I hope somebody here can help me. My dog brought a small baby rabbit to my porch eariler today. I would have put it back if I could have found it\'s home, but I have know idea where she found it from. It is about the size of a baseball, has it\'s eyes open and is hopping around a little. I don\'t think it was living on its own and don\'t know what to do with it. Can somebody here give me an idea of how to care for it? I would appreciate it very much.
I hope this isn\'t too late. I would offer it some grass and dandilion greens(leaves are better for them then the flower). and offer some watter. Call around your area for a rabbit savvy vet and take it in for a health check and see if they know of a wild animal rescue unless you intend to keep it. If you keep it still take it to a vet for a check. They eat rabbit pellets, alphala hay, grass hay, oats, dandilion greens, and some things sparringly like sunflower seeds, apples, and rasins. With it being so yound you may need to bottle feed it kit replacer milk or lambs replacer milk.
Good luck,
okay, i want you to look at the baby, does it have a little white spot on it\'s nose?
people often save a wild rabbit not knowing that it doesn\'t need to be saved. wild rabbit babies have a \"milk spot\" on their nose that molts out as the baby gets ready to leave mom (at only about 4 weeks of age). they can eat and live on their own.
the truth is that you could try to raise it, but the only think wrong with it at this point is that it *might* have physical damage from the dog.
if you must keep it (i would suggest not to at all, either set it free, or get it to a rehab place. . .call your humane society or animal control for further help in that) do NOT feed it rabbit pellets, a while rabbits digestive system is way different then a regular rabbit. also if you feel that you must bottle feed it, then try to find raw goat milk in your area, that is the best.
like i said no spot= don\'t save, if it has a spot then get it to a wildlife rehad person, they have more experiance with this sort of thing
I know that I am almost a month late, but here goes it, prehaps it will help someone else next time!
Wild rabbits differ greatly from domesticated rabbits. The Eastern (or Western) Cottontail doe weans her babies at about 3 weeks of age as she is ususally pregnant again and preparing for her next litter. The Wild rabbit can manage well on its own at this age, but many of them succumb to predators (they are PREY ANIMALS afterall). The average size of a 3 week old wild rabbit is about the same size as a 3 week old Domestic rabbit, but ususally the domestic rabbit will be slightly larger, more rounded and have better muscle. The wild baby at weaning will feel slightly thinner than the domestic age mate. Many wild rabbits (even older ones) will have a white spot on their nose, or on their foreheads...some of these will moult out with the coat changes at 6-8 weeks, mut many do not. Although Katt\'s suggestion is a good one, not all of these spotted bunnies are as young as you would think...just remember, wild rabbits are weaned VERY early, a rabbit with a body the size of an open pack of matches is probably already begun weaning!
The best bet for a wild rabbit is to locate it somewhere away from your and other neighborhood animals, somewhere quiet and slightly dark (woodpiles are good or high weeds near treelines) and just leave it be! If it is going to make it it will, if not, there is not much that you can do for it, and more than likely, the rabbit will go into shock and die. Wild rabbits are CRAZY at even 3 weeks, startled easily and almost impossible to tame. If the rabbit is behaving more like a pet than a wild animal, it is most likely in shock. A wild kit the size of a baseball is already doing what comes naturally, trying to survive to sexual maturity so that it can do what rabbits do best.
As a breeder, I cant count the times that I have had people bring me wild rabbits that they have found, and ask me for help. A majority of these rabbits are well weaned and i wait untill they leave and let them go in the woods, but if the babies are tiny and still nursing, I have been known to pull a litter off of a doe and foster it to another and allow the wild babies to nurse form her (the doe getting her normal ivomectin to ensure the death of potential parasites). Once they are doing well on their own, they are also released into the woods.
Hope that helped,
Kelly
