Rabbit care

DirtyDirtyVagrant

My dad has just rescued a baby rabbit from the jaws of our dog (no visible injuries - it just seems to want to relax). I cant tell how old it is. Its eyes are open, and it has a full coat of fur. It's about 4 inches long or so.

My dad is thinking about keeping it, if he can. So we need to learn everything there is to know about rabbits in probably the next couple of hours. Help?

VisionOfClarity

Water, litter with box, pellet food is a good start. Mine loves iceberg lettuce and celery. Usagi will post here most likely, do what she says.

VisionOfClarity

Also, get him to a vet to be checked for internal damage.

DirtyDirtyVagrant

I think its back left leg is hurt, because it doesn't seem to want to stand on that one. It doesn't seem to want to stand at all. It just wants to lie down and chill out.

We've got it in a little box with a paper towel, a small bowl of water, and some vegetation. I'm not sure my dad is willing to spring the cash to have it looked at by a vet. When money comes into the equation he might just be like "well fuck it then."

It does need to get looked at. I'll try to convince him to take it in, but I'm not sure he's that invested in it.

VisionOfClarity

Where are you located? If there is a vet school or nonprofit animal hospital they might give you a discount.

Void Slayer

The ASPCA or an animal rescue center might be willing to give it a checkup for free, particularly if its an animal you just rescued. If it is hurt and requires medical treatment you could just leave it there and surrender it so it wouldn't cost you anything. It is really more important to get it looked at quickly, particularly if it was in a semi-violent situation, then in worrying about keeping it if there are expensive medical costs. They may also be able to give you references to local resources which could also help you (I'm assuming rabbits are common in your area).

That being said, what kind of rabbit do you think it is? If you keep it we NEED a picture.

HK5

A wild rabbit might not make the best pet, although I've never tried raising a wild one so maybe they're great. I have raised dozens of domestic ones, however. They're not hard to take care of but if yours has just been picked up by a dog it might be in shock, which can be fatal. A weak pulse and pale gums can be signs that he's in shock and needs medical attention. If you're not going to take it to the vet, try wrapping him in a blanket to maintain body temperature (it can drop quite low if they're in shock). Hopefully the leg thing is just a soft tissue injury, I'd be more worried about the shock of almost getting eaten killing the rabbit than the injury.

If all goes well and you end up keeping it, rabbit care isn't terribly difficult. If you're going to keep it outside make sure it has a nice big hutch with plenty of shade. Access to hay/alfalfa at all times is important, supplement with some rabbit pellets (the hay/alfalfa should be the main source of nutrition though) and add fresh vegetables and occasional fruits. They're prone to heat stroke so make sure it has shade and water available at all times. If it's a female, getting it spayed will keep it from getting uterine cancer which kills something like 75% of female rabbits by the time they reach 5 years. Getting a male neutered will minimize scent marking (via urine spray) and tamp down aggressive behaviors. Holding it and playing with it frequently will help it socialize to humans and make it a more agreeable pet. It will need things to chew on because their teeth grow continually throughout their lives and will become occluded without constant wearing down. PetCo or any other pet shop will have plenty of little rabbit chew toys. Checking the teeth periodically to make sure they're aligned and look functional is recommended. Keeping a fence around the hutch to keep away raccoons, coyotes, neighborhood cats and dogs, and other fauna is advisable.

If it lives indoors, you will need to rabbit-proof the area. This means removing access to all electrical cords, making sure the substrate it lives on can be cleaned of rabbit urine/feces until it's litter trained, and give it plenty of access to toys to chew on so that it doesn't try to eat your furniture or walls.

Broccoli, carrots, romaine lettuce, Brussels sprouts, spinach, etc. are good veggies for rabbits and important for dietary health. Occasional apples and pears and other fruits are fine but too much makes a fat bunny. Bunnies need exercise too so let them play in an enclosed area and you'll find them a fun companion. I have one of my own right now, who is good buddies with my dog (a miniature dachshund, ironically bred for the purpose of hunting rabbits). It sounds like your dog is not rabbit friendly so obviously they're going to need to live separately.

DirtyDirtyVagrant

My dad says he's just going to put it back outside. He refuses to take it to a vet or to an animal hospital of any kind. His point of view is that "if it dies it dies."

My stepmom is acting like it's a problem that I care about it. She said it's "ridiculous" that we gave it a box to hang out in for a while. When the dog first seized the rabbit she was just callously watching like "Oooh, looks like the dog got himself a baby."

I take back what little respect I harbored for her.

There's not really anything I can do. It's my dad's ball. If I had a car I'd take it out myself. I just hope it gets over any problem it has so that it can survive tonight. It still seems awfully lethargic.

The good thing is that I've decided that I'm going to keep a rabbit at some point in the future.

I haven't got my camera with me. I'm just out here in the guest bedroom for the weekend. Fourth of july and all that. It looks like a regular brown wild rabbit, just miniature.

Usagi

Get thee to a vet, preferebly one that specializes in rabbits! Go to the House Rabbit Society website to find one, and they also have a lot of fantastic information about taking care of rabbits.

Getting it through the next twelve hours is going to be the hard part, as it's probably very young and definitely not used to human-manufactured bunny food. So, start with half unflavored Pedialyte, half water in either a little plastic bowl, or an oral medicine syringe if they seem reluctant or knock it over (usually Walgreens will give them to you for free at the pharmacy counter if you ask.) Making sure the bun is hydrated is a very important thing, as dehydration will kill them very quickly. If he doesn't pee or poop in the next few hours, that's a really really bad sign.

Next would be easy to digest greens, like curly parsley, carrot tops, dandelion greens, etc. If he doesn't eat them straight, whiz them up in a blender with the Pedialyte/water mix, and give with the oral syringe.

Next would be checking the leg out on your own - introducing the Bunny Burrito

Bunny Burrito

Just wrap him up and gently work the injured leg out of the wrapped towel, if it's bloody get some saline cleaning solution - NO HYDROGEN PEROXIDE OR COMMERCIAL CLEANING STUFF, you don't want it licking that up! - and go to town with a Qtip or cotton pad. And then go see a vet.

And then spend prodigious amounts of time reading on the internet about taking care of bunnies! It can be really rewarding

edit: Welp, sorry to hear that DDV, but the resources I've linked are still good if you want to have a rabbit in the future

DirtyDirtyVagrant

I'll definitely look through all of them. I just wish I could do more.

When I get a bunny in the future, I will post pictures of that one.

Mom2Kat

Oh I second usagi's recomendation of the hour rabbit society website for when/if you start getting into rabbits. I use thier info often and have even e-mailed on gotten great answers from thier volunteers.

We recently got a 3.5 year old Polish dwarf from a friend who is reducing her rabbitry so she can raise human babies. Stasha is now a house bun and oh rabbits is so addicting, I am having a hard time not taking in the other 8 she has left and putting them in the garage. (her's were not house buns but rather outside pets that she raised, bred and showed) While I love our Stasha I would not recommend getting an older bunny to be a house pet unless you are quite willing to clean up litter "accidents" and not be cuddled. She is litter trained in her cage but not so much in the living room! I just bought a bissle steam cleaner! Litter trained is awesome cause you don't have to change a whole cage just the box.

oh and obligatory pics.
Showing of how she got her name, love the black 'stash!

Who dribbled black paint on my Bunny?

Mojo the Avenger

I have a bunny. He's awfully sophisticated.

http://images.bunspace.com/static/bunpics/13647/195095.jpg

seconding rabbit.org

It's a great website. My girlfriend and I went from 0 to professional bunny caretaker in like a month thanks to them.