RESCUED BABY BUNNY FROM THE CAT...... WHAT TO FEED IT?

[MamaSheepdog]

Good save on the little bunny!

he also has alpha hay, dandelions, horse 4 way grain, pellets, oatmeal, carrots, watermelon, a radish, bird seed, and a dish of water.

Spoiled bunny! Don't give him very much carrot or watermelon rind, though. Treat that like "rabbit candy", and give only very small amounts.

im concerned that the longer i keep him the more tame he will become and less likely that he will run or fight back because that is how he is now.

The older they get, the more wild they become, usually. One of our members that I met recently does have an adult cottontail and now another baby so sometimes they can survive in captivity.

Since there are several adult rabbits that live there, I would just put him near them. They will react to danger and he will learn from them.

 

[Sagebrush]

To be honest, if it was me I would be releasing him now. I would not want him to become to relaxed around humans, though like Zass said he wont ever become tame. With his small size he will have more places to actually hide out in the wild then when he is bigger. His mother is probably one of the rabbits you are feeding the carrots too.

Here is the pic of his "house" [album]2660[/album]

 

[stra8up3]

i do really wanna see this bunny live free like he is suppose to be. so are you saying that the other adult bunnies wont harm him? if so, when i let him go, i will near them, they usually let me get really close to them. thanks

 

[MamaSheepdog]

so are you saying that the other adult bunnies wont harm him? if so, when i let him go, i will near them, they usually let me get really close to them. thanks

No, they wont harm him. If he is a "him", when he gets bigger he will spar with the other bucks, but they don't really harm each other. The loser just has to find his own little patch of earth to call his own.

Make sure to take pictures of the release!

 

[stra8up3]

i really do wanna thank you all for spending the time and effort and giving me all the information that you have... i really do appreciate it

__________ Wed May 07, 2014 1:43 pm __________

i dont know if it is a he or she, i will take pics <br /><br /> __________ Wed May 07, 2014 1:45 pm __________ <br /><br /> i do watch the adults sparing and chasing each other alot when they are eating carrots and all the other stuff i put out there for them to eat

 

[Zass]

Cottontails have different social habits than our domestic rabbits. They are more solitary, but not as aggressively territorial.

 

[stra8up3]

with all that i have learned.... i will do with the bunny what you recommend to do as far as if and when and how to let him go. i trust that you do know what is best for him surely more then i. and i want what is best for it. looking forward to your final recommendations. and once again thank you so much for everything!!!!!

__________ Wed May 07, 2014 6:58 pm __________

i put a bell on the cat about a month ago to try and avoid what has happened. the cat killed a baby bunny last week. anyways, since i cant get the owner of the cat to agree to keep it in the house for a couple of weeks, i got an idea to take off the bell and teach the bunny to run from it, being careful not to traumatize him, i have the bunny in an empty room with just 2 places to hide and i come up behind him ringing the bell and grabbing a little bit and he is running... i got the idea first because i was concerned that he does not get enough exsersize so i put him in that room

__________ Wed May 07, 2014 6:59 pm __________

good idea?????????? :?:

 

[Zass]

If I was a bunny, I'd be rather terrified of the whole situation.

You might not want the little guy to run every time he hears the bell. Rabbits "freeze" to avoid detection. Breaking cover and running might just get him killed.

Trust a prey animal to know a bit more about staying alive than a human does His instincts are good, and do not need retrained. If they were as helpless as they seem, there wouldn't be so many wild rabbits, and it seems like your area has more than average!

Really though, rabbits have a lot of babies frequently because high infant mortality keeps only the rabbits with the very best genes breeding. It also allows the species to adapt quickly to environmental changes.
Predation also controls the spread of disease, and culls sick or unfit animals. There may have been a reason your bunny was caught.

It looks cruel to us, but it is a strength to rabbits as a whole.

I commend you taking him and and getting him back to health, but I don't believe you will be able to protect him forever.

 

[Miss M]

It sounds like it could survive on its own at this age, but you do have a small window you can keep him, since the cat is still a problem. It is possible but unlikely that it will become too used to humans. From what I've read, like MSD said, most of them become more wild the older it gets. I've read of people who have raised baby cottontails coming and finding them bashing themselves against their cage wire, trying to break free. Of course, there are always exceptions.

If you feel the bun needs to grow a little more to have a chance around the cat, you can probably safely keep it a little longer. Not very much, though.

I'll put your latest image in your post for you.

 

[stra8up3]

ok i'll keep him a little longer. and i'll put the bell back on the cat. i live in rural north eastern Pennsylvania on a xmas tree farm. the bunnies seem to like living in the xmas tree grove. i always see them come out of the tree line to eat the grass in the early morning then again in the evening. i spend hours every day watching them from the window. this baby bunny has a white stripe on his forehead unlike any of the others and im looking forward to seeing him and being able to identify him by the stripe when he is free... :thankyou:

 

[Dood]

Most cottontails are born with a white spot between their eyes but it usually disappears with their first shed.

 

[stra8up3]

do they have litters through out the year or just during spring? and for how long do they depend on their mothers?

__________ Thu May 08, 2014 12:05 pm __________

HE IS READY TO GO!!!!!!! i just went to check on him and he had jumped out of the container that he was in. he is in an empty room with only 2 places to hide and no way out ... as i was trying to catch him he was running hiding and when i grabbed him he flew out of my hands!!!!!!! i am so happy. he is still loose and hiding i went to put my clothes on to let him go but the person with the ability to take pics is not here right now.. he should be home soon. i wanted to take pics like i said i would <br /><br /> __________ Thu May 08, 2014 12:18 pm __________ <br /><br /> i just went back in the room to put him in the box again and he is on the window seal going crazy im at the door and he is running frantically trying to jump out the window!!!!!! HE HAS GONE CRAZY!!!!!! no way can i catch him!!! im gonna have to get a towel!!! poor bunny i wanna set him loose but i wanna keep my promise

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I guess he is feeling much better now!

Don't worry about taking pictures- just toss a towel over him and take him outside.

 

[stra8up3]

the proceeding is what i text to the guy with the camera:::: "i had to let him go !!! he was breathing so hard about to have a heart attack trying to get out the window crawling up as far as he could go between the screen and the window before i could finally catch him with the towel ...... YOU GOTTA KEEP THAT CAT IN FOR A DAY OR 2!!!!!!!!! because the people told me to set him free with the other adults so that they would protect him......... but there was no other rabbits around any where!!!" <br /><br /> __________ Thu May 08, 2014 1:00 pm __________ <br /><br /> he is a WHOLE different bunny today!!!!!!! i feel so good about it... i am confident that cat wont have a chance to catch him!!!!!!! and i couldnt have done it with out you all

 

[Zass]

the proceeding is what i text to the guy with the camera:::: "i had to let him go !!! he was breathing so hard about to have a heart attack trying to get out the window crawling up as far as he could go between the screen and the window before i could finally catch him with the towel ...... YOU GOTTA KEEP THAT CAT IN FOR A DAY OR 2!!!!!!!!! because the people told me to set him free with the other adults so that they would protect him......... but there was no other rabbits around any where!!!"

__________ Thu May 08, 2014 1:00 pm __________

he is a WHOLE different bunny today!!!!!!! i feel so good about it... i am confident that cat wont have a chance to catch him!!!!!!! and i couldnt have done it with out you all

The behavior you are describing is exactly what we were all expecting! It's going to be OK now, you did a good thing for the little guy He needs to be outside asap. He can hide himself, and confinement is really too stressful for them.

 

[stra8up3]

after letting him go ,, about 20 mins later, i went back outside to the tree he was under and looked thoroughly then i seen him run i kept looking under the trees to find him AND I COULD NOT again!!!!!! I think from his behavior that he has displayed today that he WILL HAVE a good chance against that damn EVIL cat!!!!!! he really was such a different bunny!!! like he woke up and turned wild!!!!! really really wild!! i am so happy :bunnyhop:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

YAY!!! :bouncy:

Gotta love a happy ending!

 

[stra8up3]

very happy ending!!!!!