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Tame wild rabbits

Fiona

Fiona

New Kit
Hi, I have a flemish giant. Over the summer holidays I allow her free run of the garden and surround paddocks. I always put her away at night and you guessed it she has had a litter of Flemish/wild rabbits. I sold these or found homes for them all but made the mistake of allowing her a free run just after she gave birth. Litter two came about 6 weeks later. These bunnies I didn't tame but allowed my rabbit to rear them until 6 weeks old and released them into the wild. I now have two wild rabbits that are tame enough to hop up to me for pellets and to be stroked. Others are still around but not so tame. I am looking forward to wild giant rabbits lounging around my garden this summer. (My rabbit does have a very large enclosed run as well)
 
Is your rabbit vaccinated and have you thought about spaying her? The situation doesn't sound very responsible to me.
 
I realise things can be very different in countries other than the UK - poor access to specialist rabbit vets and immunisation against myxomatosis and RHD being unavailable (not sure about the situation in NZ) but I would strongly suggest researching the situation in your area. If Myxi/RHD are in your area your rabbit is at serious risk of death from either of them if mixing with wild bunnies. Also agree with the above post about spaying your rabbit if there are vets in your area competent in the procedure. Rabbits are slaves to their hormones and it's not a nice life for a pet rabbits not to mention the hundreds of offspring she is likely to produce if she continues to mix with the wildies.

Just a cursory web search suggests the NZ government actively introduce myxi to control the wild population.
 
Yes my rabbit is vaccinated and I don't see any harm in letting her do what nature made her for. I treat her as I would any pregnant pet and keep her in good health. Thanks for your concern
 
Hi, She is vaccinated for khaleesi virus as recommended by my vet. myxi has been released here but not around this area. If I thought the wild rabbits were ill I would keep my rabbit away from them. I am at the moment keeping her from the wild friends just for not wanting more babies at the moment.
 
Fiona said:
Yes my rabbit is vaccinated and I don't see any harm in letting her do what nature made her for. I treat her as I would any pregnant pet and keep her in good health. Thanks for your concern
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I don't really see your logic on this - following it through, wouldn't it mean that every female pet would have as many litters as possible and we would be over-run. And wouldn't it also mean that women shouldn't exercise birth control?

The other point is, of course, that half-wild rabbits wouldn't be able to look after themselves (food and safety) as wild rabbits can.
 
Fiona said:
Hi, She is vaccinated for khaleesi virus as recommended by my vet. myxi has been released here but not around this area. If I thought the wild rabbits were ill I would keep my rabbit away from them. I am at the moment keeping her from the wild friends just for not wanting more babies at the moment.
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It's hard to tell if the wild rabbits are ill, I personally wouldn't take the risk. In my opinion and from my observations, an unspayed pet rabbit is not a happy one and a pregnant rabbit even more so. There is also the problem of adding to the growing rabbit population and the fact that a half wild rabbit is not suited to the wild like a wildie would be. Please reconsider your thoughts on this for the welfare of your rabbit and it's babies.
 
Yes you can see the irony in my post. I have no intention of raising as many wild rabbits as I can but do like to give my rabbit as much freedom as I can. Having her neutered is just too costly and I don't expect I will leave her to roam unattended again.
 
Its good that you dont plan on letting her roam again:)

But have you looked into the risks of uterine cancer? A huge amount of females die this way. I think the risk is something like an 80% chance of developing it before they are 5. In an animal that can live twice as long as that preventative spaying is a lifesaver!
 
Hello and welcome to the forum :wave:

Please do get stuck in theres loads of good threads poppibg up. I second the request to see pictures we love pictures here!:D

I wont circulate what anyone else has as its already been mentioned but I was going to suggest as hele has. Really just I know spaying is expensive however the stats for cancer was 70/75-80/85% so looking at very slim chance of not developing cancer. Its not to scare you but maybe its worth talking to the vet about it? Some vets offer payment options too?

But anyway, welcome to the forums and hope to see your posts soon
 
Fiona said:
Yes my rabbit is vaccinated and I don't see any harm in letting her do what nature made her for. I treat her as I would any pregnant pet and keep her in good health. Thanks for your concern
Click to expand...

Do bear in mind that nature didn't make her, human beings did.
We've spent hundreds of years changing rabbits from their natural form and making them less suited to living in the wild, in fact less suited to live at all. In allowing your rabbit to breed you're potentially introducing negative characteristics in to the wild population.

That said, what's done is done and those babies do sound hella cute. I hope they survive and stick around for you to enjoy them :love:
Pics would be amazing!
 
Fiona said:
Y Having her neutered is just too costly
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This is rather worrying? Surely any amount of money is important for your friends health? I spent all my work wages (hundreds of pounds) in trying to treat an ongoing snuffles problem and I saved money to a side for spaying my girls and I'm a student and work part time. It can be expensive but why get animals if that's your excuse? I am a big supporter of animal welfare as that's my job and you don't come across as very responsible which is very sad for your friend :(
 
It's a bit of a pain at first but then get used to it. Two main ways via facebook or uploading to something like photobucket/imageshack etc.

Facebook:
- click onto the image you want
- right click and select "copy image location"
- on forums look for the picture and frame on the tool box (on right hand side next to the speech bubble and reel)
- paste link in there

Image Hosting Site:
- copy image link (using the code)
- post straight onto the text box (the only thing the picture box does is add [URL][/URL] code so shouldn't need it this way)

Hope that helps
 
If you can't afford to spay 1 rabbit then you most certainly can't afford to breed them. The cost of a spay is far less than one emergency vet trip with just one rabbit. You have a legal responsibility to provide vet care for every single rabbit you haven't managed to rehome. It is really not ok to breed rabbits and just release them into the wild. I am sorry but this situation is awful. Poor rabbits :(
 
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What a lovely bunny gorgeous pic :thumb:

Would be fascinated to see one of her babies too how big are New Zealand wildies UK are tiny probably only as big as her head :shock:
 
So are you against wild/tame crosses or a bit like me and slightly interested in how they turn out. As far as vet costs I am a farmer and would never let an animal suffer but also not afraid to put animals down if necessary. Sorry if I am upsetting anyone. Photos of babies will follow.
 
2015-06-30%2016.30.36_zpslledj2ng.jpg
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one of the tame wild bunnies about 3 and half months old
 
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