Well I guess she is a rabbit dog.Now what do I do with the baby rabbit she has brought me? She brought two this time in her mouth at once. One dead; one not scratched. It is so small. It has it's eyes open and it looks good. Will it eat later . Do I let it go? will it go home? I am not sure where it came from. Somewhere near the garden. If I let it go will it be able to fend for it's self. What are my options. By the way my 8 year old daughter has named it in the last five minutes we have had it. HELP!!!

-- Bonnie (josabo1@juno.com), July 06, 2000

Answers

If it has a name, it must be part of the family now!

-- Ed (shooter@keepandbeararms.com), July 06, 2000.

Hey Ed, I'll buy that but how do I keep from killing the latest member of the family?That's the part I need help with now.

-- Bonnie (josabo1@juno.com), July 07, 2000.

I don't know anything about rabbits, but I love kittens! Once we found a hurt kitten in the barn and so we made a nest in a cardboard box and fed it warm milk with an eye-dropper every 1 or 2 hours. Because it had a bad wound, we eventually put is asleep, but since you say this rabbit is fine it would probably work. Just a thought. When it is older, I would assume you would feed it grass and pellets, (or any rabbit food), but since it seems like 100 years ago we had our rabbit, I'm just guessing. Hopefully someone will come to your assistance soon. Oh yes...your daughter sounds like just the right age to run an eye-dropper :o)

-- Abigail F. (treeoflife@sws.nb.ca), July 07, 2000.

Just off the top of my head, I think I remember that some of our wild rabbits get their eyes open much earlier than the domestic ones, so your baby may be younger than you think. If you can successfully raise it (a tricky job with any wild baby) you will have done well! If you don't have an eyedropper, twist a piece of clean cotton cloth and dip that in the milk (do you have any livestock? Because probably the best milk replacer for a bunny would be sheep milk -- if no animals, call a vet for advice and a possible source of bunny milk replacer.) and let the baby suck on that. It's quite likely that your dog has been digging up nests, which in the long run isn't such a bad thing -- rabbits can be pests when there are too many of them. But it means that your baby is too young to find it's way home, or to survive on it's own, so you'll have to see what you can do. Don't worry about the momma rabbit -- she'll have another litter within a few weeks anyway! Good luck -- let us know how it does -- and maybe you should prepare your daughter, as gently as possible, for the fact that little wild babies often don't survive too well on human care.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), July 07, 2000.

Bonnie, Hope the bunny is still okay. It is pretty hard to keep them alive. A lot of pet/livestock places have those tiny baby animal bottles. I have raised them on goats milk, but you can get milk replacer at those stores too. It is a good job for the daughter but might get very sad since rabbits are timid creatures and can die from fright. karen

-- Karen Mauk (dairygoatmama@hotmail.com), July 07, 2000.

Try to find a local wildlife rehabilitator - they can suggest the most appropriate formula - if I remember correctly, once the baby rabbits eyes open, you can provide fresh cut grass for them to start nibbling on. The wild bunnies grow and mature much quicker than domestic versions, and will be on their own before you know it. I don't know if it is legal in your state to possess wild rabbits - something to check into. Good luck. Judi

-- Judi (ddecaro@snet.net), July 07, 2000.

My cat brought me a baby bunny (live) about a week ago. I fed it with an eyedropper with milk and gave it grass, but a day later it died. Might have been internal injuries, cause she/he wasn't visibly scratched. Good Luck! Sue

-- sue (sulandherb@aol.com), July 07, 2000.

When I was a kid, our vet gave me this formula for baby rabbits and I have since used it on lots of baby goats with good result to extend colostrum supplies or boost a weak kid. Since even goats milk isn't as rich as a mama rabbit's, it works well. To prevent predators from finding her nest, the mama only goes to it once daily to nurse her kits, so it's got to be rich. To 1 pint of milk, add an egg, 1 teaspoon honey or white corn syrup and 1/4 teaspoon cod liver oil or infant vitamins. If you have a blender, mix it in that. Feed at body temperature in a tiny bottle, if possible or eye dropper.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), July 08, 2000.

Hi Bonnie,

Esbilac would be the pet store formula you would need with a small bottle. They make an emergency kit with a small about of powder and a small bottle.

One thing to remember is rabbits eat on their backs. Also be careful not to get anything in it's nose or it may inhale the formula. The former receipe sounded good. They do not need to be stimulated to go to the bathroom.

If you can find the nest next time, you may be better off returning the rabbit. The nest is just a shallow hole that she stands over to feed.

Good luck

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), July 08, 2000.

If they rabbit is less than 1/3 of full grown size, you'll need to get it milk. At pet stores and some feed stores you can buy cat or rabbit milk replacer, and small bottles. Otherwise get a 5 cc eyedropper. Mix milk according to directins (cow milk won't work, rabbits need high fat, try goat milk cream if nothing else). The bunny will need feed only twice daily, but give it milk until it's tummy fills like it swalloed a ping pong ball. (Every 12 hours) Keep it away from drafts, and don't let it get over 85 degrees if you can help it. IF this is a wild rabbit, be advised that you can't keep it past maturity without a permit, which can be had from the local wildlife people. They can probobly also advise you on where to get supplies, or possible provide them for free. If you want to break your dog of rabbit hunting, e-mail me and I'll provide directions.

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@excite.com), July 10, 2000.

You can find out a lot about baby bunnies if you go to www.rabbit.org and then clik on the more info where they talk about do wild bunnies need help. I found this site when we too ended up with a batch of bunnies. Good luck!

-- Robin Frontz (frontzfarm@1st.net), July 12, 2000.