baby rabbit diarrhea

Question
We just got a bunny at our fair.  I do not know anything about him.  But last night I picked him up and he had diarra.  We feed him pellets and 2 baby carrots a day.  Plus hay.  Does he need to go to the vet?

Answer
Dear Pamela,

If this is a baby rabbit, diarrhea can be fatal very quickly.  Please get him to a good rabbit vet immediately:

www.rabbit.org/vets

and bring this with you, if the vet is amenable to receiving information from strangers on the internet:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/squirts.pdf

The protocol above is aggressive, but it is the only way we have ever been able to save baby rabbits and hares with this type of diarrhea, which is most often due to E. coli contamination from human hands coupled with the stress of being weaned too young:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

I hope you can save the baby!  Please get him to a good vet ASAP!

Dana