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Hi - a rabbit is adotping us! How do we help him (or her)?

jennyj

New Kit
Hi, I do hope that some of you rabbit owners and experts can help me.

We seem to be in the process of 'adopting' a rabbit, and are not sure of the best thing to do.

We live on a former farm (ie, big farm yard, loads of fields etc etc), and a little while a go we spotted a rabbit on the farm lane. He (or she!) didn't seem to be that fussed by the car coming (slowly) past, and as we drew near it hopped into an open plastic drainage channel (that funnels rainwater off the field across the road to the field on the other side).

We saw it was about the size of a laptop maybe a bit smaller, but not as small as wild rabbits seem to be, and smaller than tame rabbits seem to be. He's grey/brown, with a very distinctive white fur 'stole' around his front quarters.

Anyway, since then, he's now been seen for a few days down in the farm yard itself. He hops about near a wooden shed and the barn conversion, sometimes on the tarmac, sometimes in the wild vegetation at the side (there's an overgrown orchard beyond that he can get into).

Today he's been very 'tame'. From me he took chunks of carrots - I got a few feet from him - and he hopped up (he'd been grazing nearby), and polished it off, and several other chunks, and some broccoli (hope broccoli's all right for him!), plus nibbled at some dandelion leaves I dropped down for him. He came close enough to sniff at my hand and shoe.

To me, this shows he must, surely be tame - or at least very used to 'friendly humans'!

We've asked the local vet - no 'lost' rabbits reported, and no replies on my niece's facebook enquiries.

My question really is - what's the best thing to do?

At the moment, he seems to be fine, and having a nice life, hopping about, mild weather, plenty of foraging (plus carrots!)

I guess we fear foxes and stoats, and winter coming on.

We don't want to 'catch him and imprison him' in a hutch, but we want to make sure he stays safe, so are wondering whether to put up a nice hutch that he can get into (but foxes can't)(but stoats probably could!), or maybe just train him to go in there over night with the door safely shut, and let him out again to forage in the day time.

Thank you for any advice on this. He's a smashing little chap (or chappesss!) and we are getting very fond of him! We just want the best for him!

Cheers, Jenny
 
Although he's happy free ranging, the reality is that a pet rabbit won't last long in the wild and could be caught by a predator at any time, day or night. It's lovely that you want to help him and I can see why you're worried about him being in a hutch, but he is better off in a hutch alive and well than taking his chances out with the cats, foxes, fatal rabbit diseases, and the fast approaching cold weather.

If I were in your position, I'd purchase a large rabbit trap and tempt him inside with carrots, then have a big hutch for him inside a shed or outbuilding, with plenty of time in a spacious run outside too. He will need a vet check and vaccinating against myxi, VHD 1 and 2.

Your reference to a 'white fur stole' makes me think he might be a lionhead bunny - they are small-ish rabbits and have a distinctive ruff and mane.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!
 
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How lovely of you to be so caring of the wee bun :love:

I think it really depends on how 'wild savvy' he seems to be, to be honest. If he's alert of danger, cautious and has bolt holes to go to, it would seem he's established himself quite well. We have very clearly, previous domestic rabbits integrate themselves into warrens in our area, and you see them frequently. We've also seen a fox hunting in the exact same area, but have seen these buns since. So clearly, they're doing rather well. Some of them have bred with wild rabbits, and you see the offspring are crosses. With this bun being so tame, I don't think that's the case here, and he is an ex domestic.

The problem is, if he's integrated with other bunnies (which is quite possible - he'd be the only tame one to come anywhere near you so you'd be unlikely to see his 'friends' anyway) then you would need to make sure if you pop him in a hutch, that he/she is neutered and bonded with another bun for company. Hutches need to be a minimum of 6x2x2 with an attached run of 8ft, which they have permanent access to. Can you realistically provide this? If so, then I think it'd be lovely to keep him x

If not, you could always catch him and try to rehome elsewhere suitable, but you could be in for a long wait unless he went to a rescue.

I certainly don't try to catch the wild domestic buns here - they've integrated very well into warrens and are happy, regardless of the risk, just like the wildies are. That being said - none of them are anywhere near as tame as this chap, but do seem to have much more ease with humans than the wildies. With him being so tame, I'd be inclined to keep him, only if I could provide the space and company, or find somewhere for him that could :thumb:
 
It's difficult to say if he would survive or not in the wild, but hearing how tame he is I would think not. He probably doesn't realise how dangerous a fox could be, and if he is a Lionhead then his chances are not too high at remaining safe. Good luck to him, and you.
 
Thank you so much for your replies - it's very much appreciated!

How interesting re the Lionhead thought! I looked up the images, but I don't think our wee lad is that - he's not nearly 'fluffy' enough, with no 'mane', rather just a change in colour of the thick normal looking fur. I did see some more breeds illustrated, and I think maybe possibly a Dutch (have I got that right) where the white fur around his shoulders can go with various other fur colours for the rest of his body, including his, which is just 'bog standard rabbit brown' so to speak.

I'm wondering from what you've said whether he is indeed a '
 
Sorry - lost the rest of that! I'm wondering whether he is indeed a half-wildie though I'm not sure we have wild rabbits anywhere near - we have a hare in one adjacent field and I've heard they don't collocate with wild rabbits??

I think we're going to get a hutch, and if he can be 'lured in' that hopefully would keep him safe and warm at night at least. We'll try and see if we can catch him to get him to the vets for a good check up too! In the meantime, he does seem to be getting 'tamer' and hops towards us when he sees us! I'm sure that means he must be used to humans.

Thank you again for all your advice - we'll continue to keep checking this site for more info on rabbit-rearing - a whole new field for us!

PS - how dangerous to him do you think cats would be? We have two here. Do hope they'll think him too big to be interesting to them!
 
If he's kept safe and secure cat's shouldn't be a problem :wave: They can take an interest though - neighbour hood cats certainly do take an interest in ours!
 
Cats can kill a rabbit and I should imagine it wouldn't be very pleasant for him as they don't tend to kill outright, like a dog or fox would.
 
Tameness is mainly down to socialisation, so I would guess with him being so comfortable approaching you that he's a pet that's been dumped by someone. If you are in the UK you can get wild/pet crosses but while they can have some pet colourings they'll behave like a wild rabbit near people.

He is unlikely to last long out unprotected from predators as he wont have the stamina, speed or skills of a wild rabbit. You really need to catch him asap.

He doesn't have to live in a hutch - if he does he should have a nice big and secure run, he could also live inside with you (rabbit's can be litter trained like a cat). If you aren't sure you could provide for him then a rescue would be able to help find a suitable home.
 
Please don't let him stay out roaming for too much longer - the friendlier he is, the worse his chances are going to be up against foxes and other predators. It's unlikely that he'll be accepted into a warren and as the weather gets colder he may be at risk of hypothermia at night-time.
 
Wild rabbits are naturally weary of everything he sounds like someone's pet that has either escaped or has been dumped :(

I personally feel he needs catching and checking over by a vet as soon as possible.. if he hasn't caught anything nasty it might be because he's had a vaccine.

Also they is a chance he could he micro chipped
 
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