wild baby bunny

[lena]

hello all!

recently, my dad found a wild baby bunny after our dog killed the mother and other baby. I estimate he is about 4 weeks old (his name is Lemon)

we decided to bring lemon inside to avoid him being eaten by out cat or dog, and hes been in a medium sized wooden and mesh cage in my room with hay, grass, veges and water, for one night. Last night he ate all the food and i am assuming he drank from the water dish as well, and has also snacked on the grass i gave him this morning. 

I wouldn’t mind keeping him, my older sister has had flemish giants for years but after the last ones died of calicivirus, she hasn’t gotten any more and we miss having rabbits around. I am aware that lemon will never be domesticated, and will only ever just tolerate humans but i am wondering if it would be inhumane to keep him long term or if we should let him go?

The thing is, theres a high chance the cat or dog will kill him once he is let go, and in new zealand (where i live) rabbits are pests, especially in the countryside, so is likely he will be shot my my dad once he is older anyway. it is also legal to keep wild rabbits as ‘pets.’

i just really don’t want him to be unhappy, is he old enough to really care whether he is let free or kept? if we keep him he will end up in a much much bigger cage outside (the cage once housed two flemish giants in it with room to run around and was hand built so is definitely large enough to comfortably house an adult wild rabbit, probably around 2.5x1m) or a large cage indoors that i used to have two mice in (around 1×0.5m)

i am very torn on the decision on whether to keep or free him, if anyone could help it would be appreciated!

-lena

[Millie]

Call a rabbit rescue, an animal rescue, or an expert. See if they will take him in. It is not right to keep a wild rabbit in a home, as they will not have the same quality of life as a domestic rabbit and will probably react differently to certain things. Though, at this age, it may be a different case, because he hasn’t lived long enough to get used to the outdoor life.
However, if no expert or rescue will take him whatsoever, do not release him. The reason for this is because the mother and sibling(s) were killed. He wouldn’t survive for even a day at that age.
If you have no option, at this point the best thing to do would be to keep him. Make sure you know what to do though. Tons of research about raising wild bunny(s).
I’m going to give you a few pointers down below.
– Remember, rabbits are prey animals, especially one from the wild like this. Keep him away from any other animals you may have, especially the ones that killed his family.
– Let him have some alone time, he’s probably very terrified because he most likely saw his family get taken away like that.
– Bring him to an exotic pet vet ASAP, make sure he has no diseases that could be dangerous to him and you.

NOTE: This is only if you keep him…Try your best to find somebody that properly knows and has researched about wild rabbits for years, or a rescue that has proper resources. If you do end up keeping him, keep me updated, I’d love to know how this little guy does. Best of luck.

Have a great day, -L

[LBJ10]

Do they even have wildlife rehabbers in New Zealand that do rabbits? Being an invasive species, I highly doubt it. The local SPCA may take a rabbit born in the wild and then adopt them out. I don’t know, honestly.

If I were to guess, I would think keeping him would be the best solution. Maybe you can get help from a shelter or vet on how to take care of him? If he’s 4 weeks old, he can eat solid food. But babies are supposed to be with their mothers until 8 weeks. So his immune and digestive systems may not be as good as they should be. Wild rabbits in New Zealand are the same species as domestic rabbits, so I imagine you wouldn’t have any trouble taming him since he is still so young.

[lena]

in new zealand we do not have ‘rabbit rescues’ as they are an invasive species, the local spca would just put him down as they do not have the time or space to care for a wild baby rabbit! i think keeping him will be best at this point

he has been given lots of space as i feared over stressing him, the cage has only been opened for food and water and a few times yesterday to make sure he was still alive!

he has become much more active today, i can hear him snuffling around in the hay and such

thank you for your adice

-lena

[lena]

you are correct on the rehabbers- they most likely would just put him down! same with the SPCA. planning on calling the vet for some info on how to boost his immune and digestive systems, if theres any particular foods we can give him hopefully the vets will be able to advise on it! 

thank you for your reply

-lena

[Hazel]

Thank you for taking this little guy in! 

I agree that it’s best for you to keep him at this point, since there are no rehabbers you can take him to. The mice cage you spoke of (1×0.5 m) won’t be big enough. Rabbits need at least 8 square feet of room, which is about 0.75 square meters. That is only the minimum. In addition to that, they have to have at least 4-6 hours a day out of the cage to exercise. That is also the minimum, the more time out of the cage they get, the better. I know you have an outside cage that exceeds the 0.75 square meter minimum, but then there’s still the question where to put him for exercise time 4-6 hours a day. All things considered, I think it would be best if you could build a new, big enough cage, house him indoors and bunny proof a room where he can be out of his cage. Your sister’s Flemmies were killed by the Calicivirus, so you know he would be exposed to that if kept outside. There are vaccines, but I doubt any vet would agree to vaccinate a wild rabbit. And even if they did, there’s still a chance he could get infected living outside. I bet he would be much happier living indoors and getting lots of interaction. 

Do you have any pictures? 

[Mikey]

Personally, I would keep him. Youll need a larger space for him than a house rabbit, but otherwise the diets and basic care are very similar. House rabbits need a minimum of 18sqft, so I would think a wild bun would need double that (32sqft), atleast. Of course, more space is always better, house rabbit or wild It really wouldnt matter if you keep him outside or inside. He might take a while to adjust to inside life, though. For diet, hes going to need timothy hay and as many greens as you can offer until you can find out his preferred diet. Of course, always provide water (a bowl might work better than a bottle).

Thank you for taking him in and researching how to care for him My mom and I used to rescue, rehab, release wild rabbits.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I would keep him too if his chances outside are so slim.

[lena]

Posted By Hazel on 1/21/2018 8:39 AM

Thank you for taking this little guy in! 

I agree that it’s best for you to keep him at this point, since there are no rehabbers you can take him to. The mice cage you spoke of (1×0.5 m) won’t be big enough. Rabbits need at least 8 square feet of room, which is about 0.75 square meters. That is only the minimum. In addition to that, they have to have at least 4-6 hours a day out of the cage to exercise. That is also the minimum, the more time out of the cage they get, the better. I know you have an outside cage that exceeds the 0.75 square meter minimum, but then there’s still the question where to put him for exercise time 4-6 hours a day. All things considered, I think it would be best if you could build a new, big enough cage, house him indoors and bunny proof a room where he can be out of his cage. Your sister’s Flemmies were killed by the Calicivirus, so you know he would be exposed to that if kept outside. There are vaccines, but I doubt any vet would agree to vaccinate a wild rabbit. And even if they did, there’s still a chance he could get infected living outside. I bet he would be much happier living indoors and getting lots of interaction. 

Do you have any pictures? 

will get on to planning a bigger cage! i think indoors will be best as well, with the Calicivirus present, and yes i doubt the vets will vaccine a wild rabbit, with them being an invasive species in new zealand.  with the out-of-cage exercise, i will be at school for 6 hours a day but am prepared to have him out for an hour in the morning and all through the afternoon when i am home. my mother may also take him out during the day if she is around the house i will try and snap some photos and will attach them in a new message 

[lena]

Posted By Mikey on 1/21/2018 2:30 PM

Personally, I would keep him. Youll need a larger space for him than a house rabbit, but otherwise the diets and basic care are very similar. House rabbits need a minimum of 18sqft, so I would think a wild bun would need double that (32sqft), atleast. Of course, more space is always better, house rabbit or wild It really wouldnt matter if you keep him outside or inside. He might take a while to adjust to inside life, though. For diet, hes going to need timothy hay and as many greens as you can offer until you can find out his preferred diet. Of course, always provide water (a bowl might work better than a bottle).

Thank you for taking him in and researching how to care for him My mom and I used to rescue, rehab, release wild rabbits.

have already discovered that he likes little bits of silverbeet, which is not surprising as that is what the adult wild rabbits eat out of mum’s garden! have been providing him with lots of grasses and such, along with a bowl of water 

-lena

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