Wild baby Rabbit

Question
I live in the suburbs, about 15 minutes north of Chicago, IL and my brother was mowing the lawn a few hours ago, when a baby rabbit bolted out of it and into the bushes. With closer examination from my dad, we realized he had mowed across a rabbit nest. There seemed to be at least two others hiding underneath a rabbit at the top and one of them dashed away when we got a closer look. It looked completely normal, except the top of its head was bleeding. All the rabbits were about the size of my palm, brownish, and had their eyes open. We aren't sure if it will survive, but it seems to be acting normal. I googled the subject for advice and called a wildlife protection number, but they weren't that much help, they only suggested we line a box with leaves and grass, and leave him in a quiet, dark corner of the yard away from harm. He seemed okay after a few hours, so we used an eye dropper to wash some of the grass out of the wound and left a little saucer of warm goat milk among the grass. From what we see, he is acting normal, but he hasn't eaten anything. Would it be best to leave him to fall asleep in peace or should we take him to our vet (They specialize in cats and dogs, though...)? My mom is wondering if we should put any pain reliever on his wound. Some advice please?

Answer
Hi There

You have two choices at this point. Let the mother tend to the baby. She likely still will if she can find him and the others. Have you seen the Mother? Often the Mother rabbit will be close by and you should notice her at some point going to feed. They like feeding especially in the dark. Is your yard fenced? The smell of blood may attract animals and the rabbit may be an easy meal. If you still haven't seen any sign of the mother rabbit by now, (look around the property in nearby bushes etc) then I would bring him inside in a cage, or left outside in a cage and tend to the wound yourself. Goats milk is ok, but eagles milk (carnation) or kitten milk bought at a pet store is best. If he won't eat you will have to syringe feed. If you know anyone who has a pet rabbit that has, or has recently had kits then this would be the easiest solution. Rabbits will often foster other rabbits. I have had success with this myself.

The box idea is a good idea. Do the rabbits have their eyes open and a full fur coat? You said they hopped away, so I am assuming yes. Is he eating grass? If so, then he's at least 3 weeks old. His chances of survival are good if the wound isn't too deep.

You can clean it with salt water and tea tree oil. Use the salt water first and then the oil. The oil can be bought at any drug store over the counter. It is all natural and antibacterial/ antifungal. Dilute it in half and dab a small amount on the wound. You don't want the baby, his mother or his siblings licking the tea tree oil as it can be toxic in excess amounts or if swallowed. However, if used as indicated it will disinfect and prevent infection. Be careful with the salt water and the oil not to get it in his eyes.

I would not use pain reliever of any kind on a baby rabbit. It can cause serious liver damage, especially if he's not on any kind of solids yet. Baby rabbits can easily get a number of digestive disorders from switching from milk to solids as it is, but being introduced to pharmaceuticals may even cause death. Don't use topical pain relievers either. They can be absorbed into the bloodstream and cause liver/ kidney damage as well. Their systems are ultra-fragile right now.

So if no mother can be found or the babies bellies look sunken in rather than full round little bellies, then I would intervene and get the rabbit out of harms way. You will want to release the rabbit as soon as he's better though as you do not want him accustoming himself too much with people. He has the genes of a wild rabbit and they can often be aggressive as they mature.

Any more questions feel free to ask. Or if you need more direction with syringe feeding I would be happy to do that too.

Alice