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Keeping a half-wild bunny?

tigerangel

Warren Veteran
Last week, I had this little fluffy boy put into my arms for 5 minutes at a rescue centre :love: he is quite lovely:-

http://www.bathcatsanddogshome.org.uk/animaldetails.asp?ID=2298

If (and this is a big IF, since he might not still be available when we are ready to take on another) we do end up with another ‘stubbornly single’ bunny rather than a pair, I’d like to think that it will be him as I can’t stop thinking about him and how i would call him Fig or Bramble etc...

However I have only ever kept fully domesticated rabbits, never any with full or partial wild genes in them. Mentally I am up for it, but someone has since mentioned to me that he would be at greater health risk (heart attack?) because he is a wild offspring. Truth be told, it never even crossed my mind that there may be something different about him but now I can’t stop thinking about it and now I am a little wary :? Of course nobody can give a definite answer about how long any individual rabbit will live aside from the ‘average lifespan’ based on breed/size, but I feel like I may be tempting fate if he is indeed at higher risk of certain things.

Any advice at all on if there are actually any differences in health and lifespan or is this person misinforming me? :oops:

Thank you if anyone can help or share their experiences
 
If anything, speaking as the owner of a full wildie, I would say the main differences are actually behavioural. Regardless of nurture even in wild crosses I have heard natural behaviours often remain which can make them more skittish & less trusting than domesticated rabbits. Juno only trusts one person and that is me, even though she sees as much of my partner she is petrified of him and has to have a bolt hole in her cage at all times

On the other side as she was brought up by me from approx. 5 weeks she is also missing a lot of social skills from a lack of interaction which is making pairing her up a huge issue.

In the wild I believe a rabbit is considered old at about 3 years but that is because they have that many other threats to their life than a rabbit in a domestic situation does. Also, wild bunnies do not grow very big in a domestic situation but a cross of genes with a domestic rabbit may counteract this.

I don't know if this is any help or not :?
 
Domestic bunnies are not bred for long gevity so I doubt there is much difference. I would think health wise wild bunnies are pretty good and are less likely to have conditions caused by breeding such as bad teeth, sore hocks, heart defects etc.

I think it very much depends on individual bunnies. There are domestic bunnies less friendly than Scamp (full wild). I can pick up/handle Scamp fine where as their are domestic rabbits that are difficult to pick up.

Scamp is high strung I guess and needs lots of stimulation/exercise. He'd go crazy confined to a cage for long but maybe that's because he hasn't been used to it as other people with wild bunnies donm't have the trouble.

I'd look at the particularly bunny as a individual bunny and go by that rather than his genes.
 
I have three half wilds. Only Dash is remotly trusting of humans. Scooter and Arthur are not at all. They both tend to hide in there beds whenever there is a person about and you have to make some serious mental notes on the normal behaviour as they are far better at hiding pain and injury than domestic buns. That i would say is the hardest part, other than that there just the same as any other bun.
 
I have four from a half wild litter and yes they are all more skittish than domestic buns, but after time they do get to trust you and are still good fun. They come up to the bars of their run to take treats I offer them. Trips to the vets can be quite an experience however.
 
i rescued a wild bunnie last year it was trapped in a goal post he was only about 3 weeks old at the time we brought him up paired him with a domestic bunny i can honestly say he is my favorite rabbit follows me around when in the house is happy to be held loves to travel around on peoples shoulders. he is however alot more active than the domestic bun andloves to climb .
I have had very aggresive domestic rabbits think it just depends on each rabbit individually
 
Hehe – my last ‘domesticated’ (I use the term loosely :roll: ) was a real scuttler. Scuttled off as fast as her stubbly little legs would take her and hid for the first few months before eventually turning into a gorgeously loving and mellow little fluff. I can deal with behavioural issues and scuttling and hiding, as well as initial grumping and lunging.

I am a bit more concerned about the possibly ability to hide symptoms more than domesticated buns though :? Hopefully he would be like my first bun and have good health throughout his life but I would happily go into ‘Super-Paranoia’ mode as long as I knew in advance to do so and keep an extra eye on him ;)

Thank you very much for the tales of experience, now all I have to do is convince my husband before someone else takes him :lol:
 
Sorry to bring this old thread up again but good news - My husband has said that if I want Twizz, I can go and get him! :shock:

We are going up to the rescue home this coming weekend - if he is still there and available I think he might be coming home with us :love:
 
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My rabbit Angel was a wild/domestic cross rabbit. She looked more or less just like a wild bunny. She also had the temperament of a wild rabbit and never liked being touched. She was also much more flighty than the average domestic rabbit.

She did very well though, enjoyed the company of other rabbits around her. She lived until she was 4 years old. We could not establish a cause of her death, she just didn't eat for 12 hours and I found her dead.

I'd have another half wild rabbit in a flash. Angel was a very special bunny.

Vera
 
whoop whoop!

He is gorgeous, I am sure he is still there - he seems to have been there a long time!

Lucky bunny and lucky you
 
He's lovely, but I wouldn't fixate on him being half wild, because if he was found abandoned, how do they know. Our Sorrell looks and behaves fully wild, but she's just an uppy eared agouti who had a bad start in life.:)

We've had 2 wildies and both were active, clever and nervous, but lovely beasts.
 
He's lovely, but I wouldn't fixate on him being half wild, because if he was found abandoned, how do they know. Our Sorrell looks and behaves fully wild, but she's just an uppy eared agouti who had a bad start in life.:)

We've had 2 wildies and both were active, clever and nervous, but lovely beasts.

Yeah that crossed my mind too – ‘how do they know’! All they have to go by is their vet who said something to the effect of ‘I think this one is wild’ judging from his partial wild-looking colouring and behaviour. It’s not much to go by but, as ever, when you get rabbits brought in as ‘strays’ you really do know nothing about their history and can never even be certain of their age.

It makes no difference to me anyway, all I am concerned about is if he does have wild in him, what I would need to look out for or what to expect. The general gist seems to be potentially more active, more nervous, and better at hiding signs of illness which now I am aware that these may be issues I can prepare for them! :)

When I cuddled him I discovered he has the softest fur I have ever felt :love: *melts into a pool of mush*
 
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