Rabbits - Need Help

stevoman

My nephews came home yesterday with two little baby kitten rabbits. The little divils picked them up without realising the consequences and now i have them in my care. I have them in a hutch at home, but could somewhon please give me some tips on feeding and habits etc so i can rear them up until such a time as i can release them back. Thanks a million folks, your help will be much appreciated.

Sigma Force

How old are they do you think, are they eating solids ie grass? If they are eating grass with no problems then they can be released straight away. You could also contact Kiokio on the petsireland board she deals with rabbits and all sorts of other native wildlife so can give you better info if they aren't yet weaned. If they are on solida release them asap the stress of being confined could kill them. If they are really tiny and not weaned in the mean time take them to your local vet vets usually treat wildlife for free.

stevoman

excellent, i think they are old enough to be put back. they seem aware of everything aroung them. i'l get them to bring them back this evening so..

kerrysgold

are they actually wild rabbits or did they get them from a petshop?

stevoman

kerrysgold wrote: »

are they actually wild rabbits or did they get them from a petshop?

No their wild kerrys. Thats why im concerned as if they wwere pets it would be far easier to take care of them.

carwash_2006

Are you sure they are rabbits? It is unlikely that they would have been able to catch healthy baby rabbits of an age that could be out and about, before then they would be well buried.

They could be baby leverets (hares), they do look similar to baby rabbits to the untrained eye. Hares make a nest above ground so if the kids came across the nest they would have been easy to catch. Leverets develop very differently to rabbits and would be unlikely to be able to care for themselves yet. If you could take a picture of them and send it to Kiokio on the petsireland board she would be able to tell you for certain.

meathstevie

If they're wild rabbits that were caught by hand I'm afraid they're not the healthiest . Catching a healthy wild rabbit by hand is fairly impossible ( unless you can run like a lurcher or you have ferrets and nets ) so deffo make sure you haven't got a couple of young hares on your hands. Anyway, if they're grazing and seem healthy put them back where they came from. If they would be hares it's actually an offence to catch them and to have them outside the open hunting and coursing season ( for which you need a licence ).

Just in case you want to hold on ( that's if they're rabbits, a hare's chance of long term survival in confined captivity isn't that great ) , plenty of vegetable cuttings and grass and fresh water in a shallow tray will do the job. And even more important : make sure the pen lets in a bit of rain and dew which is essential for drinking even more so than a tray of water.

stevoman

meathstevie wrote: »

( unless you can run like a lurcher or you have ferrets and nets ) so deffo make sure you haven't got a couple of young hares on your hands.
.

There's your answer there stevie. They were out ferreting so they were and the ferret caught the older rabbits and they two young followed. the reason why they took them home now is that the caught the mother and a few more..... which went into the pot!, and they brought on the 2 young to give them a chance instead of just abandoning them motherless in the burrows. I cant blame them for doing it realy, i have always taught them to respect whatever they hunt and i guess they thought they were doing the right thing. I usually take them ferreting and i wouldnt have let them take them home TBH but i let them on with the ferret on sunday on their own.

carwash_2006

Ah right, that explains it. Hope they make it whatever you decide is best for them.