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Baby Rabbit

post #1 of 5
6/27/10 at 8:32pm
Thread Starter 
Yesterday I saw an adult sized (it appeared from a distance) rabbit across the yard. I put away groceries, returned and it was gone. Today there is a tiny baby rabbit in the bushes. I have quietly watched periodically all day to see if its mom is taking care of it, she is no where in sight. I have NO experience with rabbits. This one is TINY, should i put out water or anything to eat. If so, what? Im completely dumb on this. Ive read various things online some posts saying NO LETTUCE that it could kill them, other sites saying all raw vegetables and some saying nothing but grass and hay. Or should I leave it as is as I do not want to harm it by trying to help? Any suggestions Id appreciate!
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post #2 of 5
6/27/10 at 9:04pm
Usually it is best to just leave them alone. Oftentimes while they seem young, they are old enough to be on their own, & are just starting out. My understanding is that "wild" rabbits do not often adjust well to captivity, nor do they survive well.
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post #3 of 5
6/27/10 at 9:35pm
If it's out of the nest it can take care of itself. Even if it did still need its mama, mother rabbits only see to their babies once a day, for about 15 minutes, usually in the middle of the night. Any longer than that and they risk giving away the location of the nest to predators. Don't mess with the bunny. Wild rabbits do not do well with human contact. It's just hiding from predators, that's the only way rabbits survive.
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post #4 of 5
6/28/10 at 4:24pm
Thread Starter 
very interesting about the mom only spending a short time! I havent seen it today nor the larger one. I am curious though, what do their "nests" look like? I dont know that I would know it if I saw one. I had all kinds of animals growing up, never a rabbit.
Thanks for the info.!
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post #5 of 5
6/29/10 at 3:57pm
They dig a hole in the ground and line it with grass and hair from the mother's belly. Then the bunnies stay there until they're old enough to leave. I had a wild rabbit's nest in my side yard and got to watch the goings-on. The mother came every day around 7 p.m. to nurse the babies. She just sat over the hole like everything was normal; you couldn't tell she was nursing at all, or that there were any babies there.

Then she cleaned the nest---again, it just looked like she was licking herself underneath, you couldn't tell what she was really doing. The babies have no odor if the nest is clean, so predators can't find them by scent. They stay in the nest for 3 weeks. After that they leave during the day and go back to the nest at night, or just find their mother and nurse (if the nest was destroyed or something), for another week or 2. After 5 weeks they're weaned and on their own.

I don't know what domesticated rabbits do---my rabbits are spayed. And domesticated rabbits are related to European rabbits, not North American cottontails. I assume their bunny-raising methods are similar, though.
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