My daughter found her puppy with a baby rabbit in it's mouth. The rabbit was not hurt, but is too young to eat on its own. What would be the best supplement to use to feed it. This is not a domesticated rabbit. Any suggestions?

-- George Jensen (gjensenii@mindspring.com), May 08, 2000

Answers

George, since I never seriously raised rabbits, I don't know what those folks use. I'd probably use a can of evaporated milk with a little more than a can of water, probably a raw egg, and a bit of sugar especially at first. I also don't know if baby rabbits are like kittens. If it doesn't relieve itself, you may need to take a barely-dampend with warm water washcloth and rub its backend (or lick it-your choice, and I don't want to know). Use an eyedropper to feed it. Be careful not to squirt the formula in, you can choke it or cause asperated pneumonia. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), May 08, 2000.

Kitten milk replacer, available at the vet or cheaper at Wal-Mart. Mix as for same age kitten. Eye dropper or kitten bottle to feed with. Put a pint jar of hot water wrapped in a rag in a small box with it to help keep it warm. Offer very small amounts of greens (dampen slightly), very gradually. Watch the teeth - hard for young kids to be gentle enough and most all critters will bite when hurt. Good luck!!

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), May 08, 2000.

Been there, done that! I did get it to maturity by the above mentioned suggestions, but kept it caged too long (after it could have made it on it's own) and it died of something, maybe "pissedoffedness". If you have a neighbor with similarly aged bunnies, that might work, and might not. In any case, once you judge it to be independent, try to gently release it to the wild again. But that's a limited personal observation. For better advice, try contacting your county extension service, and they will probably have a list of "wildlife rehabilitators" in your area. These folks know what they are doing, and are the best bet for "Bunnykins" getting beyond the infant stage. Thanks for your concern, and GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@mix-net.net), May 08, 2000.

"pissedoffedness"? I'll have to remember that one! Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), May 08, 2000.

I raise rabbits. unless you want to lick the kits (baby rabbit) belly to help with digestion you might as well forget it. I have seen several peolpe try to hand raise one but never seen it done...Sorry Grant

-- Grant Eversoll (thegrange@earthlink.net), May 08, 2000.

George, I have had wild bunnies put with domesticated rabbits litters of approx. same size and they lived. Also raised 4 bunies on goats milk with one of those teeny bottles you can get from the vet or pet store and lost one. It is a lot of work and if you have the time you could try it. I am a big believer in using goat milk for any baby animal or human for that matter. Good luck, hope it makes it. karen

-- Karen Mauk (dairygoatmama@hotmail.com), May 09, 2000.

OHHHHH. Does that bring back memories! Thirty years ago when I was expecting twins, one of my mother rabbits was killing her babies,a couple days after they were born. I brought them inside, and hand fed them for two weeks with canned milk thinned with water. At that point, I decided they weren't maturing as fast as another litter raised by another doe, so I got the bright idea of grinding up some rabbit pellets in the blender, and adding the powder to the milk. Bingo, instant death. Their systems couldn't handle it. If you can get goats milk, or milk replacer, go with it until it is at least a month or more old, then try the greens VERY SPARINGLY. Good luck, Jan

-- Jan (Janice12@aol.com), May 09, 2000.

Thanks for all of your advice! THe bunny did very well for almost a week on infant formula. (Freebies from our daughter who breastfeeds her son, and can't use up all her samples from manufactures) At any rate the bunny didn't make it. We sure were disappointed, but glad we gave it a try. Thanks again for all of your help.

-- George Jensen (gjensenii@hotmail.com), May 13, 2000.

I did successfull raise a baby wild rabbit two years ago and then we had to turn it loose. I used the kitten formula from Wal-Mart and an medicine dropper to feed him. He was so cute and loved the food! I kept him in a cardboard box in my office with hay in it so that I could keep an eye on him. When I first got him I feed him several times a day, one dropperful at first and then on up til he was drinking four dropperfuls and he started eating regular rabbit pellets...I eventually moved him to a wire rabbit hutch but he would butt his little nose against the wire until he skinned it wanting out.

My husband eventually took him to the back side of our woods (so he would be as far as we could get him from the highway, and turned him loose.

I was trying to nurse two of our domestic rabbit babies at the same time that their mother rejected them and they lived for two weeks and then both died suddenly....so he was the only one that made it of that bunch.

Usually it's better to leave a wild baby rabbit wherever you find it because sometimes you think the mother has abandoned it and really she is just out looking for food...but since your dog brought this one to you that was not the case here. hope this helps!!!

-- Suzy in 'Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), May 15, 2000.

MY 4-H advisor fed her wild rabbit pedialite twice a day when she first got it. She gave it through a bottle. Hope this help :)

-- MB (minilop89@aol.com), January 05, 2001.

Ok guys I need your help . I found 5 wild baby bunnies in my flower bed and they were laying on top of the nest today in the rain. So I brought them in the house . I called a vet and they told me that since I brought them in the house that they are going to die. After I got off the phone with that vet I called another one. They told me to feed them greens and kitten supplement milk. Now will they live or die for me someone please help me .

Rhonda

-- Rhonda Starr (heaven@ilos.net), May 01, 2001.

About the five baby wild rabbits: I think they could probably live, but they won't be wild. You can get some kitten formula at the pet store, where they also should have tiny little bottles to make feeding it to them easier. I don't see why it would be harder to save the little wild rabbits than it would for tame ones. Put them in a soft warm place with some fuzzy stuff, keep them clean, and feed them the formula at least every 2 hours. They should be able to eat regular rabbit feed with no formula supplement by about 4 weeks old. By then, they'll be hopping around all over the place, so make sure you have a place to keep them that they can't chew out of or they'll be hopping around the house. They would probably like a darkish nest if you can make one, maybe with a heating pad set on about 75 degrees or so? Just guessing. The mother doesn't stay in to keep the babies warm all the time in nature, she goes out to forage, and comes back in to feed. But she surrounds them very well with a blanket of her fur, which the mother rabbit pulls just before giving birth. Good luck.

-- Jos (jos@bantychicken.com), May 04, 2001.

we just found 3 baby cottontails and we kept them in a cage when we found them mom was dead we took milk and hot water and we fed it to them with an eye dropper they loved it they ate it like crazy they hadn't eaten for about 3-4 days so i believe that that would be the best solution just try it

-- Whitney Lynn Daniels (precious_percillia@yahoo.com), June 02, 2001.

Hey, I found some Wild baby Rabbits and There are 4. We are feeding them with a Medicine Dropper and keep there eyes clean with the Eye Drops! it is Helpful~! But not too much. Keep them in a Quite Place with Darkness like put a Blanket over them. Make sure they don't overheat in the Sun Keep them in the Shade. Don't let Little Kids pick them up! Unless they know How Properly! Cuse My Little Cuz threw one and It wasn't good! :( Well I hope this will be helpfull!:)

-- Anna Chapman (chapy200@hotmail.com), June 16, 2001.

I saved a wild bunny from a hay bailer about a month ago. Fed it through an eyedropper for a while until it could eat on its own. Its done so well that this weekend I'm planning on releasing it

To anyone trying to raise wild rabbits see: http://www.debmark.com/rabbits/faq/wild.htm

-- Jody (ms_jody@hotmail.com), August 09, 2001.