the desert.  No grass and no water here, very little other than misquite and tumbleweeds.  The wild rabbits have been taught to survive in this environment.  Domestics tossed/freed/escaped into the wild may find some food but they need water which is only available a few days a year ass there are no rivers or ponds out here.
Click to expand...

No matter where you live, wild rabbits get their water from the vegetation they eat.


----------



## FarmerBoy24

So far is's showing no aggression. Its eating good and drinking good. I think it doesn't need the milk still but im feeding it warm goat milk and rabbit food. I don't know if it's a cotton tail or not, it has a white tail. I personally don't think it'll dye.


----------



## TheSheepGirl

FarmerBoy24 said:
			
		

> So far is's showing no aggression. Its eating good and drinking good. I think it doesn't need the milk still but im feeding it warm goat milk and rabbit food. I don't know if it's a cotton tail or not, it has a white tail. I personally don't think it'll dye.


Post a picture and we will be able to tell wether he is a domestic rabbit or not.

If it is a wild rabbit just set it free and go down and buy a $5.00 rabbit from the feedstore if you want a pet so badly. Otherwise you are breaking the law. You can be arrested and face serious charges if you are caught with a wild animal in your posession. If you are a minor, then it is your parents who will face the charges for your law breaking.


----------



## FarmerBoy24

This isn't mine but it looks just like.


 ithttp://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http:/...&page=1&ndsp=6&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&tx=93&ty=48

What do you think?


----------



## terri9630

FarmerBoy24 said:
			
		

> This isn't mine but it looks just like.
> 
> 
> ithttp://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http:/...&page=1&ndsp=6&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&tx=93&ty=48
> 
> What do you think?


I'm not getting anything from that link.


----------



## terri9630

Is it like this one?

http://www.wild-facts.com/wild-fact-841-the-easter-bunny-cottontail


----------



## terri9630

chinbunny1 said:
			
		

> terri9630 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> TheSheepGirl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There's a domestic rabbit running wild around my place as we speak. He just showed up about a year ago and I haven't been able to catch him. They live just fine in the wild most of the time. I have even found nests out in the field, even had a nest in the boat shed and under the nieghbor's garage. It's more than possible for it to be a domestic rabbit.
> 
> Sometimes they escape and aren't set free. Like digging out of people's yards.
> 
> 
> 
> Going by the picture in your avatar you have grass which would imply that there is water.  We are in the middle of the desert.  No grass and no water here, very little other than misquite and tumbleweeds.  The wild rabbits have been taught to survive in this environment.  Domestics tossed/freed/escaped into the wild may find some food but they need water which is only available a few days a year ass there are no rivers or ponds out here.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> No matter where you live, wild rabbits get their water from the vegetation they eat.
Click to expand...

Yes, but how long does a domestic have to figure out which plants and how to find them?


----------

