Found Baby Rabbit (u/d with video, post 49)

[TeflonsShadow]

He doesn't seem to be doing too well. Last night I checked his skin coloration and did a pinch test for dehydration. The skin was bright pink and it was almost impossible to get the skin to fold. I checked both again today when I got home and the skin is a much darker purplish color and very loose (folds easily). I bought some kitten formula and a bottle, and he ate a bit of that, more than he has the solid food, but still no urination/defecation.

I've been trying to keep things warm, dim and quiet otherwise. I'm not sure how to balance between caring for him and not further traumatizing him.

Oh dear

Rabbits start eating solids at 2 weeks so he probably doesnt need the milk :wave: Hes definately not 2 weeks old, hes at least 4.

Have you got a syringe? You could try syringing some water? Some people suggest chamomile tea (cold, obviously!).

If possible, I think the bun needs to see the vet They go down hill soooo fast

Good luck :wave:

 

[William]

Oh no I know this will only stress him more, but I think you'll have to syringe feed him water and pellets. If you can keep him hydrated and fed he'll have a chance at getting better, without eating he'll no doubt go into stasis. If he still doesn't poop after syringe feeding he'll need to see a vet in case of an obstruction. Good luck! I hope he feels better soon.

 

[Captain Helen]

Oh no Sending lots of vibes for the little cutie xx

 

[Kaellah]

Oh dear

Rabbits start eating solids at 2 weeks so he probably doesnt need the milk :wave: Hes definately not 2 weeks old, hes at least 4.

Have you got a syringe? You could try syringing some water? Some people suggest chamomile tea (cold, obviously!).

If possible, I think the bun needs to see the vet They go down hill soooo fast

Good luck :wave:

Sorry about the milk thing. I've been searching a lot of different websites for rabbits and they'll say that bunnies are weaned anywhere from 2 weeks to 8 (it's confusing!).

I took your advice on the water and it went really well. I just opened the cage, brought the water bottle to the opening of the hide-box, and he came right out to see what it was. It took him a few nibbles on it to figure it out, but then he just drank and drank and drank. After that, he groomed himself for a while, then came back and drank again... probably about 4 or 5 times of this cycle before laying down and kicking a bunch of substrate around to get comfortable. I placed some alfalfa hay and pellets near the opening and fastened the water bottle so it's as close to where he was drinking from it before as possible.

*fingers crossed*

 

[TeflonsShadow]

Sorry about the milk thing. I've been searching a lot of different websites for rabbits and they'll say that bunnies are weaned anywhere from 2 weeks to 8 (it's confusing!).

I took your advice on the water and it went really well. I just opened the cage, brought the water bottle to the opening of the hide-box, and he came right out to see what it was. It took him a few nibbles on it to figure it out, but then he just drank and drank and drank. After that, he groomed himself for a while, then came back and drank again... probably about 4 or 5 times of this cycle before laying down and kicking a bunch of substrate around to get comfortable. I placed some alfalfa hay and pellets near the opening and fastened the water bottle so it's as close to where he was drinking from it before as possible.

*fingers crossed*

Its a great sign that he/she drank

And, just for future reference, goats milk is apparently the best milk for rabbits, rather than formula :wave:

Please keep us updated, I really hope he or she pulls through, you are doing a great job and seem to be well on your way to becoming a great owner. You care so much

 

[Jenova]

Have you tried a water bowl?

But now s/he's eaten and drank things are looking up. You're doing a great job. :wave:

 

[Kaellah]

Its a great sign that he/she drank

And, just for future reference, goats milk is apparently the best milk for rabbits, rather than formula :wave:

Please keep us updated, I really hope he or she pulls through, you are doing a great job and seem to be well on your way to becoming a great owner. You care so much

I care a bit overly-much according to my husband. A few years ago I bought a baby corn snake from a pet store (terrible idea buying from pet stores), and it turned out it had a respiratory illness. I spent several hundred dollars in vet bills, gave the little guy shots twice a day, and yet he still didn't make it. My husband is using this as an argument for not taking the bunny to a vet. He says it'll end up the same way, with us spending a bunch of money just to have to bury it anyway.

*grr*

I hate seeing animals suffer. I really really do. I don't think I could ever be a vet. I'd be in tears all day, every day. Even so, I do seem to have a knack for this sort of thing. So far I've saved orphaned kittens, puppies, a possum, a nest of starlings, a nest of magpies, and a sugar glider. I've also freed a seagull caught in fishing wire, stopped traffic for an injured squirrel, stopped traffic for an injured goose (which I also caught and brought to a wildlife rescue), drove an injured humming bird about 50 miles to a facility that would care for it, lost 2 fingernails trying to pry a cat out of the mouth of a ferocious dog (unfortunately the cat didn't make it), and multiple other hijinks.

By far the hardest of all of these was caring for the orphaned sugar glider. It had to be fed every 2 hours for about 4 weeks. I almost lost my mind due to lack of sleep, but I can proudly say that she's STILL alive to this day, about 10 years later, and a wonderful pet to a loving family.

 

[Kaellah]

Have you tried a water bowl?

But now s/he's eaten and drank things are looking up. You're doing a great job. :wave:

I've had a water bowl in there since last night because I wasn't sure the bunny would understand the water bottle thing. Thankfully I didn't have much water in it though, because at one point, he decided the bowl was for sitting in. :?

I dried him off as best I could and put a little more water in, but I haven't seen him drink out of it.

 

[Kaellah]

Ok, crazy update. We found the bunny's mama and they've been re-united in my parents' house (she's got to be the largest rabbit I have ever seen in person). The story behind this is ... kinda funny, but for now the dilemma is what to do next. We have the mama inside, with an unknown amount of babies in an unknown location outside. We can't keep the mother inside with this baby forever, but we're unsure of whether it would be a good idea to take the baby outside. If a cat brought one in, it's possible the rest of the litter is dead, and taking this one back outside might just get him killed. The best thing we can figure is to release the mama outside after the baby is done nursing(which he has been doing a whole lot of), and then we could re-catch her 2-3 times a day so she can care for this baby.

As for the story behind all this... well, let's just say that my mother's had trouble with rational thought since her brain surgery and apparently didn't think it was a significant coincidence that she found a cream-colored baby bunny in her basement and she has a cream-colored rabbit living in her backyard... and I personally didn't know she had rabbits as she'd never mentioned it. :roll:

It was only tonight when I was telling her about all the trouble I was having with the little one, saying how I read how important it was for baby rabbits to ingest their mother's feces to get the proper intestinal bacteria to digest food, that she mentioned she had rabbits (and would I like to borrow one?). At which point I immediately made the connection.

So there's the other dilemma. My mother says she has four "female" rabbits that roam free on her fenced-in 3 acre plot. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that not all four of them are actually female. The fun is in figuring out which is male, and how many of the other females are pregnant or already nursing. :shock:

Fun times... At least the baby seems to be doing a lot better after being re-united with his mom. Considering how unbelievably gigantic she is, and that she's still got a lot of milk, the baby may be younger than previously guessed.

 

[KB]

:wave:Wow what an interesting thread!
Do you have any local bunny rescues that you could get some help sexing your Mum's buns then you could prevent a backyard over breeding scenario?
Maybe your Mum could keep a couple & have them neutered & the others could be rehomed?
Would it be possible to follow the mother bun & find her other kits, as she will probably go & look for them once you let her outside again?
Good luck with getting this situation sorted out

 

[William]

Good to hear the baby has his mom back!

The best thing we can figure is to release the mama outside after the baby is done nursing(which he has been doing a whole lot of), and then we could re-catch her 2-3 times a day so she can care for this baby.

I'm confused, it is a domestic rabbit, right? And your mom doesn't actually take care of them, they're just domestic rabbits that people have released and now they live on your mom's land? I'm not sure releasing them is a good idea, even though the yard is fenced in I'm sure raccoons, foxes, and birds of prey can still kill them.

 

[Kaellah]

Good to hear the baby has his mom back!



I'm confused, it is a domestic rabbit, right? And your mom doesn't actually take care of them, they're just domestic rabbits that people have released and now they live on your mom's land? I'm not sure releasing them is a good idea, even though the yard is fenced in I'm sure raccoons, foxes, and birds of prey can still kill them.

They're domestic rabbits given to my parents by people who were moving away. They feed them hay and vegetables and have a shelter next to their chicken coop that has a heating lamp. They've owned rabbits before, years ago, and while they sometimes have problems with predators, the chickens usually get the brunt of it (chickens tend to just hunker down at night regardless of danger). I think of the rabbits they've owned, only one was killed by a predator.

I agree that it's not the best way to keep rabbits, but when they had them before, they kept a good eye on them and brought them in to the vet when they noticed ear mites, teeth problems, etc. With my mom's health, which has been rapidly deteriorating in the last few months, I'm not sure having 20+ chickens and four rabbits is the best idea. I talked with them tonight about the breeding issue and they agreed they didn't want 57 gajillion bunnies running around, so they'll be catching them soon and taking them in to be neutered.

As for the location of the cream's babies, they said they noticed a very elaborate burrow that was dug underneath the rabbit hutch, and they also see the rabbits digging around in a pile of hay that's under a tarp. When it gets light out, they'll check around.

 

[Kaellah]

Just an interesting note:

After seeing and handling the mother, I think the closest breed would be the Palomino Rabbit. She's just huge though. Picking her up, her head hung over my shoulder and her rear was at my waist. I didn't realize rabbits got that big unless it was one of those crazy "Flemish Giant" things you see all over the internet.

The mother looks very much like this:

 

[Kaellah]

The baby is doing much better today. His skin is back to a healthy pink, and there's no signs of dehydration. He's been eating the alfalfa that's in his pen and drinking water on his own. I haven't noticed any feces yet, but he may be eating it. I have noticed urine at least. He seems energetic and curious. I let him out of the cage to run around the bathroom for a bit (I watched him to make sure he didn't get into anything).

My parents have spotted at least 2 siblings running around outside, but they haven't been able to catch them. One of the babies is a slate gray and the other is almost identical to the one we've got inside. I'm hoping we can catch them soon, as I'd like to keep two as house pets for myself. My husband is allergic to cats and dogs, but I've been having a hard time with a "pet-less" house. He's not allergic to rabbits, so...

My husband already named the baby "Stelio Kontos" which is a character from an American Dad episode. The guy has his own theme song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYDGZt-E89w
My husband can be a bit strange sometimes. :roll:

 

[Ambience]

It could well be someone in your street who doesn't realize buns can dig out of runs- i've had this before and i reunited the bun with owners and gave them advice on securing their setup. It happened to be a very upset little girl. Before you keep her or take her to a rescue. I'd walk up and down your street knocking on doors or ask your neighbors and put some posters up.

 

[Jenova]

What a crazy story.
Getting the rabbits neutered will be the best option. Now here is the hard bit. Any females are likely to be pregnant even the mum of your baby. My suggestion is find out who's male and get any and all males neutered first. When the babies are weaned you have two options. The first is wait for any more babies and then when they are weaned spay mum, or emergency spay mum, but this is like an abortion and will kill any unborn babies, so really it's a decision you have to make based on your beliefs.

Then of course all babies will have to be neutered.

I hope your mum hasn't got in too deep here. She was obviously trying to do a good deed helping these rabbits.

Keep us updated. :wave:

 

[Kaellah]

What a crazy story.
Getting the rabbits neutered will be the best option. Now here is the hard bit. Any females are likely to be pregnant even the mum of your baby. My suggestion is find out who's male and get any and all males neutered first. When the babies are weaned you have two options. The first is wait for any more babies and then when they are weaned spay mum, or emergency spay mum, but this is like an abortion and will kill any unborn babies, so really it's a decision you have to make based on your beliefs.

Then of course all babies will have to be neutered.

I hope your mum hasn't got in too deep here. She was obviously trying to do a good deed helping these rabbits.

Keep us updated. :wave:

I've gotten a more detailed story from my step-dad on where the rabbits came from which helps narrow down the genders. It seems they were given two as rescues a few years ago and one of these died soon after from unknown causes. They were worried the one still alive would be lonely, so they bought a companion for her from a pet store. They had these two for years with no babies, so they're almost certainly both female. About 3 months ago, they received 2 more rabbits as rescues from a neighbor who was moving away. One of these two is the mother of the babies, so by default I think the other must be the male. Unfortunately, this is the wildest of the bunch so catching him won't be easy. :?

Even after he's caught and snipped, I think it may be best to get the others into a pen for awhile so that any additional litters can be more easily handled. The nest for this one was found, but it's unreachable. I'm hoping we can find a way to catch some of the babies soon because they seem extremely wild. While all four of the adults live free-range, they were handled a lot when they were young, so they don't mind people getting kinda close (close enough to use a net which is how we've been catching the mom). So far these babies have been faster than greased lightning getting back to the nest at the slightest hint of a sound. We can't even get out the door before they've bolted and gone underground.

 

[Kaellah]

Update:

The one captured baby is doing great. He's finally pooping, and he's eating a whole lot of alfalfa hay. The mother doesn't really let him nurse anymore either. We're up to 5 babies still outside and no luck catching any adults except the mother. I called animal control for help but they just told us to use traps. My parents own a very large humane trap for catching feral cats/raccoons that harass their chickens. My step-dad says he can set it to a high sensitivity and I read that fresh bananas make good bait.

He has also bought a second net and we'll go out tonight to try and catch the adults again. Worst case scenario, he says he can set up a chicken-wire fence that we can slowly move inward until we've got all the rabbits in a much smaller space.

Hopefully we can get this mess sorted out.

 

[KB]

Sounds like you are well on the way to getting this sorted out.
Glad the kit is doing well.
Keep us posted

 

[William]

Good luck with the babies! Hopefully you can tame all the babies and find good homes for them, except for the 2 you want to keep.