Anyone with wild/semi wild bunnies

Do you have then vaccinated and neutered? If so how do they react to visits to the vets? Just wondering because I have a wild bunny which was brought in by one of my cats when it was about a month old I guess. I did intend to release it back to the wild but it had other ideas and is now about four months old and ensconsed in the spare room with my two bunnies! It seems a shame to put it back out now because although it is not very tame it is not completely wild either and I wonder if it could survive in the wild now. On the other hand I don't think it would be very happy with a journey to the vets so just want some other opinions and experiences on the situation. Thanks.
Maureen

I've had the wild bun I've hand reared vaccinated. I'm just waiting for his bits to drop for neutering. He's very friendly & confident tho - just the same as a pet rabbit.

Does he live in with your two pets on in different cage? If they live together take them together to the vet and they'll help keep him calm.

You could always enquire about a home visit. If there is a vet close they might not charge that much to pop in and have it done at home (vaccs not neuter of course).

Tam

They all live in the same room although the wild bunny has a separate fenced off area it can escape to if the need arises. I think that they all get on ok on their own but when I first go in the room sometimes the fur flies! I am not sure of the gender of the wild bunny yet but am hoping for a boy so the neuter would be slightly easier if I decide to get it done. At the moment the wild bunny is spraying everywhere which includes jumping on top of the other two bunnies heads and spraying at the same time! Funny to watch but not so funny if you want to snuggle your bunny and it is stinking of bunny spray!
Obviously neutering would calm this down but would it stop on it's own once bunny was fully grown?
Maureen

From the behaviour I'd guess you have a boy. Spraying like that is typical hormonal male rabbit behaviour. Unfortunately, no it's adult behaviour so unlikely to just stop.

Neutering should help the scuffles too.

Are your rabbits neutered? If you have a female you could end up with babies.

Please don't release him/her into the wild now - he wouldn't stand a chance of surviving as wild rabbits would kill him if something else didn't. Sounds like neutering would help make him more domesticated if not tame - hopefully just one trip to the vets would do it and it would be worth the stress in the long run - check your vet uses a sedative with isofluorane though as rabbits don't cope with normal anaesthetics well. Boys can be neutered from 12wks old depending if their testicles have dropped, and how experienced your vet is.

I would also be careful he doesn't get his 'bit's bitten when head humping - depends how tolerant your other rabbits are really. If you have any unspayed females he will be fertile from 12wks old, and will also be fertile AFTER neutering for a further 8 weeks, so needs to be kept away from them if so - they can even mate through cage bars. If this is the situation with your rabbits, they mustn't be put back together again in this room, even after 8 weeks or they will fight badly - re-introduction needs to be done somewhere new to them all, where they should stay a couple of days together while their original room is cleaned and redecorated - otherwise fighting is likely as rabbits are as territorial as cats.

Sorry if you know all this already! I don't like to assume people will return to the forum and I'd hate for any bunny to get hurt in a fight

Hi Maureen, I have a wild bunny, he was 3 weeks old when I brought him into my home. He will be 2 years old in one week and I love him to bits! I have had him neutered and he is vaccinated every year. The only difference between him and my other domesticated bunnies is that I cannot pick him up and he is more nervous with things (smells, sounds, etc). When I take him to the vet (who loves him!), I have to lure him into the cage with treats or grab him with a towel. The vet also has a hard time picking him up and uses a towel as well. Other than that he is fine with his vet visits. To help make him more comfortable with me (in the beginning) I would sit in a room with him every day for at least half an hour and read a book and ignore him. Eventually he would come up to me, take treats from me and let me pat him. I had to take it really slowly and let it all happen on his terms. Now he hops all over me and insists on pats for hours on end! The only thing I would suggest is to make sure he always has a bolt hole, somewhere he can run to when he needs to hide. I use a cat scratching post with a sheet over it. This makes him feel very secure and he will thump if he accidently pulls the sheet off, so I can fix it for him. The other thing you need to know is that a wild rabbit is lucky to survive one year, in the wild. This is because of all the predators, diseases, etc, so please don't let him go. Oh, and my bunny is perfectly litter trained, neutering certainly does help with that! Let me know how you go, I love hearing about other wild bunnies! Best of luck with it all!
Karen

Thanks to everyone who replied. My two original bunnies - one male, one female - are both neutered so no chance of babies. All opinions have just reinforced what I was thinking ie that I would need to keep and neuter the wild bunny. I guess I will need to give it a name when I find out which sex it is! The other two will be due their vacs soon so I will take all three together which will hopefully help to keep the wild bunny calmer.
Maureen