Young wildie .... best way forward?

We had a baby rabbit handed in that a cat had brought in. He was a wild rabbit but unfortunately they kept hold of him, thought they would keep him and then decided they didn't want to. So ... he ended up with us and initially he was a real sweetie, friendly and inquisitive bonded in with three little dutchie girls. But he has got wilder and wilder and I am at a bit of a loss about what the best thing to do with him is. Does anyone have any ideas or know any wildlife sanctuaries in the Midlands where he might be better off? He's vaccinated but not neutered yet as nothing to chop but we'd make sure he was sorted before he went anywhere. Thanks

chloaster said:

We had a baby rabbit handed in that a cat had brought in. He was a wild rabbit but unfortunately they kept hold of him, thought they would keep him and then decided they didn't want to. So ... he ended up with us and initially he was a real sweetie, friendly and inquisitive bonded in with three little dutchie girls. But he has got wilder and wilder and I am at a bit of a loss about what the best thing to do with him is. Does anyone have any ideas or know any wildlife sanctuaries in the Midlands where he might be better off? He's vaccinated but not neutered yet as nothing to chop but we'd make sure he was sorted before he went anywhere. Thanks

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How long has he been in captivity?

I would def look into neutering - I have a wildie successfully bonded with domestics - only issue is the digging -everything is under-meshed:roll: He lives with several girls & a boy.

I dunno about sanctuaries local to you - but Angie told me (bunnymadhouse) about one where the buns can basically come & go as they choose - they just dig out, but have shelter & food available if they choose

Have you tried ringing your local RSPCA or bunny shelters?? xx

we have three wildies who live together with a 'nanny' domestic -

they are all unrelated and came into human contact at different times and so are different levels of wildness - from hand reared so okish, to came in as adult and really very nervy.

We have them in a roofed aviary walk in run, with slabs on floor - they have various 'levels' and hidey holes and tons and tons of hay and also plastic tunnels etc- they are allowed out onto the lawn when two of us are here to 'guard' them - but the one that came in as an adult has a tendency to scale 6ft fences or disappear through non existent holes that none of my other buns have ever found . . BUT as he is now 'bonded in' to a group and also perceives this as his home he only needs to be nudged back in the right direction and he comes back into the garden (revealing the way he left!!!). he has done this three times now .

In my opinion it is almost impossible to make an entire garden wildie proof but a very large walk in aviary with lots of different levels and hidey holes may keep him happy.

Any prospective adopter will need to realise that they are unlikely to ever see much more than a pair of ears!!! and also to be able to provide a good wildie diet of foraged foods.

I would also suggest you try and handle him as much as possible at this stage if he can tolerate it.

PS all ours are neutered - even the girlie sailed through her spay.





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Thank you

We are not concerned about neutering him but, although he is about three months old now, he has absolutely nothing to chop off yet. We did consider bonding him in with the Fat Fluffs but our concern was that they do get to free roam round the garden and whether he would be safe doing so.

We do try and handle him as much as possible but it's a bit traumatic for him; strange that he was so easy going when he came in, got handled a lot but naturally became wilder again as he got older.

I have tried a few places I found on the internet but they were unable to help; didn't think to try the RSPCA but will give them a call tomorrow and see if they have any ideas.

Thanks again

chloaster said:

Thank you

We are not concerned about neutering him but, although he is about three months old now, he has absolutely nothing to chop off yet. We did consider bonding him in with the Fat Fluffs but our concern was that they do get to free roam round the garden and whether he would be safe doing so.

We do try and handle him as much as possible but it's a bit traumatic for him; strange that he was so easy going when he came in, got handled a lot but naturally became wilder again as he got older.

I have tried a few places I found on the internet but they were unable to help; didn't think to try the RSPCA but will give them a call tomorrow and see if they have any ideas.

Thanks again

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Our wildie males did not drop for about 6 months . . and were also VERY good at holding them in when handled!!!

Even our Pippin who was hand reared got wilder as he grew up . . . though can still be handled a bit on his own terms.
What are you looking for / A rescue that will take him or a new home? My concern would be that he might find the rescue situation (typically hutches) distressing.

have you tried Caroline at Rabbit Residence (near Royston) - I think she still has a group of wildies in . . .

parsnipbun said:

Our wildie males did not drop for about 6 months . . and were also VERY good at holding them in when handled!!!

Even our Pippin who was hand reared got wilder as he grew up . . . though can still be handled a bit on his own terms.
What are you looking for / A rescue that will take him or a new home? My concern would be that he might find the rescue situation (typically hutches) distressing.

have you tried Caroline at Rabbit Residence (near Royston) - I think she still has a group of wildies in . . .

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We were looking more for a wildlife sanctuary as we are also concerned that long term the hutch scenario would not be suitable for him. We have been given a contact by our vets so are following up that possibility - waiting for a phone call back.

If that is a no go will give Caroline a try - thank you.

chloaster said:

We were looking more for a wildlife sanctuary as we are also concerned that long term the hutch scenario would not be suitable for him. We have been given a contact by our vets so are following up that possibility - waiting for a phone call back.

If that is a no go will give Caroline a try - thank you.

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One o fthe things I would be very wary of is whether the sanctuary believes in release for all wildies . . some do and tbh unless you know where they came from and never handle - release is just not viable as they will not be allowed back into a warren.

have you tried Birmingham Nature Centre?
Its only a small zoo but focuses a lot of its attention on british wildlife so they might be interested to take him and able to give him a natural style enclosure maybe?