baby bird, baby bunny...what's one more?

[mangotiki]

hmm. guess what. my cat, wo is an indoor cat, got out this evening and brought home a baby bunny. now i have to bottle feed him. i am in contact with a wildlife rescue lady who is unable to take him at the moment...she normally takes all the orphaned/injured animals in my area...she told me what i need to do. so now i am feeding birdy and bunny. knew there was a reason why i had to buy a package with a bottle and kitten formula in order to get the benebac today (all came together). wish i'd gotten the bigger package now!

now i have a final exam, am moving on the weekend, need to find a new vehicle by friday and am trying to save this baby bird and now a baby bunny.

there must be some reason for all of this, but i am not sure what it is at the moment...

[linda040899]

Good grief, Traci!!!
I've always said things happen for a reason but there's an awful lot happening at your house right now!!! Would your vet's office know anyone else who can take the baby bunny? Wish I lived closer........

[mangotiki]

well i was in a car accident 10 days ago and need to be going to physio as well...lol. no time right now...im a single mom too...rofl. things will work out...one day at a time.

apart from getting the supplies together and sorting out his home, the bunny won't take too much work; im not to feed him over night, though he wouldn't take the bottle tonight; apparently they are hard to get on the bottle and will have to try every three hours through the day until he learns to use it; then only twice a day. so no big deal. just what to do with him later. will be in touch with the wildlife lady later to see if he can be re-released or what. hope i don't get too attached.

might try to find someone who has a rabbit with babies and see if i can foster him that way. just no time to look!

[linda040899]

Traci,
I've had a few wild rabbits that I've rehabbed and I wondered about the possibility of keeping one as a pet. The answer came as the baby rabbits got older and I discovered they were wild animals inspite of the human care. The older they got, the wilder they got! By the time they were old enough to be on their own, I was more than willing to let them go!

[mangotiki]

I would rather not keep him; just worried that he would not be able to be released. worried that bottle feeding him might make him tame. did you just release them after they were weaned?

[linda040899]

I had mine until they were about 3 months old. It's been a while, but I recall that they need milk until age 3 months and you don't feed any greens until then. Once they are eating greens, I find a safe place and let them go. It took me a while to find that safe place for my last one. I didn't want to let him go and have him become the victim of a hunter so I took him over to a Boy Scout camping area and let him go there.

Looking at your photos, this one is not a tiny, tiny baby!

[Eliza]

While it's not impossible for a wild rabbit to become tame enough to live with humans, it's best if they are returned to wild.

Do NOT habituate or socialize him to humans or human contact. Feed him, clean him and check on him... but don't stroke him, pet him, cuddle him or play with him. In other words, don't try to make him a pet. He'll be fine for release once he is weaned.

Here is a link that may be of interest: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/

Best of luck -- baby bunnies were one of my favorite species to work with when I used to volunteer at a wildlife refuge :)

[mangotiki]

we have a lady here in the community that handles injured and orphaned wildlife...she has walked me through all the particulars...and I must say, I am honored that she trusted me to handle it and didn't require me to bring him in!