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Wild baby rabbit found

G

Grace_Lily

Young Bun
Hi all,

Looking for some help and advice please. About half an hour ago we found a baby rabbit in the road clearly traumatised. He/she was frozen in shock, so when I went to shoo him back off the road he just sat there breathing extremely fast.

I brought him home and he is now in a cardboard box filled with hay. I think he may have been the victim of a predator as although I can't see any injuries on him there is a graze on his lip and loose fur. I would estimate him to be around 6 weeks old.

Help! I have 10 rabbits of my own but no experience of one this young and wild. Is it safe to try and release him once his condition is better? Does he need heat pads for now? What about food?

Many thanks in advance.
 
I don't know much but I think he might need a heat pad to keep him warm.

I'd contact a local wildlife rescue centre and see if they can advise.

St Tiggwinkles has an emergency line otherwise:

01844 292292

Vibes for the little baby. And well done to you for rescuing him.

x
 
Hi DizzyG

Thank you for your reply. I've now popped a heated pad in with him and he has snuggled right up to it.
 
I'd take him to a rescue centre. If you're not sure how old he is then I would not try and release him, just in case he isn't big enough to survive on his own.
 
Hi Rosie,

We've spoken to tiggy winkles and a couple of local rescues, one of whom said it's very hard to get rescues locally to take on rabbits.

The advice we've had so far is to keep him warm, safe and with access to what he would eat outside with minimal handling. Providing he is well enough, in a couple of days time we will try to release him.

Pretty confident on the age. His teeth have erupted and he has all his fur, eyes open.
 
Hi all,

Just a quick update on this little one. We've been feeding him supreme science recovery satchets which he has taken to quite well.

Late last night he had a nose bleed, so we feared the worst but he is still alive at the moment.

Another complication: this morning he has woken up with a head tilt and is rolling to that side. Any ideas or experience? Our usual vets is fully booked but we've been promised a call from a vet this morning. Is it worth starting treatment with panacur? Or is it more likely to be a head trauma/ neurological condition in a rabbit so young?
 
I would guess he 'a been clipped with a car and it's a neurological issue. My guess would be he needs a couple of steroid injections to bring down any swelling on his brain and lots of TLC to get over this, the worry would be he may be left with problems making him unsuitable for release, so he will need to be monitored for a while if he survives.

* I know steroids are not recommended in rabbits but they are used to reduce inflammation in spinal and brain injuries.*
 
Thank you for the good vibes everyone

Halfpenny - Yes I agree, it seems he has suffered some sort of head trauma. Absolutely willing to provide as much TLC as needed, just don't want to be prolonging his life if he is suffering.

One local vet basically said they would PTS or we could pay to have him treated as a 'pet'. Still waiting for a callback from my own vet and will push to try and get some medication for him. Does anyone know what the law regarding treatment is? I thought vets must treat wildlife free of charge.

Also weighed him (0.23kg) and have given a dose of panacur to cover that concern too just incase. Although I'm thinking along the lines of half penny and this probably isn't e. Culi
 
I think vets will pts for free to end suffering of a wild animal but if you choose to have an animal treated then I *think* you have to pay. Can't blame the vets really as they are a business.

Just want to say thank you for giving the little bunny a chance. There aren't many people who care enough :thumb:.
 
The vets will probably PTS to end suffering if you aren't willing to pay, it's also a welfare issue for them if he can't be released and nobody is willing to keep him as a pet .
Wild rabbits are active and skittish and expert escape artists so most people do not want to keep them a pets.
If you are not willing to pay and potentially be willing to keep him for the rest of his life ( if he ends up brain damaged ) it would possibly be kinder to PTS.
I have 2 wildies and my first rabbit was a wildie scraped off a road too, so I do have experience of them.
 
Last edited:
sending all my healing vibes to the little wildie. :)

even pet rabbits can be skittish and escape artists....mine certainly is....so you could possibly take him under your care.....after all what is one more when you have 10 already! :D that is if he requires permanent care eg. too young to be released back into wild etc.

either way, im sure you will make the best decision for him, especially since you rescued him in the first place. hope he doesnt get PTS unless his quality of life is severley affected by the head trauma.

please keep us updated and good luck with the little cutie. i know youre busy caring, but if you could post a few piccies that would be wonderful......im sure its a by-law of the RU forum to post pics....im sure its there in the terms and conditions......hehehehehhe
 
Hi all,

Thank you so much again for the posts and advice. Sunnibunny photos as requested coming up :)

20140405_131223_zpsd8252af6.jpg
 
He is so cute!! Poor little thing! Lots of vibes being sent his way!!

Sent from my LG-P880 using Tapatalk
 
What a little cutie! Are your own bunnies all up to date with their vaccinations? A nose bleed in particular could be a sign of VHD which would obviously be incredibly dangerous to any other unvaccinated bunnies.

Personally I would get the little one to a vet as soon as you can, it clearly isn't well either through a traumatic injury or illness (head tilt also could be due to bleeding through VHD, ear infection or injury) and the little one may well be hiding just how much he is suffering. A vet can at least have a thorough look and give a realistic proposition as to what would be in the little one's best interests.

Hope he is ok x x
 
Santa said:
What a little cutie! Are your own bunnies all up to date with their vaccinations? A nose bleed in particular could be a sign of VHD which would obviously be incredibly dangerous to any other unvaccinated bunnies.

Personally I would get the little one to a vet as soon as you can, it clearly isn't well either through a traumatic injury or illness (head tilt also could be due to bleeding through VHD, ear infection or injury) and the little one may well be hiding just how much he is suffering. A vet can at least have a thorough look and give a realistic proposition as to what would be in the little one's best interests.

Hope he is ok x x
Click to expand...


I agree with this. He is beautiful. I think it depends on what you want for him but if he can be healed for re release or kept as a pet I would give him the chance.
But he will need to be seen as soon as really. The nose bleed is cause for concern, there might be internal bleeding which can be painful and fatal.
 
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