wild bunny

Question
Late last night on a country road my sister and her boyfriend discovered a very small bunny sitting on the road. There appeared no signs of physical injury yet it was very weak. They decided to take it home, maybe not the best idea but having owned several rabbits in the past felt they couldn't leave it. We placed it in a old clean hutch and filed the bed area with hay and a water dish. It survived the night yet it's eyes are closed and it appears too weak to move much. We are planning to take it to the vet later but do you have any advice asap on what to do in the meantime? I was planning on feeding it kitten milk, is this wise? Thanks for the help
Louise

Answer
Hi Louise,

thanks for caring for this little guy.

Feed it kitten milk, mix it 1 1/2 times richer than the istructions.  You will probably need to make the nipple hole in the bottle a bit bigger.  Be very careful feeding, make sure he is swallowing.  YOu don't want to force any into his lungs.

If you can keep him in a nest box filled with cut up clean cotton tshirts and cotton towels in a nest (make a well he can rest in the middle of), he needs this for body warmth.  You can put a 60 watt lamp a couple feet above him (not closer).  But he does need this for body heat.

Do get him to the vet.  I doubt that he is a wild rabbit, unless it is too young to move.  If he is old enough to move, it is a domestic rabbit.  Wild rabbits would have taken off and not allowed themselves to be picked up.  There are agouti colored domestic rabbits that look like wild ones.  If it has any coloring different than a wild bunny, that is a clear sign it is a domestic.

Also, go to the House Rabbit Society and search their articles using the terms "newborn", "babies", and "orphan".


Lee